can anyone rebuild my engine in vancouver?

[mikeinaus]

hello everyone. im new to posting in the forums but ive been browsing them for the past 6 months. in may i bought a 92 mx3 v6 with about 289km on it. after i bought it i found out it was only firing on 5 of the cylinders. since then my gas milage keeps getting worse and im loosing power. since i bought it ive invested over $1000 in new parts (rad, tie-rods, exhaust, tires, rear breaks). im pretty sure my engine is about to go and that i need to get it rebuilt. my problem is im going back to school and i cant really afford to pay a shop to rebuild it for me, and the resale on it as it is probably less then what i can get a decent car for. im wondering if anyone in the vancouver area would be able to rebuild it for me for a decent price? is it even worth rebuilding with this many kms? other work i know i need done is a wheel bearing, catalytic converter and an alignment. basically want to know my options from people who know more about these cars?

was also just driving it and noticed it started to overheat. pulled over and my coolant was empty. my engine was soaked near my air filter so im hoping i just burst a hose, and that its not my water pump... im going to look at it more tomorrow when i have some daylight.

[Dali]

hey, welcome to the club. i wouldn't bother rebuilding the motor, if you have any mechanical skill or know anyone who does go to pick a part in chilliwack and pick up a used motor for 200.00, they were just on sale last week for 125.00 i think. even a cheap rebuild will set you back at least 600.00. as for the other problems wheel bearings are not hard to do but you need a press to get the bearings out and in. do this before a wheel alignment. i have picked up a couple of motors from pick a part and they worked just great, they do have a warranty as well. here is the link http://www.pickapart.ca/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; as well if you still have your car after fixing it, we have a meet for the mx-west division in kelowna every july and camp out for the week/weekend. you should check it out in the mxwest section. other than that im not too sure who is down in the vancouver area anymore.

[onlytrueromeo]

You can change an engine if you are mechanically inclined, and have access to a bunch of common tools. The only thing you will need to borrow/rent/buy is an engine hoist.

I would suggest working in a garage, but i did mine under a car-port in my backyard. Plenty of metric sockets/wrenches are really what you need. I think the hardest part for me was getting the axle nuts off.

How much money do you have to spend? How is your clutch? Would you like an upgrade in power? How much time do you have to do this, and do you have a 2nd car to use in the meantime?

Having no experience and all the parts in front of you and tools required, you can do this on a long weekend as long as you aren't replacing everything in the engine bay also.

IMO the hardest part is working w/ the axles and lining up the engine when you're taking it out/putting it in. For this you need help from people to make sure the engine isn't hitting anything.

[mikeinaus]

its my first car so i dont really know how to tell if a clutch is going or not but i havent had any problems getting into any gears or anything like that. i dont really care about an increase in power or not. hoping to spend as little as possible. ideally under $500 if thats even possible. im kind of at the point where its probably not worth putting more money into and that i should probably just scrap it and buy something a little more reliable. as for mechanically inclined i do have a haines repair manual and i have done all the work to it myself. im sure i could probably figure out an engine swap myself but id be alot happier with someone who knows what there doing supervising.

[wytbishop]

Do what you can to get the ignition sorted out so that it runs reasonably well and then drive it till it explodes. Get a good set of plug wires (I have a nice set of NGKs for sale right now) and get all 6 cylinders firing. Replace the fuel filter. Make sure there are no leaks in the intake. Get it idling correctly and start saving for a real engine. With a little planning it’s quite easy to replace the engine.

My first K8 burned about a liter of oil per 1000km and it ran fine and still had ok power. I’m guessing your power loss is related to the ignition problems you have.

[solo_ryder]

Gimme a call and I will look at it for free. I'm in the white rock/surrey area but can travel to abby and van, I don't mind

[mikeinaus]

well i just refueld and my last 144km cost me $35 in gas... i dont know if my tank is leaking or what but thats almost half the milage i got a couple of months ago.

as for the ignition wires, im pretty sure the ones i have are semi new. the guy i bought it from said he had replaced them recently so they should be good. i also replaced the spark plugs when i bought the car so im not too sure about the ignition... it starts fine, i just have to have my idle set a little high to compensate for the dead cylinder. i also replaced the fuel filter when i bought the car in may.

the car had been sitting for like a year before i bought it and when i first got it it had a weird problem with random power loss. as my rpm would climb my engine would just cut out to idle then it got progressively worse to the point where i couldnt even give it any gas and basically had to sit on the side of the road. i thought it was due to a faulty tps sensor, or debris in my gas tank/clogged fuel filter. the problem seemed to just fix itself thow so i figured it was just debris in my tank, and i havnt had any problems since so i havnt thought much about it.

i checked my air filter a couple of days ago and it was pretty clean for the most part. which seems a little odd for me seeing as how i used to park it in a dusty tow yard and drive it down dirt roads quite a bit in the summer. my air intake is covered in duct tape so that could be leaking which would make sense for the filter being clean.

is there anyway to get a dead cylinder firing without a rebuild? thanks solo i really appreciate your help. ill give you a call when i get some free time. maybe we can meet up for the weekend if your available.

[solo_ryder]

I wont be here on the weekend as I will be in Calgary from Thurs-Tues. But any time before or after that will work.

[mikeinaus]

alright ill give ya a call tomorrow and maybe we can meet up wednesday or tomorrow afternoon or something

[solo_ryder]

Sure sounds good!

[Evo_Spec]

I wont be here on the weekend as I will be in Calgary from Thurs-Tues. But any time before or after that will work.

what you coming to calgary for? you can take me for that ride i missed out on =D

[solo_ryder]

My car doesn't see snow man. I'm flying there.

[ooELMOoo]

Where are you located? I want to come and peak! Have you gone already solo>

[mikeinaus]

yeah solo dropped by a couple weeks ago and convinced me to get a new motor. ive got it and started the swap today but i cant get the axel nuts off. no sockets big enough and vice grips are useless. gonna buy a new socket tomorrow and hopefully i can get that fucker off. your welcome to come help if your interested. located near hastings and nanaimo...

i need to be finished by wednesday at the latest so hopefully tomorrow goes alot better.

[solo_ryder]

U got PM man, I will be out there tomorrow