The 8th cylinder on my 2004 (with 50k miles!!!) has no compression, and I was told I need an engine rebuild. How much does something like that cost?

I was told another option would be to buy an already rebuilt engine with a warranty, how much would that be?

I'm really floored that a vehicle with such low milage can need a rebuild, how is that possible? Maintenance was always performed.

Also, since I'm going to sell it either way, how much can I sell it for as is?

Thanks.

 

Well, you would have little compression if it is a head gasket leak, very common. Parts are $300, machine shop work is $200 ish, and two weekends of your time as chief wrench turner in charge. Do you have coolant leaking out of the engine, overheating, milkshake looking oil, white tail pipe smoke, etc.? In other words, what prompted you to have a compression test run? What is compression reading on other cylinders? Maybe a second opinion from another mechanic (not this guy)? Note: if you do your own test, and pour in a table spoon of oil and the readings go up, that would indicate ring problems.

 

Really depends on what is wrong with it. If you have zero compression, then you could have a failed valve, failed cam lobe or bad rings, none of which should happen at your mileage.
Who told you that you had this problem, how did they determine this and is your service engine light on if so what are the fault codes?
All that being asked, be specific if you want help, also how mechanical are you?

 

Blown head gasket.

 

A head gasket would be most common at this mileage and i hate how crappy shops always tell people they need a total engine rebuild or replacement. You can take care of this yourself if your mechanical. Please do get back to us with any engine codes you may have and more detailed info on why and how these test results were determined.