Newbie from The Big Easy

[Bthor76]

Just bought a 2004 XLS for $300. Don't let the low price mislead you...the engine oil has water in it and it’s not from the head gasket. The previous owner told me that the thermostat housing kept leaking so he just kept adding water instead of coolant. In February we experienced our coldest weather in years. The water in the block froze. He replaced a freeze plug but the oil is now milky white in color. My regular mechanic recommends that if I wanted to fix it right he would replace the engine with a Jasper rebuilt engine with the 100,000 mile warranty. Price: $4,000 plus $2,000 labor. I’ve decided to go that route. Not only will I use this vehicle as a grocery getter I’ll also use it in my hotshot business for small runs. I have a customer who constantly gives me small one pallet runs so this will fit that niche part of my business when I don’t have to haul stuff with my regular pick up and 20’ trailer.

What do you guys think?

 

[Mike65]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! The body looks like it's in good condition. How is the transmission? You could find a later model for $6K but it will have mileage compared to a rebuilt engine which has no mileage. Did you get a quote on a used engine? How many miles does it have on it? Another option is to convert it into an electric drivetrain. You said that it will only be driven for short trips so this might be an option.

 

[Bthor76]

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the welcome. It’s been a busy week for me.

 

[Bthor76]

Welcome to this forum! The body looks like it's in good condition. How is the transmission? You could find a later model for $6K but it will have mileage compared to a rebuilt engine which has no mileage. Did you get a quote on a used engine? How many miles does it have on it? Another option is to convert it into an electric drivetrain. You said that it will only be driven for short trips so this might be an option.

Thank you for the feedback. The previous owner said that the transmission worked fine so I’ll leave it alone for right now. Is there any advantage to having a later model? I like the look of the latter years front grille but not so much that I would exclude first gen years. Yes I did get prices from the local scrap yard that had two 4.0 engines still in their respective Sport Trac models. Definitely cheaper to get a used engine but the labor to install it is just the same. Remember.....I will be using this vehicle in my hotshot business so it needs to be reliable. What I meant by “short trips”is one pallet or less. The run itself can be hundreds of miles one way. Electric is not an option. It’s not uncommon for me to get a call from a customer requesting that I bring an air compressor or other such small part from New Orleans to anywhere along the Mississippi or Ohio Rivers. The first few weeks will me familiarizing myself with this smaller vehicle and it’s idiosyncrasies. Once I trust its other systems I’ll use it on a regular basis. Here’s some pictures of it after cleaning it up over last weekend and now sitting in the mechanic’s overflow parking lot.