remanufactured engine WARRANTY - good, mediocre, or bad?

[B and C]

Biggest problems are you are in the sticks and the rust belt.

That being said there's two problems with replacing the van.
1. Location = Deep in the rust belt
2. Location = Deep in the rust belt

OK, to make my point, finding a van without or very little rust in your location would be problematic even over in Green Bay. If you were able to stumble on a garage kept, never driven in the snow one, it might be worth considering. However, then you need to move your existing interior over to the new van. I remember that you really like the interior and it is cold there. Almost any vehicle can be kept on the road indefinitly. It is not how much the vehicles blue book value is, it is what is it worth to you to keep from having to do a lot of other work (move interior) if you got another one of unknown dependability. All vehicles after a while need work. Things wear out. You just hope that a lot of things don't wear out at the same time. If you were out of the rust belt, we could probably find you another vehicle and the only problem then would be moving the interior. If you can't tell, I am biased toward keeping your existing van.

Your existing van seems to be in pretty good condition otherwise and it is ready to go short of an engine. If you really like the van (other than the blown engine), does it make sense to throw it away for another unknown one? I used to buy junk yard engines and found them to be reliable. In those days, you actually got to see the engine in the vehicle before you bought it. I would look at the overall condition of the vehicle like I was buying the whole thing minus the damage. I don't think it works that way now, they are on a shelf or pallet. Be sure to pull a valve cover to see if there is sludge there and have them do a compression test. Sure sign of abused engine is the sludge, no frequent oil changes and/or run hot. Run away. Looking, There is not a salvage yard anywhere near you so kinds rules out wrecking yard engine anyway. Nearest one is in Escambia about 50 miles away.

Very hard to give advice from this far away.

Wish I was better help

 

[highdesertranger]

doesn't Chrysler offer brand new factory replacement engines like GM. I have had bad experiences with Jasper in the past. I also wouldn't trust that place that minivanmotoman posted. first they say they won't charge extra for a bad core then they say that the prices they posted are for a good rebuildable core, so what is it? I don't trust shops that use double speak. highdesertranger

 

[Firtree]

Not commenting on keep van or what engine. Just a story

Several years ago visited Wis. in a 20 year old van from the west coast. A local shop Refused to do an oil change on the van because they were afraid to/would not put it on the lift using the frame. They said it was likely rusted out and could break. After telling them it was a west coast vehicle they still refused, saying they had too many problems with old vehicles because of the salt.
They did refer me to a shop that had a lift using the wheels

So IMO no vehicles from Midwest.

 

[ssminnow]

Really nice van, 1 hour left. Only 45000 on it and it looks like new! Good Luck! https://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/aucitsrh/?sl=41QSCI19832002

 

[MrNoodly]

...they were afraid to/would not put it on the lift using the frame... ...They did refer me to a shop that had a lift using the wheels...

(At the risk of swerving this thread off topic) Don't they have the type of oil change places back there where you drive over a pit?

 

[Firtree]

(At the risk of swerving this thread off topic) Don't they have the type of oil change places back there where you drive over a pit?

Small town, visiting, maybe if I’d driven an hour or so. Bottom line they knew vehicles of a certain age were very rusted frame wise and flat out refused. The drive on wheel lift served similar purpose as a pit

 

[Homeless in Canada]

Another option is to find a donor truck. Since you're in the snow belt you should be able to get a rusted out winter beater with a healthy engine for a few hundred bucks.

The advantage of buying a donor vehicle is you can take it for a good test drive and if the engine doesn't blow bring it to a mechanic for a more thorough inspection. You don't need a complete vehicle inspection either you just want to know if the motor's any good.

This will also provide you some temporary transportation until you gather enough resources to do the transplant.

Then you can even recover some of the money by selling other parts you don't need or keeping some of the things you can use like newer seats or a transmission.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

There is a link to a donor van in the other thread.
May end up going for very little money.

 

[Master Mechanic]

warranty covers defect in material or workmanship any problem will happen right away not 5 years from now. spending money for longer warranty is useless.
motor from wrecking yards if u now how engine should sound or have a mechanic get it for ya its cheap way to go. a wrecked van low miles be good start. it was running when hit. some wrecking yards do installs again a cheaper price. some one there may install it as a side job.
remanufactured engine there many places other than jasper. local repair shop or parts store maybe best price.

any rubber gas line have replaced when installing engine save ya problems later.

 

[Lj Unlimited]

Kaylee,

I had a re-manufactured engine installed in my Cherokee XJ in the spring of 2017. I got it from an outfit in Grand Rapids MI that re-manufactures them. In my case I just had them do the install since they are only 30 miles away. But they do ship all over the great lakes area. 28k miles later I have no regrets. I assume your van has a 360. Below is a link to their site. Also, if you can get up to Marquette MI you may find more garages who could do the install. I can't specifically recommend anyone as I haven't lived there for the last 28 years.

https://accurateengines.com/remanufactured-engines/chrysler/360-engine/

 

[Master Mechanic]

a few tips - air conditioning Compressor seizes up engine will not turn over. u may think engine seized or bad starter or battery. happened to me

snow ice blocking tail pipe engine will not run.

