Go with a remanufactured engine?????

[kenpoed]

Recently my tensioner seized on my 05 accord and at about 75 mph, my engine got fried.

The car is in otherwise great shape, new paint, new tires etc. my options seem to be a used engine with 80k and no records, with labor and part would cost about $2800. My next option is to get rebuilt, about the same, the third is remanufactured with timing belt kit for $3600.

Any opinions on what to do? I am leaning toward remanufactured and running it. Anyone have experience doing this?

 

[nitehawk55]

For the extra $800 go with the reman , at least you know it's OK and you'll have a warranty .

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: kenpoed
Recently my tensioner seized on my 05 accord and at about 75 mph, my engine got fried.

The car is in otherwise great shape, new paint, new tires etc. my options seem to be a used engine with 80k and no records, with labor and part would cost about $2800. My next option is to get rebuilt, about the same, the third is remanufactured with timing belt kit for $3600.

Any opinions on what to do? I am leaning toward remanufactured and running it. Anyone have experience doing this?


Can you get a cheaper used engine from Japan? Google "Used japanese Honda engines" and see what you find. I know in Toronto you can get a used engine for under $1000 and install is another $500. You might be able to engine upgrade to a JDM engine with a little more horsepower. Was your engine a V6 or a 4 cyl?

Regards, JC.

 

[dishdude]

I wouldn't spend that kind of money without selecting an option that provides a warranty.

 

[TechnoLoGs]

Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
For the extra $800 go with the reman , at least you know it's OK and you'll have a warranty .


I'd have saved thousands if I did this. +1.

 

[kenpoed]

V6 engine. The shop doing it has been around 40 years and there is a 3 year unlimited miles warranty.

 

[widman]

A lot of people here buy the used Japanese engines. Most get another 70,000 miles or so on them and change again.

I bought one for my Mini. Compression check gave me 50 to 70 psi.
tearing it down to check it out I found thermostat rotted, cooling system filled with dried cleanup products, rings filled with carbon, and bearings at their limit.

For that price I'd go with reman.

 

[fdcg27]

How many miles were on the original timing belt tensioner when it failed?

 

[andyd]

When a bad fuel pump gassed the oil and eventually spun a bearing. I had the best Jeep Dlrship in MA put a re-manned 360 V8 in my 83 Wagoneer. That engine was still purring in its 3rd Jeep when I scrapped it a decade later. If you like the car ,then a fresh engine is chump change compared to an unknown "good" used car.

 

[kenpoed]

115k. At 90 k the timing belt and water pump were replaced. I had no idea the tensioner was not until it froze last week

 

[fdcg27]

Sorry about that!
I always buy a new tensioner or tensioners when doing a timing belt, whether myself or by someone else.
Cheap insurance to replace them while the thing's apart anyway.

 

[GSCJR]

That tensioner must have been howling for awhile.

 

[Kool1]

I've used a couple of remanufactured engines; ATK, Jasper and have had problems each time. One of the ATK engines had a coolant leak caused by a head bolt that was rotted. ATK used a bad head bolt that was corroded and leaked coolant into the oil. I argued with them over the problem but in the end I had to eat the labor costs and they only paid for a set of head bolts and gaskets. On the Jasper remanufactured engine I had a knock on startup. It ended up that the oil pan had a baffle which ocassionally was hit by the crank at certain loads. I ended up removing the pan, finding the problem and dimpling the baffle to clear the crankshaft.

If it was me, I'd find a competent local machinist, remove the engine, and let my local machinist perform his magic. There is nothing better than a trusted local machinist. I found a guy about 10 years ago and have used him exclusively without any issues. He is almost godlike to me.

 

[Vikas]

Can somebody explain what does it really means by "tensioner seized"? Are we talking about the tensioner pulley stopped from spinning? If the tensioner itself siezed, so what? It would still be exerting pressure on the belt.

Who did the postmortem? Was it the same shop who had done the timing job 15K before? By any chance, was that an independent mechanic? Were OEM parts used in the job?

The reason I am asking these questions is the tensioner itself is usually not changed on Honda for the first timing belt job. Idler pulley and tensioner pulley are usually changed and most elect to change the water pump although there are some dealers who do it without the waterpump first time. Obviously, they look at the tensioner and have to pre-tension it again before putting it in. They can determine if it can last another 105K miles or not.

While at it, you might as well put the new transmission on it You know that as far as Honda V6 vehicles are concerned, you can get used engine quite cheap because most of them get saved wen the transmission gives up.

 

[Lyman]

I have known a few guys that went with the used Japanese engines. None of them ever had problems and they were cheap to have swapped in. I know one of them only paid $1200 for the swap. Very common around here.

 

[Donald]

I would go with a used engine or a reman from Jasper or Marshall. I have a reman Marshall engine in my Jeep with almost 40K on the engine.

While a local shop may have very skilled people, they simply cannot afford some of the high tech and expensive machines that the large companies who do thousands of engines a year can.

Also Jasper for one (others may also) will often upgrade parts in a weak area of an engine so in that in specific areas, it will be better than when the engine was new.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: kenpoed
V6 engine. The shop doing it has been around 40 years and there is a 3 year unlimited miles warranty.


Is that the SOHC or DOHC V6 engine?

 

[kenpoed]

Dohc

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Donald
I would go with a used engine or a reman from Jasper or Marshall. I have a reman Marshall engine in my Jeep with almost 40K on the engine.

While a local shop may have very skilled people, they simply cannot afford some of the high tech and expensive machines that the large companies who do thousands of engines a year can.

Also Jasper for one (others may also) will often upgrade parts in a weak area of an engine so in that in specific areas, it will be better than when the engine was new.




I like Marshall engines, but Jasper has been a turn off for me. One of the guys in a local Jeep club had an '01 Wrangler with a cracked 0331 head. The heads commonly crack on late '99 - '02 4.0L engines. Since his head crack had gone unnoticed for awhile, his bearings were toast and he needed a new engine (zero oil pressure at hot idle).

He called Jasper and asked if their engines came with heads that were the revised version. The head cracking problem is pretty well known. The guys at Jasper told him that the head cracking problem does not exist, and whoever told him about it was lying and trying to make money off of him.

He ended up going with a local rebuilder's short block with a new version cylinder head, and has about 20k miles on it last I saw him.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Can somebody explain what does it really means by "tensioner seized"? Are we talking about the tensioner pulley stopped from spinning? If the tensioner itself siezed, so what? It would still be exerting pressure on the belt.


I would assume timing belt tensioner and since it's a Honda I would further assume that it's an interference engine.

I have a car with a Jasper engine in it that has 143K miles on it and it's perfectly fine. The only thing that went wrong on it (ironically) was the timing belt tensioner, and I was still able to drive the car to a shop (the tensioner got loose over time, making it really hard to diagnose). That was at around the 60K mark for this engine.