Should i rebuild engine or buy a used one?
Asked by Patrick Jan 06, 2021 at 10:29 PM about the 1997 Ford Expedition 4 Dr XLT SUV
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I'm buying an expedition from a family member who parked it for 1 year
because they sent it to a horrible mechanic who was gonna fix the engine
and when they were fixing it, they dropped a button from there shirt into the
engine and stop working on it and my family member just got it towed back
to there house and it sat, so I'm going to buy it but I don't know if I want to
Rebuild the engine or replacing it with a used one off of eBay
Help will be very appreciated.
14 Answers
Price the two options and see if you can afford them. Both options will likely cost more than it is worth.
to get a used one off of eBay will be 400-700+ dollars. A rebuild kit will cost about 200-500 depending on which one I need and it will be the one that costs a lot because the engine has a button in it the cheapest is the head gasket kit.
It was a little button of a shirt what if nothing will happen to my engine? - I haven't even started this truck up Last time it was started up was in 2019?
A rebuild kit is only a small part of rebuilding an engine. The machine work will likely be thousands. A used engine is probably just a core as they are probably worn out. At best a used engine is a gamble and regardless of what you do there is the installation cost.
If the engine was never started after the button incident remove the head and remove the button. You might even get lucky and remove it with a shop vac.
That $700 used engine, and installation costs will be close to $2K. Your also looking at draining the fuel tank and changing other fluids since the vehicle sat for over a year. I would not purchase the vehicle unless you want to drive it a few years to recoup the money you will spend.
the engine was never started after that we just towed it home and it sat there ever since. I trying to get it running and driving so that I can use it as a family SUV.
I wouldn't even consider it. The vehicle is 24 years old and it will cost way more to fix it than it's worth. You can buy something much newer in running condition for the money you'd spend on this vehicle. Family member or not, you can do better!! Hope that helps! Jim
thanks for the advice I might just go buy this Chevrolet suburban for 6k with 200k miles 3rd row and leather. I'm going to think more about this!
A Suburban with 200,000 miles on it is probably not the way to go either. You were on the right track considering a Ford Product, just not that particular one! Hope that helps! Jim
A cheap car upfront will cost you a lot more in the backend. Save up and buy a quality car.
I might take the Expedition for free or for scrap value ($200). If you are somewhat mechanically inclined you can work on it as a project but don't pay more than that. If it were in good shape and road worthy it would probably be worth less than 2 grand.
I will think about this and see what I'm going to do thank you all for the advice Thanks!
You're welcome! Glad to help! Jim
