Need to replace burned engine [SOLVED with junkyard engine]

[bakili]

Hey guys, I'm shell shocked, no other way to describe it. My 2006 Sport M35 has only 96K miles on it and it was due for an oil change right about now. I went for 1800 mile trip and made a huge mistake of not checking oil, thinking I'll get to destination and I'm due for oil change anyway so I left it at that. Had no warning signs, no oil gage sign, no overheating sign, no service engine soon sign,nothing was dripping, nothing was smelling, nada! It just stopped. I was driving to Houston (where I am now) from SF bay and completely spaced out on checking engine oil, relying on my dashboard.

Apparently my royal purple completely burned out and mechanic here in Houston (Upland automotive, rated highly) says it's all crunchy and I need a new engine. They are quoting me $5K (2400 for all the work at 90/hr and 2400 for new engine with 91K) to do the swap. I do want to fix my car but I am in between jobs right now and I can't afford myself to spend this much. It is my only car but I do have couple of friends that can give me rides. I need help fellas.

I wish I would be able to do it myself but I neither have tools nor done more work than changing manifold and sparkplugs. Do you know anyone in Houston, TX area where I can do swapping engine work cheaper and still get decent work done? I see engines on ebay for $1K with shipping. Any help would be appreciated, I'm still dazed and I still have 9.5K worth of payments on the car and I really like my M35.

[Mjkkb2]

Sorry to hear this. $2.4k seems quite reasonable to me for the effort involved. Good luck, that sucks

[EniGmA1987]

I tried Royal Purple once. Once. I made sure to be checking it every other week to see the oil level and status of oil, and my engine sure ate through it :O Im not sure what it is about this oil but my engine did not like it at all. Never used the stuff again.

I do have a 3rd engine I am looking to sell, it has upgraded rods (the weakest part of the engine) but it does require a little bit of work and cleanup since it has been sitting for a couple years (completely wrapped though so shouldnt be too bad). I would be looking for the same price as you see on Ebay though so not really saving anything there, and Ebay engines might need a bit less work than mine so it might be the best way for you to go.

[cruzad3r]

i'm not sure one can blame the oil/brand as a culprit. surely if your engine is burning through oil, it doesn't matter what oil brand you're using, you need to check the oil level often.

i'm interested in learning what "swappable" engine you can use - i'm sure there are many variations of the VQ35DE.

[EniGmA1987]

i'm not sure one can blame the oil/brand as a culprit. surely if your engine is burning through oil, it doesn't matter what oil brand you're using, you need to check the oil level often.

i'm interested in learning what "swappable" engine you can use - i'm sure there are many variations of the VQ35DE.

na it totally matters. Royal Purple in my car burned through 3 quarts of oil in a month. Mobile 1 synthetic same weight burned through about 2 quarts in 3-4 months. Same weight oil but regular stuff (not synthetic) burns maybe a half quart of oil every 6 months (when I do oil changes)

[bakili]

na it totally matters. Royal Purple in my car burned through 3 quarts of oil in a month. Mobile 1 synthetic same weight burned through about 2 quarts in 3-4 months. Same weight oil but regular stuff (not synthetic) burns maybe a half quart of oil every 6 months (when I do oil changes)

0_0 I wish I knew that beforehand when I used Royal Purple. Besides I had a perfect storm of things go wrong. Neither temperature or oil sensors showed anything out of the ordinary. Anyways... I would be interested in engine options. Work seems to hover around the same cost, but if I could get salvaged engine for less than $1400 shipped and know it is solid, I'd be super happy to save a $1K!

[EdBwoy]

OP, sorry for your loss. A g35 or 350z engine would be a good option. Junkyards, ebay, etc... I also usually see a JDM engine importer posting various engines in Chicago. I'm sure there are others all over the States, just have to make sure the engine codes are the same and they guarantee the same (or better ) performance as OEM.

...Had no warning signs, no oil gage sign, no overheating sign, no service engine soon sign,nothing was dripping, nothing was smelling, nada! It just stopped...

I usually refer to the oil gauge warning light as a cracked engine light. I haven't tested this theory, but I bet if I ran my engine with the bare minimum lubrication to run the cylinders, that light still wouldn't come on. The crankcase would still have enough pressure from the air, which would activate that discrete switch. Basically, if you see that light outside of normal startup, your goose is cooked.

[EniGmA1987]

Yes the VQ35DE engines are used in G35 and 350Z's of many model years too. The only ones you really have to watch out for are the DE's made for FWD cards like the altima, which are not compatible with our RWD vehicles. The RWD versions tend to be more expensive because they are used in the better cars, so if you think you see a great deal on a DE, be sure to check it is properly compatible and not the wrong version.

[bakili]

I am happy to say that my beauty is running again. I used car-part.com website and found an engine with only 86K miles (car had 96K at that moment) in Dallas area at a salvage yard. I am in Houston but decided to trust good reviews of the yard and due to their incredible offer to swap the engine and give 3 months warranty if I do it with them (instead of 2 months) I shipped the car to them. Couple of weeks later I have picked up my car and ran three bottles of seafoam through the new engine. They charged $2250 for the whole job (shipping the car to them, engine, new spark plugs, coils, starter and installation labor included) instead of $5300-5500 I've been quoted in every single mechanics shop.

few weeks after the swap I still kept getting a bit more of vibration that I'm used to, finally after few mechanics have taken a look at it they said that my sway bar is touching my oil pan. It was really weird because the engine was out of same year RWD car. So I drove back to Dallas area and they have custom cut and installed spacers and now she is as quiet and smooth as she should be (of course covered by their warranty). Unsurprisingly one of my cats (P0430) has gone bad, and because I have still managed to pass inspection I just order pair of Megan test pipes .

Polished and waxed her, redone the front bumper and sidemirrors with maaco, leather honeyed the interior, got upholstery shop fix driver seat outer cushion, touched up my wheel paint job and about to install test pipes and basic Motordyne 5/16 and UpRev after with seymore4 (in addition to already having Megan axle backs, z tube and drop in K&N). I love this car and happy she is back in full force!

[milto0n]

Only 2200 god damn that's a good deal.

[Ilya]

Nice! Glad you got it all sorted.

[Larz]

Rex, Scooby, Tala, Harley, Fertucini and I just did the 'happy dog dance' for you! So happy you're all sorted and back on the road !

[bakili]

Rex, Scooby, Tala, Harley, Fertucini and I just did the 'happy dog dance' for you! So happy you're all sorted and back on the road !

Thank you guys!