remanufactured engine?

[hannahyanu]

Sent from the Philippines by one who knows zero about cars and is in bad need of advise.

Our pre-owned Sport Trac 2001 (120,000 miles) overheated because of a radiator leak. Out of sheer ignorance (we thought it was simply a busted A/C), we drove on until it stopped. The Trac was towed to the nearest Ford dealer which needed to dismantle the engine to be able to identify the specific problems/parts to be repaired. The service guys said the cylinder heads are too far gone and need to be replaced. That's option 1.

Option 2 is to replace the entire engine. Either way, the estimated cost of the repair is more than $12,000. "Flabbergasted" would be mild. We don't have that kind of money. Also, a little more and that's a new car!

I'll be forced to junk a dead Sport Trac in my garage. But that's not an option either because: (1) I need a vehicle that will get me from Point A (we live in a farm 80km from the city) to Point B and can't afford a new one, and (2) we've spent so much on a full overhaul of the Sport Trac just last year.
I'm considering importing a remanufactured engine. Is that wise? Of course if that's the case the replacement job will have to be outside of Ford.

I'm a complete idiot about cars but except for "misinterpreting" that radiator leak as an A/C problem, I'd say our Trac was in pretty good shape and maintained by Ford even.

Pls. throw me some leads or put me in the right direction. Do I retire the truck?

 

[pauley]

i would honestly seek another quote from another shop. because i know that bill should be considerably less than 12k. i cant believe that ford wants to charge you that much.

 

[Bobmbx]

Somewhere in a junkyard is a 4.0 V6 engine. Depending on the condition, it should cost $1000 to $1800. Installing it would be that again. So for around $4000 you could be up and running. I'm guessing the truck isn't worth that much at retail.

Not many good options. Sorry.

 

[hannahyanu]

Thank you for your replies, pauley and Bobmbx, which give me hope the Trac is "fixable" for $5,000 or less. I'm really not prepared to retire the truck because until it stalled, it was a dependable and really fast vehicle with which we could commute to the city comfortably, and take our dogs to family gatherings and my mother to her farm (terribly raw, muddy and hilly, but the truck's 4x4 function easily took care of that). We'll need to look "beyond Ford" for this repair project, but surfing through this forum, I know it can be done.

 

[tobeybj]

Just want to point out the obvious here, the damaged ST is in the Phillipines?

If that's the case, I don't know if that's a fair price or not. I've never had to ship an engine overseas, I imagine it's fairly expensive. Best bet is a local junkyard. Short of that, new cylinder heads are MUCH less expensive to ship. Shop around with a reputable mechanic.

Wish I could give more info, but a lot of variables when pricing repair work outside of the US.

 

[05dakotatrac]

being a foreign truck you may be out of luck to do it on the cheap. as a reman engine is 2500-3040 USD that doesn't include core costs plus shipping then the crap tastic tax that will be double charged for the purchase then the shipping tax... trust me i know i have a thai wife. best of luck the price ford quoted is not far off (typical overpriced stealership) as the cost of a reman from autozone is in the range above

 

[hannahyanu]

We're towing the Sport Trac out of Ford on Thursday and getting a second opinion from a shop that's handled a number of American cars. Maybe they'll say the heads can be rephased, maybe not. Will post an update.

Meantime:

... that doesn't include core costs plus shipping then the crap tastic tax that will be double charged for the purchase then the shipping tax... trust me i know i have a thai wife.

Nothing--and I mean NOTHING--can be worse than my country's customs. Two weeks ago, in the President's State of the Nation address (like your President's State of the Union address), the customs bureau was singled out among the most incorrigible. Even its own commissioner wanted it dismantled.

Perfect timing. I called the official customs hotline and asked to be apprised on the correct procedure of importing an engine should I need to, and the exact duties and taxes I'll need to pay. I asked the examiner if it was true duties could be double or even more (!) than the value of the import. I was very emphatic:
* I'm not looking for "discounts" (that will go to private pockets anyway),
* I want the importation transparent, aboveboard (official receipts) and complete (my engine will not rot in some warehouse bec. I didn't shell out tea money).

The examiner clarified duties will be 10% of the import value + shipping + insurance, etc. I was asked for my email address so they can send a detailed computation. I will also be given a list of accredited brokers (subtext: the ones that conduct their business the way I want it).

Yep, I needed to pinch myself. Let us see...

I'm a dimwit re cars and engine repairs, let alone spare-parts imports, but there's got to be a sensible solution out there. Thanks for the inputs, tobeybj and 05dakotatrac.

 

[hannahyanu]

An update: The Trac is running, finally. Took a third-party mechanic shop two and a half months to get it running. Two months, actually, if you omit the floods that paralyzed this part of my country for almost two weeks.

I didn't have to import a new/reman engine. The original engine block was found to be still good. The cylinder heads and everything else were replaced. In all, about US$5,800 on parts and US$800 on labor. The labor component should have been $200 less had the Ford dealer not decided to take down the transmission--which the shop owner found "unnecessary." The total expense is a tiny bit more than I had hoped, but definitely much, much less than the US$12K that the Ford dealer quoted. Whew.

 

[05dakotatrac]

Glad to hear I can tell you right now that shop probably had to import heads leading to your high price