1999 engine blown?

[andyk992]

Hi all; my Montana stalled while driving about 2 weeks ago, no other symptoms, started right back up. Stalled again over the weekend, this time could not restart. When I tried, it would run for a few seconds with a bad ticking, almost like a belt or something rattling around. Now the shop says it is an oil supply issue or a blown motor. Sound familiar to anyone? 64k miles, already had the oil/coolant leak gasket repair done about 10k ago. thanks

[cdru]

Timing chain could have broke or jumped a few teeth, cam shaft broke, etc. Could be any one of a number of different things. How bad was your coolant leak 10K miles ago? How soon did you get it fixed? If you drove for an extended period of time with coolant in your oil, that could be a contributing factor as coolant sucks as a lubricant, prematurely wearing parts out.

[andyk992]

I definitely think I went too long with the coolant leak. I had the dealer check, they said it "might" be the gasket but were not sure, so they flushed the radiator and that was it. I didn't know about the whole gasket issue, so shame on me.

Anyway I have found some used engines on cherry-auto.com, does anybody have any experience here? I hate to sink the $$ into a new one, when this thing is going to get traded in asap.

Too bad, it was a great van in terms of looks, seating, ride......just horrific repair bills after the warranty was out.

[GTP Dad]

I have not bought anything from them but they appear to be reputable especially given the fact that they offer a warranty with every engine. You could also search wrecking yards in your area by using car-part.com. The cost will be somewhat less and you can sometimes find a low mileage engine at a very reasonable cost.