DO NOT BUY A FORD!!!! What do I do....(updated 9-20-07)

[missioncontrol]

Sorry to hear of your Ford problems, but I love my Bronco and when it bites the dust, I'll be in the market for another one.....

1987 Ford Bronco FTW

[_) (V) (-)]

Wow this thread was derailed quickly. Well I just got off of the phone with the mechanic and it looks like he cant find any used engines. It will be $4800.00 for a jasper engine installed, which I cannot afford. So I pose the question from my OP, what should I do. Any ideas? I dont see why this guy can't replace the bearing that went instead of replacing the entire engine, but I am not a mechanic either so....

He most likely doesn't want to take the chance of putting in the bearing and having another one go. Then you'd complain that he screwed you after paying him a few hundred for labor. Or maybe he doesn't own a torque wrench. It's not that hard really, and you can flush out the engine with out removing it from the car. Any chips usually fall into the bottom of the oil pan and you can wash the rest down from above. You can actually get a bearing kit with oversize ones to compansate for any wear in the crankshaft.

I'd say, yank the pan and bearing cap to see how bad the crank is worn, then make a decision.

P.S. Jasper engines (at least in this area) are known as grenades.

[lordtodd75]

Well, I got a used engine for $750.00, thank you drews arcade for the link. The mechanic says the book hours for putting in the engine come out to about $900.00, but if he does it in less time then that, he will charge me less. As soon as this hunk of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- is running it is going to get traded in. I cant wait to be out from under that truck.

I also forgot to mention that I spoke with a representative from ford a couple of days ago and she said that they would run some testing on the truck to see if the blown engine was my fault. If it was through no fault of my own that the engine went, ford would pick up the cost for repairs. I drove the truck 10 miles to the nearest dealership, doing 25 miles an hour. When I got there the guy said there was no chance I was going to get it fixed for free and that it was going to cost me around $7000.00!!! I called ford customer care and the woman I spoke with said that whoever I spoke with in my prior phone call gave me false information and that my truck was out of warrranty, so there was nothing ford was going to do to help me. After arguing for about 20 minutes I got nowhere and had to drive my truck right back home. I am currently waiting for a supervisor to call me back.

I will never buy a ford again in my life and I will do everything in my power to make sure noone else does. These ---smurfing--- customer service people are so smug. You would think considering the circumstances they would have been a little more apologetic to me, this lady just kept saying I should have bought an extended warranty. Well ---fudgesicle--- me for expecting an engine to run for 100,000 miles.

[ChadTower]

Some just end up like that... we had a Subaru Legacy that had a near dead short block at 80k.  Great car when it ran but man was it full of problems.

[ChadTower]

When we traded that Legacy in the guy walked around it, started it up and listened for two seconds, and that was it.  The engine problems never became apparent until it had been warmed up and it looked right out of the showroom.  That engine probably had another couple thousand miles in it but definitely no more.

[shardian]

When we traded that Legacy in the guy walked around it, started it up and listened for two seconds, and that was it.  The engine problems never became apparent until it had been warmed up and it looked right out of the showroom.  That engine probably had another couple thousand miles in it but definitely no more.

For the junkers, they usually just offload them at auction for whatever they can get out of it. I'm no used car sales expert, but I would venture a guess that them buying your junker as a trade-in is tax deductible as a write off loss.

[ChadTower]

Don't know that I'd call that car a junker... toss a new short block in and it was actually a really nice car.  We just didn't want it anymore after having had to pay to fix the AWD tranny that cost so damn much. 

[weasel-like_animal]

FWIW... I had a '96 full size Bronco, 5.8L v8, way past 100,000 miles with absolutely not ONE problem, aside from routine maintenance like belts and fluids, etc. Compared to my two Honda Accords, and my Audi A4, the bronco was far and away the most reliable vehicle I ever owned. Not to mention, it was unstoppable in snow, mud, and off-road. I'm still kicking myself for selling it.

That being said, my dad has a Toyota 4Runner, that has also been incredibly well-made and reliable.

[ChadTower]

Unstoppable in snow, mud, rain, earthquake... so long as there is a gas station every 100 miles.