Looks like she finally bit the dust!!!! - UPDATE

[The Stigenator]

She drove me all around the state of california, she never complained once about my 6 hr jaunts every weekend for the bootycall that I had in Santa Barbara (well she was a gf). She never complained when I drove her to the middle of the NV desert on the hottest day.

Yeah sure she gave issues, but none too bad, it was all fixable. But today she died a horrible death.. she farted and blew her bottom out!

Basically I was on the way back to the office, i stopped to gas up, take some pictures of my motorcycle accident location (incidentally that happened last week on Wednesday while the car was getting smogged - it passed smog no probs) for the insurance adjuster. I got back into the car, put it in gear and it made a hell of a rattle.. i shut the engine off (or it died).

Then I tried to restart, it wouldnt. I called AAA, towed it to a mechanic, when I started it, his jaw dropped. Basically it seems (he thinks) the bottom end gave out. The crankshaft bearings are out.

I'll know the damage tomorrow, but looks like the ole focus SPI engine has finally bit the dust.

.... the doctor does say that she can be rescued with a new engine, not sure if I should. He suggested "jasper engines". Any ideas on them?

UPDATE

Diagnosis.. BEARINGS (MAIN)

not sure how that can break..

 

[potato28]

Looks like it'll run you $3000, it's a rebuilt engine basically. Google, it gets you places .

 

[sniperruff]

i'd just drop in a used engine and keep it running.

 

[The Stigenator]

so it might come down to this..

rebuild of existing engine or installation of remanufactured engine. I am not willing to put an unknown used engine in there unless its certified.

We'll find out what caused the problem. I think it mgiht be another 'valve' stem dropped into the cylinder,but he thinks its the lower crank bearing.

we'll see.

 

[CptCrunch]

I'd say rebuild the engine if you can, especially if the rest of the car has held up well. You can get used engines for fairly cheap, but the labor to install it is going to cost you a shiton. Might as well spend that money on rebuilding and save the cost of the engine.

 

[Vette73]

I have never seen a street engine blow out without some type of warning. Such as knock, oil light, over heating, etc..

Does it turn over? Has it been scanned to see if the computer is saying something? etc... Either you are leaving a lot out or this "mechanic" needs to stick to changing oil.

 

[StageLeft]

Almost certainly the car is worth more than what the engine repair/rebuild would cost, so that seems the best course.

 

[The Stigenator]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I have never seen a street engine blow out without some type of warning. Such as knock, oil light, over heating, etc..

Does it turn over? Has it been scanned to see if the computer is saying something? etc... Either you are leaving a lot out or this "mechanic" needs to stick to changing oil.

Okay in the last month.. it had an erratic idle. When it idled it was idling with a small thump you could feel, something like the injector not firing right. I was told it might be the idle air control, since it only did it in idle, if you hit the gas it would smooth out.
It only happened occasionally at first, then it got more regular and i was meaning to take it to the shop last weekend but i got busy and then i thought i'll take it this weekend.

It first started after i had put in a bottle of techron cleaner a month ago (yesterday I figured if its an injector issue, put in another bottle .. but i barely drove 10 feet with a full tank of gas, so its not the injector cleaner).

There was no knock, no over heating, no oil light, there was no code (i plugged in my code reader the other day and it showed no codes). Heck the oil was still good for another 700 miles, it wasnt burning oil, it wasnt low on oil. Heck I drove 300 miles this past weekend and it did fine.. execpt it was a bit rough on idle. once in a while it would miss a beat and you feel a small thump.. the thing is that you could never hear it if you open the engine bay up.. you can only feel it .. i could never hear anything outside the cabin area.

This engine (SOHC 8v 2.0L) is known for a few problems.. one is that stuff gets stuck / clogged in the intake and it starts to cause problems, or the valve drops of its perch / seat and into the cylinder head.

THe car starts, runs if you give it gas but makes a heck lot of rattling.like something inside rotating is hitting something.. He managed to move it from the place the tow truck driver put it down to safety of his fenced area, so it does drive!

