Hi All,

Well, my wonderful little GenI ('91) has bit the dust. At the moment, my options appear to be putting in a rebuilt engine, or unloading the thing all together and buying a different rig. My wife (to her credit) absolutely loves the Montero, and wants to get a new engine. So, my question is this:

Assuming the rest of the rig has some good life in it (which it generally does), am I likely to find a better return-on-investment by dropping in a rebuilt 3.0, or by going rig shopping? I won't be doing the labor (my wrenching skills amount to throwing them at the fence when I can't figure out what's wrong with the car), so I'd need to figure shop costs as well.

I know there isn't much detail here... I'll try to follow up with more info after I talk to the shop (who I trust) today. I was just wondering if anyone had some good or bad experience that might steer my decisions.

Thanks a ton! BTW, I searched, but didn't seem to find this particular discussion. If I've missed an obvious thread, I'll humbly accept a link there.

That's a very rational question and most of us here are irrational when it comes to our rigs. We love them despite or becuase of their faults and age.

Having said that if the truck is rust free with a clean interior then its worth it. you won't be able to buy a truck as reliable and functional as a montero for less than 2000 which is about what it will cost you to rebuild.

but it's an old truck so if your not willing to work on little things at least, then it will become a money pit.

when I got my truck I thought it just needed new heads but after tinkering with it you find most components on a 15+ year old truck need replacing. Parts are affordable if not cheap but labor is not so expects to replace more than just the engine which can amount to mucho $$$$.

But I have seen montero's especially 91 RS's go for upwards of 4000 if they are in good shape.

finally, this is just an opinion, but I don't see many 4x4 that are as rugged and utilitarian as GEN I monties. Nothing like a no frills brick on wheels. And as my friend says "from the boat it looks like a mercedes G-wagon."


you may have cheaper options than a rebuild. Used engines are 400-800.

Hey, thanks. I was leaning toward keeping the thing for the same reason you mentioned - it didn't seem I could get anything better for the cost of fixing what I got. I appreciate your thoughts.

I've rebuilt mine 1.5x and replaced it 1x.

Rebuilds are more thorough than replacements but are also more expensive because they require more manhours to do.

In the way overpriced San Francisco Bay Area, a rebuild is roughly $3000 - 3500 (depending on what needs to be replaced).

My first one was $3500 and included a full top end rebuild, machine work, replacement of all basic extremeities like timing belt, rodding the radiator, replacement of a broken engine mount, etc.

My second one I couldn't afford a full rebuild so the simply did the heads on one side.

Whatever you do, have your radiator at least rodded and not just flushed. Rodding entails removing the top and bottom tanks and running a "rod" through the passages where the radiator fins are. This cleans out the excess mineral buildup which means less restriction to water flow and increased cooling efficiency.

So what's wrong with your engine? What are the symptoms?

Ray

If you build a motor yourself,
it can be done for about a grand, give or take.
Start with a good Caravan core, (the vans drop their trannies, sometimes before 100k miles) get a 'major rebuild kit' with pistons and oil pump,
have the valves cleaned up and the guides checked/replaced, and you have an alomst- new motor.

Sadly, the truck's worth maybe $300 with a toasted engine- for that price, mine came with $400 worth of new tires on it!

Toby