Is this shop ripping me off? Timing chain of valve problem??

[Sil-14]

The shop I towed my car to says the timing chain has been put on, but not correctly. I 've just bought the car and I knew their was a timing problem. Th eprevious owner had the head rebuilt and put it back on himself. He said it ran kind off ****y and then stopped. I'm using the s13 harness ecu and transmission.

The shop said if the valves are bent it could cost me 800$ to fix.He also says if he can't tell whether its the chain or the valves by taking off the top of the head. I don't know that much about piston cars, but can he tell if its the valves or timing chain without dismantling top and bottom (which would cost 500$)?

and...should I just buy a another KA24de?

Also, does anyone know of any shops that are trustworthy?My buddies recommended this guy but they said they did'nt have to pay a deposit. My deposit was 250$, I have no reciept and the shop is'nt responsible for any parts stolen while its in the shop

[:: orion ::]

To remove and replace the head, even without valve work, will be 8-10hrs labor...so if the shop charges 60-80 per hour...that's in the ballpark.

You can buy a running KA for less, and swap it i in ~6hrs or so...easy stuff.

I'd go that route, or fix the current motor yourself. It's already screwed up, so why not try to fix it, learn as you go...you'll be better off in the end having tried and learned...even if you wind up putting a new KA in later if you can't fix it.

Remember, it's only nuts and bolts...and with an FSM, you can fix anything.

- Brian

[dickie]

hes correct, its not the greatest price but youre not getting ripped off. i would keep an eye out for a cheap ka but get an estimate to install a motor and add that to whatever you can find a ka for... whichever is cheaper.

take into account youre probably going to be buying tools if you plan on doing anything yourself.

[A34D4ME]

What's the car doing? If the chain is off a tooth, they can fix it without removing the head. If it's not, $800 sounds about right.

[Florida240sx]

Where are you located at?Goign down to buy a Ka motor for $300 and there is another one there 2 but I don't got room for it. This is in south FL

[Sil-14]

I'm in Maryland.

The shop is shutting down for the holiday.

What's FSM?

I'm still learning alot of piston engine terms, please excuse my ignoranceand uhhh... lazyness for not googling it or something.

[2kul]

Factory Service Manual

What's wrong with the car? Maybe people here on NICO can help you out

[TrueSlide]

KAs are easy to rebuild. Not many extra tools you need that you cant buy cheap or rent from autozone. The only expensive tool I bought was a torque wrench, 80 bucks(craftsman). I would recommend buying a engine stand($40) if you decide to do, makes the whole ordeal better. A FSM is YOUR BEST FRIEND($70 and doesnt require christmas presents or anything else) If you can afford to have the car down for awhile I would encourage you to take this task on and learn, your knowledge will triple about piston engines. Study the FSM torque specs and way everything is facing. Put the pieces back in the order you placed them in rods and pistons facing the right way, etc. etc. Little bit of machine work to get the stuff all nice and honed and resurfaced, all cheap. You can easily rebuild the KA for roughly 500.

Its whatever is good for you and willing to get into. Once you commit to the engine build, you have to rebuild it and take your time, attention to detail is what seperates a good running reliable motor to a bad one.

[Sil-14]

The car has a bad timing chain and guide. the shop says that even if they replace the chain and guide(800$) the valves could still be bent.

Should I have him fix the problem or should I find another KA24DE and do the swap myself. by the way, I know you guys know I don't know piston ngines that well, but I have done 2 RX7 13b swaps so I'm definatly not a car n00b. I also have a shop where I can do the work over a couple weeks. It has a cherry picker ect..

[TrueSlide]

For the price they want. Find a new KA, you can get running runs dirt cheap. Hell I got a extra running one for FREE, its broke apart and on the engine stand now, but it did run when I picked it up. Since your in a time crunch your best bet may be to find another KA and swap it in. Less hassel and easy as pie to do.

[A34D4ME]

What does he mean by bad chain? unless the chain broke your valves should be fine. However, if you plan on doing anything with the motor or if it has high miles, you are better of with a swap.

I had this done on my car because my motor ran sweet at 100,000 and I wasn't planning any upgrades. If I had it to do over again, I would put the $1000 toward an SR or a DET swap.

1st figure out what you have and what you want. High milage motor or plans for upgrade = swap. Motor good & no plans for upgrade = fix.