 

[Gr8ful]

Green Bay will be your best bet for an engine. Here's a van https://greenbay.craigslist.org/cto/d/oconto-ford-e350-extended-1-ton-xlt/6807818435.html 
Here's a list of Jasper installershttps://www.jasperengines.com/find-an-installer  I ran a lumber company & we used Jasper, had 1 issue they corrected right away. 3 year/100,ooo mile warrenty. Have you had the engine checked by a mechanic? I'm reading the post above mine & don't know?

 

[Kaylee]

LJ - thanks!!! That's exactly the kind of info I wanted.

It's a 318.

 

[Kaylee]

air conditioning Compressor seizes up engine will not turn over. u may think engine seized

Interesting!
The first shop mentioned that the belt (or something???) for the a/c was missing, so there's a chance they did something that might have done that.
How would I check for that?


Gr8ful: It was diagnosed by a mechanic at a very highly rated shop.

Summary of original thread:
I bought the van in Oregon, drove (gently) to SD, registered it, it broke down the next day (in central SD).
Shop did a head overhaul (without informing/quoting/asking me), and replaced a bunch of hoses, changed oil & coolant.
I drove to northeast WI, spent almost a month (without driving) finalizing the van and working on some telecommute volunteer projects, left to Go South, drove 3 miles and the engine died.
Got towed to highly rated local shop (which does not do engine replacements - their bays are too small).

 

[Master Mechanic]

a/c belt u can loosen or take off try starting with a charged battery. the a/c pully should spin. having separate a/c belt is a good thing.
not driving is worst thing to do moisture does bad things to brakes, cables and other things.

i had a ford diesel truck with one belt. it set couple days would not turn over. thinking a battery id charge few hours it started up. then sometime driving it would slow down then back up to speed. now i am thinking transmission. blew the belt yep it was a/c. this drove me nuts for a long time i was only driving 12 miles at a time.

u said engine died did it smoke and make lots of noise like a grinder this happens when a engine blows. if just quit can be many things like lose wire to fuel pump.

best tips i can give over internet

 

[Kaylee]

Could someone give me the actual cost of the correct engine at Jasper, and/or any of the other places recommended?
I'm cybersafe, so most of those sites don't work for me.
Plus, um, I'm a car Muggle/ignoramus/Pakled.

It's a 1987 Dodge B250 with a "318" engine.

Thanks, lots of great info here!
Monday, one of my top two tasks is talking with one more shop (gave them my info Friday, and they're supposed to quote me), so I'd like to know if they're BS-ing me.

The other is finding an SSDI lawyer.
JD-da-Grouch convinced me to dig deeper, and it turns out that I do qualify for SSDI.
I wouldn't get any "backpay", but I could get those years dropped from averaging, which would significantly increase what I'd receive, plus, if approved I'd get income, so definitely worth the effort.
Unfortunately, SSA's site isn't cybersafe, so it will involve much head-bashing.

 

[Weight]

So sorry. I went on line with jasper and tried to find pricing information, but they wanted to much personal information. I can't be cyberrisked so you can be cybersafe. I will talk to my mechanic, but don't hold much hope for a straight answer.

 

[B and C]

After clicking through their site to get a price, it said to call Jasper for availability: (800) 827-7455 Glad I have a junk email address to put in these sites that require one.

Called and got Shane, a sales person. If you decide to call, his extension is 13861.

He quoted $2832 for the engine +$75 for freight both ways. There is a core charge of $315 that should be refunded. Normally will take a week to get there after ordering. Their inventory is always changing so this could change the delivery time.

Installation would be on top of that.

 

[bigskybob]

Wow.That's a lot of money to put into an old van.My neighbor has a 99 chevy high top that I think I can get for $700.I don't know anything about it except that she drives it sometimes.If you want,I'll get more info.Could you ride the bus to Ar?You are welcome to park at my place for a while.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

Don't count on the core charge.
That engine got COOKED and seized solid.
The crank is likely whipped and the block is questionable from how hot it got.
(Even knocking "runners" (meaning they still turn over, start and run...with noisy bearings)are often refused for core charge.)

The other is finding an SSDI lawyer.
JD-da-Grouch convinced me to dig deeper, and it turns out that I do qualify for SSDI.
I wouldn't get any "backpay", but I could get those years dropped from averaging, which would significantly increase what I'd receive, plus, if approved I'd get income, so definitely worth the effort.
Unfortunately, SSA's site isn't cybersafe, so it will involve much head-bashing.

For the last freaking time...
If Grouch was intelligent enough to prove himself correct on the one topic...why not move forward with his suggestion for the next step and not sweat lawyering up? (before you even start the process.)
You are putting WAY too much fear into this situation.

Has anyone ever told you that your "cyber security" addiction is crippling?
You really cannot do a temp load of old Knoppix off a flash drive and use a netbook for this?
Come on now...
Okay, I'm out.