 

[Jumpem]

I would get a new car in that position. The car is already 8 or 9 model years old, and I have yet to keep a single one for more than two.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Does it sound like this?

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
i'd just drop in a used engine and keep it running.

Yeah Focii motors can't be that expensive

 

[imported_Goo]

u should be able to find an engine for less than 1k np.

 

[The Stigenator]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
Does it sound like this?

nope the slow 'tak' noise.. but the rest of the machine noise.. yah.. somewhat like that..

its a rotating something hitting on the inside noise!

M

 

[spaceman]

i'd either get another opinion on the engine or get rid of it.

 

[spaceman]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Almost certainly the car is worth more than what the engine repair/rebuild would cost, so that seems the best course.

how much more?
not much if any if he's looking at 3k worth the work.
he'd be better off buying another running focus for a little more or something else.
i dont know, i know guys who replaced engines just doesnt seem worth the expense or headache unless you know someone or you Really love the car enough to justify it.

 

[The Stigenator]

Okay so the guy said what the cause of the problem was MAIN BEARINGS

So I told him to give me a quote on a rebuild and remanufactuered engine, i know the new engine costs 3K. I also asked him to add on the cost of changing the clutch on it.

well thats where zee stands now!

 

[The Stigenator]

So I was talking with my coworker.

He was telling me.. there is no trade in value on that car, junk yard value is 400 bucks.. However if you want you can find a person with a garage or whatever and build it into a race spec car. Fix the engine with newer / junk yard parts and rebuild!
He said the engine should be okay, once you take it apart. I am wondering if I should even think of that!

 

[Arkaign]

Go to :

Www.focusfanatics.com

They have a big buy/sell/trade community, and plenty of experience with rebuilds/swaps. You can do it for cheap, or do it for performance.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Jumpem
I would get a new car in that position. The car is already 8 or 9 model years old, and I have yet to keep a single one for more than two.

Because you are an authority on this somehow other than being a crowd pleaser at your local dealership?


Main bearings can be done from under the car many times. I'd imagine you can find a good running engine for $500. Not sure the labor difficulty on a focus. I can swap an engine on mine in a few hours.

Of course if walking away is an option that is up to your budget.

 

[crosshairs]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I have never seen a street engine blow out without some type of warning. Such as knock, oil light, over heating, etc..

Does it turn over? Has it been scanned to see if the computer is saying something? etc... Either you are leaving a lot out or this "mechanic" needs to stick to changing oil.

What type of scanner is it that checks mechanical parts?

Last time I looked at a scanner "main bearings" wasn't on the data list.

 

[BUTCH1]

I had an escort that had the dropped valve seat, similar symptoms to what happened to
you. It would lose a cylinder for a few seconds then come right back to life, a few days
later the seat fully dropped into the cylinder, had to get it towed home. I took the head
off and had it re-done at a machine shop for $150 but I also had to replace the #4 piston
as it got beat to crap. Total cost was around $300 (head, gasket kit, new piston, rings),
drove it for 20K more before I traded it in. A quick way to tell is take off the valve cover
and see if any of the valve stems seem off angle. Like alkemyst said bearings can be changed from under the car a lot of times, providing the crank is in decent shape, also
main bearings usually get noisy well before they go unless it's @ high RPM and you spin
one..

 

[PandaBear]

Crank Bearing usually is a reliable part of the engine. The most common reason is coolant or air leak that introduce abrasions that wear it out. Take some old oil to a lab for analysis and see if the head gasket is leaking, or if silicon (dust) is high that cause the problem. If bearing is the only problem, you can just replace the bearing and keep going.

Check around and see if it is common (shouldn't be), or else a used engine may have a similar issue. Were you losing coolant on a regular basis?

 

[thecritic]

If I'm not mistaken, bearing failures are fairly common on the Focus 2.0 engines. I would either replace the car or look for a very low mileage engine.