Poor Cruddle...

[julianthegypsy]

...my Citroen dispatch. Had a new cambelt and water pump two years ago, and a new clutch, and new sills last year, and I've just spent four hours waiting for a breakdown truck. Now I'm not saying it's serious, but I can see the engine. When I say I can see the engine, I mean I can see the crankshaft. From the outside... It was spectacular.
So... what to do? Bolt a new engine in? Scrap it and buy something newer? But what, for £2-2.5k?

 

[qwakers]

if you like it lob another engine in. better the devil you know.

 

[Parm]

if you like it lob another engine in. better the devil you know.

That a bit like triggers broom. Had it 15 years, only had 10 new handles and 12 new brushes

 

[Kram]

We cant see the engine, where are the photos?

 

[julianthegypsy]

if you like it lob another engine in. better the devil you know.

We do. But already been quoted 2k from my local reliable garage, and the question is, is it worth it? It's 2004 and 215k on the clock. We use it once or twice a year as a micro camper, it has no rear seats, and the rest of the time it is the family go everywhere vehicle and my haul lumps of steel around vehicle.

 

[julianthegypsy]

We cant see the engine, where are the photos?

I'll get a picture tomorrow.

 

[julianthegypsy]

That a bit like triggers broom. Had it 15 years, only had 10 new handles and 12 new brushes

Except it costs a bit more than a broom handle!

 

[julianthegypsy]

And of course it had to happen right after I cleaned out my bank account buying a plasma table!
Which isn't even assembled yet!

 

[Cobbler]

Waiting for the tow truck & a hole in the block reminds me, someone I worked with at one times car threw a rod, knocked the side out of the block, gaping hole. He rang the AA & said I need a tow truck ‘cos theres a hole in the block, the girl on the desk said “ I’ll send one of our engineers & see if he can mend it”

 

[Bornfree]

Did the oil light come on before the bang ?

 

[Eggplant5]

Depends on your budget for a new one. For 2k you could end up with one which has just as many issues; repair and stick with the one you've got if you know it's solid.

 

[RichardM]

I would say jack up the filler cap and slide a new van in underneath, but looking at the mileage on vans for 2.5K may be better to source a recon / guaranteed engine.

 

[Chillitt]

Thats my fault for saying I like them in front of it. Most important part of bangernomics is knowing when its a lost cause. I dont know if it is that time or not, on this one though.

 

[julianthegypsy]

Did the oil light come on before the bang ?

Nope. There was oil in it. I know, it left a 20 yard stripe down the road...

 

[eddie49]

S/h engines start at £100 on eBay. This one is £1,100 supply & fit with 3 months warranty:

Pardon our interruption...

 

[julianthegypsy]

S/h engines start at £100 on eBay. This one is £1,100 supply & fit with 3 months warranty:

Pardon our interruption...

That sounds plausible. Ours is a 2.0hdi, I don't know much about the 1.6...

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Second hand engines down here ranger from £80 to £200.

I would drop another one in place, the old engine is going to be lighter than the new.
Shop around as some yards will sell you a basic engine. others will sell you as it is was when it was removed.

 

[hunter27]

I tend to run our cars until I eventually scrap them but when I have to start doing rust repair welding on the body work I concider that the car is on borrowed time. As it has already had sills (unless they were accident damaged) there is also likely to me other things festering perhaps unseen for now.

 

[julianthegypsy]

I tend to run our cars until I eventually scrap them but when I have to start doing rust repair welding on the body work I concider that the car is on borrowed time. As it has already had sills (unless they were accident damaged) there is also likely to me other things festering perhaps unseen for now.

We did the sills because the rest of it looked solid, and sills are a known weak point on dispatches...

 

[julianthegypsy]

Waiting for the tow truck & a hole in the block reminds me, someone I worked with at one times car threw a rod, knocked the side out of the block, gaping hole. He rang the AA & said I need a tow truck ‘cos theres a hole in the block, the girl on the desk said “ I’ll send one of our engineers & see if he can mend it”

I use startrescue for breakdown cover. You enter all the details and they send the breakdown truck. Nowhere in the list of possible breakdowns is there an option for "the engine has exploded and will definitely need recovering ". So I waited an hour and a half and a service truck arrived, said "oh dear, it will need a breakdown truck, made a phonecall then legged it. Then the rescue company called to ask if everything was ok. Twice. They established that the truck was an hour away. An hour later...the recovery truck phoned...for directions, half an hour away. It's been kind of a long day really...