Hey guys, got a decent 99 sitting in my driveway with the left side of the engine ripped down.

It ran low on oil and I got a SEVERE knock and lost power. The engine started up well enough the next day and presure seemed good but the knock came back within minutes.

I had my cousin strip down the left side where the problem was and it looks like I need some work done. I have 2 maybe 3 rocker arms that need to be replaced and he mentioned something about the crank, I def. spun some bearings since I had shavings come down with the pan. Not sure what else needs to worked/machined.

Looking to get opinions on what to with it, much like the Troop a few posts ago. The engine has 82K on it now, cheapest used one I could get a quote on was $2100 with 78K on it to do a swap. Not sure what is wrong with the crank if it is out of round and needs to be buffed/machined and then mic'd up with some oversized bearings or even welded. A stock crank goes for around $900 I think from a dealer.

I'm not that good with engine work, more of an interior/electronics guy, so any suggestions, help and advice is greatly appreciated. If anyone wants to contact me directly with ?'s, PM me and I'll shoot over my number.

Personally I would go with the rebuild. Have your cousin help you and do it yourself then it wont cost all that much really. Probably would need the crank ground and polished if the bearings spun, as long as its not too bad, otherwise it would need a new crank. Everything else is pretty simple and no real special tools or machining needed.

One big reason why I say rebuild instead of replace with used is you can get upgraded pistons with more and larger drain back holes for oil. That should help get rid of the largest part of the oil burning problem with these engines.

For my money, swap.

Here's why:
The #1 cylinder in these blocks has a known oil starvation issue. Not knowing which version of block you have, would make me shy away from anything less than a swap to a known trouble free block. Jerry, as referenced in the other thread about this could help to identify this as an issue in your case.

We just had this issue in my buddies' 2000 Rodeo, and he swapped to a 3.5L shortblock crate motor. In the end, piece of mind and easiness of a swap were determining factors.

Thanks for the info. Out of curiosity, what type of engine & what was the cost involved? Would a 3.5 work on a 99?

yes.

he had the 2000 3.2L, and swapped to a 2001? 3.5L, maybe $3-4k all said and done, I dont know for certain.

The 3.5 is the same block, ECM, etc. simply a longer stroke to obtain the extra 10%.

What do you mean, he swapped 3.2 Rodeo engine to the 3.5 Trooper engine, or to the 2004 Rodeo DI engine, or to a kind of 3.5 GM engine ?

3.2L 6EV1 2000 Rodeo engine to a 2001? 3.5L 6EV1? Vehicross engine

THE 3.5 2002 REPLACEMENT ENG IS THE NEWEST ENG USED FOR REPLACEMENTS IN ALL 98 THRU 2002 TROOPERS , THEY COME AS A COMPLETE CRATE ENG MINUS BOLT ON ACCESSE, AND MANIFOLDS TOP AND BOTTOM , MUST USE OLD ENG MTS, . FRT CVRS AND LOWER CRANK PULLY IS INCLUDED ON THE ENG, NEW STYLE VLV CVRS , A COMPLETE BOLT IN CONVERSION, FOR THE 98AND LATER RODEO OR AMIEGO, EVEN COMES WITH THE OIL PAN AND CRANKCASE INSTALLED ,AND IT WILL RUN WITH THE STOCK ECM WITH NO REPROGRAMING AND IT WILL PASS AN EMISSION TEST JERRY

WOW. I guess that statement about Jerry knowing his stuff was an understatement.

Thanks for the info.

Jerry, can you PM me or email me with a quote on the engine?

jerry how much does that 3.5 short block run ? and where do you get it? i'm tryin to make my mind up on whether to swap to a chevy6/trans or swap in the 3.5 short block and rebuild the gm tranny my amigo came with. so far lookin online the latter comes up much more expensive (min 1500 for the short block and about 1200 for the tranny rebuild)... but alot easier to go back with the zoozoo stock stuff of course. you can see my post about the possible chevy swap in the izusu tech forum.

http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/showf...mp;PHPSESSID=&fpart=1#Post876050


and btw way ... thank you ! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />