What a cruddy day this was......

I got woke up this morning by a call from my son who was on his way to work. The car had broken down. He was on the side of the interstate and need me to come and help. (He's 18, knows nothing about cars and sounded pretty nervous)

So, I roll out and get dressed, go and find him and sure enough, the car is dead. He said it was making a horrible noise and not driving right so he pulled over. Several dash lights were on as he pulled over and shut it down.

I took him to work, where he found out he was being let go. (When it rains it pours right?) So we went to Wallyworld and bought a tow strap. Went back out to the car on the interstate and hooked it up, towed it home and had a tiny speck of good luck. My neighbor is a mechanic at a local Toyota dealership, and the car happens to be a Toyota Camry. He saw us coming up the street and walked over to see what he could tell. Had my son start it and immediately had him shut it down. He said it is getting ready to throw a rod.

So, the Toyota is parked until we have the money to get a used or rebuilt motor for it. My neighbor says he will put it in for free. He's going to call around to a few places he knows and see if he can locate one. Says it will probably be about $500 and he happens to be off all this next week so he can do it for us in a day he says. Problem is, I don't have the money right after Christmas so I think it will have to wait until tax refund time around the first of February.

That's the way it goes I guess. We'll get it fixed up, it'll just have to wait a while. If there is a good side, at least the boy doesn't have to worry about how he will get to work. But he's going to have a hard time finding something else with no car to drive to put in applications a such.

There goes your XD... tough break.

$500 for a replaced engine? All said and done? Absolutely amazing deal. Sorry for your son.

The question is why did it throw a rod? Was it starved for oil?

FWIW if it did throw a rod, the entire bottom end might be toasted since I believe those have aluminum cranks and they don't stand up well to catastrophic failure. There might even be damage to the head if that much slap is going in...... it might have swallowed a valve. If the mileage is high I'd look for a junkyard engine from a wreck and just drop that in.....

I just get the feeling that when that engine is opened up a lot more than $500 is going to add up....... a junkyard engine might end up being a far cheaper option.....

When my wife blew up our Taurus I was able to find an engine with 20k miles on it for $450 bucks...... and dropping it in was cheaper than any rebuild. I worked for Ford at the time and had a tech drop it in for me after hours.

We won't be rebuilding the one that is in it now. We are going to buy a junk yard motor and put it in. And yes, the oil starvation is a real possibility. As I said, he doesn't know much about cars and no matter how hard I try to teach him, he doesn't seem to get it. He's a computer and video game geek, not a motor head.

I've had days like that, with engine replacement and all... 'Bout your son, is he military material? I hear the Army is looking for some good quality grunts. Nice paycheck, benefits, money for college, etc.
Go Army

$500 for a rebuilt engine is about right and free labor it's a great deal!

Sorry to hear that. It's seldom a good time to lose a job (I say "seldom" because sometimes good things happen upon a job loss/career change), and never a good time to lose an engine.

What a nice neighbor.

Ouch...I know what you mean about the boy and cars. Mine went on 5+ fender benders and knew little about car general maintenance (nor really cared)...now I chuckle because he is an Army butter bar in Armor (tanks).

Always a ray of hope (or is that light at the end of the tunnel and not a train)

Rick

Sorry for the news, but, your son did the right thing, and you're all safe.