I think I killed my XTerra ... please help

Ok ... i'd like to start by saying I know I am an idiot and it is all my fault. So, there is no need in mocking me on this one ... I'm here because I have nowhere else to go.

I purchased my 2001Xterra in January, I had the oil checked around March at a gas station and they said all was well. I forgot about it since ...

This weekend I was taking a road trip with some friends. All of a sudden a hear a clanking noise, one of my friends said it sounded like the pistons. I looked at the dashboard and the OIL light had turned on, it was flickering really. The car stopped accelerating, like if stuck on cruise control. If I let go of the gas, then it would remain in the lower speed.

At one point the light turned off and the jeep worked all fine. Not five minutes have passed, the light turned on once more, clanking noise commenced once more, and the car just stopped. Never turned on again, not at all, completely dead. Tow truck had to drive us all to my mechanic.

Question is ... what do you think it is? Would the engine be fixable? Would I have to replace the engine? If so, how much does an engine cost?

...

I think I'm also just asking for some consolation ...

From my experience with engines, I would say you did some serious damage. Best bet would be to replace the entire motor, around here they are going for $1000 or more.

Any decent shop will want to pull the oil pan, which in it's self on the Xterra is somewhat of a task. They'll look for visible signs of damage(metal debris). An oil sample to a lab will tell them what is in the oil. ($100)Different parts of an engine are made of different metals. They can tell if , let's say iron is in the sample. Well they know what parts are out of iron. They might see excessive piston ring material in the sample and know those wore hard. High levels indicate high wear. More than normal from a properly lubricated engine. You might of trashed the crank bearings out since it sounds like the engine was virtually dry. The engine might not have to be pulled. They will drop the pistons and inspect the cylinder walls. There will probably be lots of scoring on the walls. Those can be rehoned if they aren't that bad or they might just resleeve them. This is all if you didn't overheat the engine to the point of warping the heads or cracking the block. Is a piston sticking out of the block?! Was there any oil on the ground where it finally broke down?

You have big expenses coming your way. If the block is still good they can work with that. But make no mistake you will have to buy parts and pay for quite a bit of laborto rebuild it. If you need a new engine, the dealer cost I would guess is $4,000 to $6,000 parts and labor. I'd bet it is billed out at 15-20 hours for an engine swap. In Denver the labor rate at Nissan is $100 an hour. If you get a new engine, keep the Xterra. If you have it rebuilt, get rid of the son of a bit%h quick!!!!

How many miles on the X?

Yeah, you've almost certainly killed it. It will be considerably cheaper to replace the engine with a used one than to have your current one repaired.

So you're saying not only did you not even have the oil checked since March, and not changed once in 11 months since you bought it? No sympathy here, you earned this...

Is a piston sticking out of the block?! Was there any oil on the ground where it finally broke down?

How many miles on the X?

It didn't overheat. No pistons sticking out. No oil on the floor. When we popped the hood we saw nothing. We checked the oil and there was a small amount, but it was rather thick.

It has about 53,000 miles

Ouch! Yeah, if the oil level is low and it's thick you either ran it dry or plugged up the oil pump or other passegeways with sludge... or both! Anyway you slice it the engine was oil starved and you've done big damage. What you describe sounds like maybe you broke a rod or two. When the engine slowed down was it running rough like it was missing? My Geo broke two rods without them going through the block and it did the same thing you describe; although it had a lot more miles and very poor service from the previous owner.

Let this be an expensive lesson. When you get the new engine, make sure you check and change your oil once in awhile. It's not something to "forget" about and not something to depend on a gas station for. Learn to do it yourself and do it!

What ever happened with this. I'm interested to see what you decided to do.

Hi All,

Not new to the website, but new to this forum...

I just bought a new 2006 Xterra after some extensive research into 4 X 4 vehicles. I paid cash for it, so it is too late to take it back.

So, unload and tell me the good news and the bad. What can I expect?? I don't do a lot of offroading -- we bought the truck because compared to others in its class, it far outshined everything on the road in acceleration, handling, feel, reported reliability, etc. We will use it for wintertime highway trips to Tahoe, etc.

Now I want to hear from owners, so lay it on me...

Hope to be able to help you all in the future as I have helped Chevy and Ford owners on this site in the past...

Later..

eti engineer

Glad to see you noticed this was the wrong place to post that...
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=645558