Hi All,

 

I was driving on the motorway last week and felt a sudden loss of power so slowed down and then the car cut out completely.

 

I got the car recovered to my local garage for them to have a look. They stated that there are number of teeth missing from the belt and this would have almost certainly caused major engine damage. They stated I could take a punt and get them to fit a new belt and see if the car started but advised against this at is would be highly unlikely to work. Another option would be to strip the engine down to see what the damage was and then send it off for repair, they couldn’t give an exact price on this but stated in could be well over 1k.

 

I asked them if it was worth just buying a new engine and getting them to fit this, they again couldn’t give an exact labour cost but said approx 870 to fit a new engine and replace the belt. The garage basically said its probably not worth doing the work due to the value of the car.

 

The car has done 116k and it seems a bit of a waste just to scrap it. Does anyone know any garages around the Manchester/Stockport area that may be able to give me a better idea of the costs involved to replace the engine?

 

Thanks

Welcome.

I take it you mean fit a 'used replacement engine' which you source that you know is a good runner. 

Have you found one of those yet?

 

Hopefully someone hear might know of a good engine and someone that can fit it and that can give you a price.

@jellywire - What the garage have said may well be correct, but they could check for evidence of bent valve(s) by taking the cam cover off, and turning the engine manually with the glow plugs out.

 

If they haven't done that it's too soon to write the engine off since it might just need a new cambelt.

Since this happened at motorway speeds and I don't believe in miracles, then I think every single valve will be bent, however getting the head rebuilt is much cheaper and much easier than swapping the whole engine for an unknown secondhand unit.

 

So I would whip the head off and send it to a specialist to be reconditioned.

On 27/11/2017 at 19:40, sepulchrave said:

Since this happened at motorway speeds and I don't believe in miracles, then I think every single valve will be bent, however getting the head rebuilt is much cheaper and much easier than swapping the whole engine for an unknown secondhand unit.

 

So I would whip the head off and send it to a specialist to be reconditioned.

 

Need to know the pistons/chamber sare undamaged. But still need the head whipping off to see that though.

Thanks for the replies.

 

What kind of labour charges would I be looking at to have the head removed/fitted and then the engine reconditioned?

 

 

2 hours ago, jellywire said:

Thanks for the replies.

 

What kind of labour charges would I be looking at to have the head removed/fitted and then the engine reconditioned?

 

 

 

Much less than changing the engine. It's up to you to get quotes really, we don't do this for a living.

 

7 hours ago, vindaloo said:

 

Need to know the pistons/chamber sare undamaged. But still need the head whipping off to see that though.

 

I cannot recall ever seeing a single PD engine on here with a snapped belt that needed any other work done, the pistons and rods are extremely robust, it's always the valves that take the hit, even the guides don't split on PD's.

@jellywire - They're only golden, not crystal!  Seriously, asking "how much for labour?" when we can't see the car and don't know where you live is not a sensible question.

 

My local garage charges £35 an hour plus "Hammond's Haul"; the last time I used the Dealership in Glasgow their rate was £60/hr so even if they took the same time the one would probably charge about twice what the other would for the job.

I would shop around a bit, work always drops off this time of year so you may be able to get it done a bit cheaper. 

 

I would say the quote they have given is fairly reasonable tbh. 

 

Cheapest option would be to fit It your self with the help of some mechanically minded friends, engines can be had for as little as 100-150 quid.  

 

And if the worst comes to the worst and you want it scrapping drop me a PM first as I may take it off your hands.  

Thanks for all the advise, I decided to cut my losses and buy new car.

 

Car is now listen on EBAY as non runner for anyone interested. 

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F272984378938