How much should I pay to have a new engine (labor only) installed?

[UberDemon]

I have an 03 base model FWD with 130k. Engine appears to be toast (tick > rat'a'tat'att > knock. I'm not qualified to diagnose, but i suspect the oil pump may have failed. FWIW once the rattle stage started it would always make the rattle when the throttle was released). I'm still researching pricing on used engines but it looks like it might be feasible (my magic # on whether i throw in the towel is ~$2000 TOTAL). How much should I look to pay to have the old one pulled and new installed? How much would the old engine be worth in scrap value? Should I factor that into the price when negotiating?Also, if anyone lives in the cincinnati-dayton area and wants to make a bid to offer your services i am all ears.

[star_deceiver]

Have you called various shops/dealers/backyard mechanics for quotes?

[keithvibe]

The engine price will vary with mileage. Typically though 700-1k for the engine and another 1000-1200 for the install.

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by UberDemon » I'm not qualified to diagnose, but i suspect the oil pump may have failed. Seems like there haven't been a lot of oil pump failures (outside of the GT owners who used underdrive pulleys that got rid of a harmionic balancer) I can't remember the symptoms, but something worth checking out is the much more failure prone sepentine belt tensioner. If the engine is cold, you can take off the belt and run it, if the noise is still there then that tells you it's not any of the belt driven pieces, if it goes away then it's probably not an engine internal.My 03 was developing a tap/rattle/knock, and I replaced the rod bearings a year ago, still running great (and quiet). Can check/replace those without pulling the engine. $30 and a couple of hours on your back.Why do you suspect the oil pump failed, are there other indications you didn't mention? A new engine and install is a good chunk of change, I'd want to be sure it was needed before getting that done. It might be worth taking it in to a shop and getting a second opinion.You asked for labor only install costs, does that mean you've already got a replacement engine? Somne junkyards will give a decent price break if you buy an engine from them and have them install it.

[UberDemon]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »The engine price will vary with mileage. Typically though 700-1k for the engine and another 1000-1200 for the install.Thanks, it's nice to have at least some ballpark figures to start with. I am very much out of my element here (i am very much a beginner when it comes to cars, i only recently learned how to do my own brake jobs and have swapped out an alternator (not in the vibe though).

[UberDemon]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Why do you suspect the oil pump failed, are there other indications you didn't mention? A new engine and install is a good chunk of change, I'd want to be sure it was needed before getting that done. It might be worth taking it in to a shop and getting a second opinion.I was searching the archives and found a thread (sorry, dunno how to link here yet) from another user who had a somewhat identical story. I'm a novice *at best* when it comes to cars, so it's just a guess.Other indications, yeah. Over the summer I noticed a tick one day and checked the oil and it was way low, had to put ~ 2.5 quarts in it, maybe even 3. I use synthetic and change about every 8k since i've owned it (bought in jan 09 with 79k miles, it's now got about 125k as i drive a lot for work but mostly hwy). I was confused because it's never leaked on the driveway, nor have i noticed a smoky exhaust. I changed the oil soon after, checked it obsesively for the next few weeks and had no issues until Friday. I was pushing it pretty hard (which I don't do constantly, but I do occasionally abuse the throttle for some fun). I came to a stop and when I accelerated I noticed the tick which then became a rattle pretty quickly. I drove it longer than I should have, about 20 miles (babying it and staying under 2500 rpm and mostly succeeding in managing to not create the rattle) home when i then checked the oil. 3 quarts low. yikes. Topped it off, tick and rattle did not go away as before. Drove it again that day, wife was bitten by a brown recluse spider and had to take her to ER, again babying it, wouldn't notice the rattle much at all keeping it ~ 2500. The next day (yesterday) I had to drive 50 miles away for a job (i am a technology contractor, if i had canceled i would have lost a client worth much more than 1 dead engine, but i still wish i'd figured something else out i.e. a rental car!!). The car died 35 miles into the trip. The final nail in the coffin was that i drove it on the highway, which i am sure is what ultimately killed it. Quote, originally posted by joatmon »You asked for labor only install costs, does that mean you've already got a replacement engine? Somne junkyards will give a decent price break if you buy an engine from them and have them install it.No, I've just been looking around online trying to get an idea on prices and have a good idea how much an engine should cost but not so much on the install. Trying to make sure i get a fair deal and not get ripped off. I will definitely be calling around to some junkyards in the coming days to see what inventory they have and ask for quotes on the installation too.Also, as for the 2nd opinion, yes most definitely. I am trying to find a qualified person who knows toyota motors who can at least take a look and see what he thinks. If I can find my camera battery i'll try posting a vid here on genvibe to see what you guys think of the sound, but i'm hesitant to try to run it. I don't know if it's seized or not, once it started doing it's swan dive i killed the ignition and tried starting it one time, i think the crank was turning over but slowly and it didn't sound good so i turned it off and let it coast to a stop and haven't messed with it since having it towed home.If anyone lives in the Dayton/Cinci area and wants to take a look i'd be happy to pay for your time if it's reasonable. I know some guys could probably just take a stethoscope to it and know pretty much what the story is.

[joatmon]

that's a lot more evidence than just a noise. car-part.com is a good junkyard lookup tool. Not sure exactly where you are, but there's a yard in Circleville OH selling an 03 1ZZ engine with only 63K miles on it for $700, with a warranty. That one might be hard to beat. http://www.marshallsautoparts.com/good luck, keep us posted

[UberDemon]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »car-part.com is a good junkyard lookup tool. Not sure exactly where you are, but there's a yard in Circleville OH selling an 03 1ZZ engine with only 63K miles on it for $700, with a warranty. That one might be hard to beat. http://www.marshallsautoparts.com/good luck, keep us postedDamn, that is hard to beat! Thanks!! I was going to post that I found one for $700 on craigslist with 65k but it's from an '05 and from a private seller so no warranty, and I wasn't sure if that was compatible with my 03 or if it would require modifications that would push the price up. The '05 is closer (about 50 mins away, the other one you located is about 1.5 hours). I will call the yard and see if they install or have a relationship with someone close by who does.

[UberDemon]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »that's a lot more evidence than just a noise. Any guesses as to what might have happened? Could the oil have been leaking only when the car was running and that's why I never had any oil on the driveway? Is 8000 miles too long of an interval for synthetic? I was using Mobil 1 0w30. I was told that you can go 10,000 between changes with synthetic so thought 8000 should be fine. Was it a mistake to use 0w30?

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by UberDemon »Any guesses as to what might have happened? Could the oil have been leaking only when the car was running and that's why I never had any oil on the driveway? Is 8000 miles too long of an interval for synthetic? I was using Mobil 1 0w30. I was told that you can go 10,000 between changes with synthetic so thought 8000 should be fine. Was it a mistake to use 0w30? I don't know if using 0w30 is a mistake or not, probably not, really. some of us have had these engines develop a mysterious oil loss In mine I have to check it and periodically add some. For now, it's just easier for me to keep feeding it oil, not sure if I'll ever dig into it enough to try to really figure it out. 8K is not an unreasonable amount of time to go between synthetic oil changes, but it would be a long time to go between checking the oil level. The owners manual says to check the oil level at each fuel fill, but I probably check it about every two or three. More often right after an oil change, just to make sure I didn't screw anything up, less often later, when it settles into a somewhat predicatable oil usage rate