Can't afford new truck. Should I replace engine?

[bigjake]

Look money is tight qt of oil is cheap do a leak down test much better than
a compresion test .and if its ok fix the driveability problem and add oil.
you have a worn out truck . and if you do decide to replace it you will have
more money doing it yourself than a reman i put about 30 jasper motors
and tranys a year and you cant beat them .There is no such thing as a delco
reman factory they bid all there motors and tranys out .and they dont have
the warranty or quality of jasper .Good luck .And to the guy that can replace
the shortblock in 4 to 6 hours i have a job for you anytime.:jawdrop:
Just my opinion have been stupid enough to to this for 25 yrs .

 

[Tazman1602]

I was in a similar situation. I have a '86 GMC 6000 truck powered by a small block/allison 4 sp auto. Original engine must have had a block problem, kept on blowing head gaskets. Note a small block leads a very rough life in this truck, 9,900 lbs empty and rated for 20,000 lb loaded. Chassis has a 16' fontain dump bed.

Replaced engine last month with a new GM long block "260 hp", edelbrock manifold/600 cfm 4 bbl carb and MSD streetfire distributer. Longblock was just under $1,700.00 delivered/no core charge from JEGS.

Everything went together without a hitch, carb was spot on as delivered.

Runs great so far (~500 miles hauling wood and gravel) and sounds great too. Looked into rebuiling original engine but I believe a new longblock is a better value, and easier too.

I work with those carbs all day every day in the summertime. I got $5 that says it's at least one set of metering rods and jets rich. Watch your gas mileage and plug condition. Edelbrock has excellent tuning guides and ready availability to jets and needles.

 

[bigjake]

The good thing about the GM crate motor, its a GM shop in most every city you go to for warranty work. jasper engines dont have that.

I put a GM crate engine and crate transmission in my truck. Paid 1250 for motor and seems like the trans was 1200? I checked with a couple different GM dealers and some wanted 1700 for motor so look around. So for 4 or 5 months worth of payments I am good for years again ( actually been a couple years already )
My truck also has more sentimental value than resale value so I will probably do it again in 15 years

Jasper has a coast to coast warranty and they pay pretty well gm crate warranty is not a gm warranty its through a waranty company.

 

[SAW]

Aside from doing the basic tune up stuff...

Check the CATALYTIC CONVERTERS, if they are still on there. My brothers were clogged all to hell and gutting them out or replacing them could make a world of difference in the way the truck runs.

 

[Biker Dude]

Did you buy that car in somerset???

No, I bought it in Isanti but I don't know where it came from originally. The guy I got it from never was able to get it wired to run. It's a black GXL with turbo II taillights. What color is the Somerset car?

 

[fastmopar1k]

It was bright red. I think it disappeared about a year ago. Did you get it running?

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Jake: So GM does not build/warranty their crate motors?

 

[mattmc2003]

Aside from doing the basic tune up stuff...

Check the CATALYTIC CONVERTERS, if they are still on there. My brothers were clogged all to hell and gutting them out or replacing them could make a world of difference in the way the truck runs.

If you take them out and the truck has o2 sensors behind the cats, you are askin for poor fuel mileage again. But rippin them out is def cheaper than replacing them.

 

[fletcher0780]

If you take them out and the truck has o2 sensors behind the cats, you are askin for poor fuel mileage again. But rippin them out is def cheaper than replacing them.

On an OBD1 truck it shouldn't have down-stream 02 sensors.

 

[bigjake]

Jake: So GM does not build/warranty their crate motors?

No ask a dealer to tell you were the delco factory is.They use a warranty company as far as i have been told i quit using them a while ago .Its not
like you are buying a the same motor thats sitting on the assembly line
i am sure a gm dealer would work with a warranty company .Like i said
they use whoever has the lowest bid to rebiuld the motors.Try and find
a person that says they work for Delco and rebiulds anything.

 

[buildmyown]

Came across this your not the only one.
This guy beats your mileage at 549K
http://worcester.craigslist.org/cto/931486412.html

 

[Backwood]

I went to the truck and got my papers.
Says " General motors corp. warrents............ take your truck to any GM dealer for warranty work."

My in-laws had a crate motor that the cam went bad. The local dealer had it fixed in a day or two.

 

[046]

read that 5-6 hours change out for a short block....:jawdrop:

thought... man... that guy is FAST!

seriously....loads of great advise given already. always go for the easy solutions first. then if that doesn't work.... work up the food chain.

if you do decide to swap motors... keep an eye out on craigslist... it's amazing what pops up... there's a crate motor for $500 right now in the tulsa craigslist.

all sorts of deals pop up on craigslist... for all you know... someone may be parting out a low mileage truck that's been wrecked...

 

[streeter]

The advice so far has been great! I should be able to get through the winter with my current engine. I was wondering what weight oil I should use in a 350,000 mile engine? I've been using the Valvoline 10w-40 "high mileage" synthethic oil. Should I go with a different oil? Maybe just the cheapest oil possible?

Napa oil is valvoline, just cheaper

 

[John D]

Napa oil is valvoline, just cheaper

Even the cheapest oil today is very good. Streeter is right on as well.Napa oil is good stuff,my napa dealers delivery 4.3 astro vans ran about 300,000 local delivery miles before he sold them,and never put an engine in any of the 10 or so he had.In fact,ppl were waiting to buy these 3-4 yr old vans for $1000-2000,as they ran another 100K usually with minimal work,and looked new.They all ran on Napa 10w30 changed at 3K intervals with Napa oil filters.

 

[046]

don't use synthetic oils on high mileage engines, unless they were switched over to synthetics when miles were low.

reason is synthetics has a cleaning effect on motor. when engines are new and tight... this will have little effect. higher mileage motors have looser tolerances due to wear... oil over time forms a film despite detergent effects of modern motor oils.

when synthetics are introduced to older motors. some of this protective film could be washed away... possibly increasing internal engine parts tolerances. stick with std oils on high mileage motors... it's simply not worth the risk.

this goes doubly for engine flushes... especially using a commercial engine flush machine. which will strip away protective oil films and quite possibly cause more harm than good.