My Dads car '96 didn't start on his B-day! Help!

[woolly]

Today is my Dad's B-day and when I came home from work he told me about the problems he was having with his car. His 3.8L SE stalled after idleing for a few minutes. He tried to fire it back up but to no evail.It wouldn't turn over.
We brought it to our Nieghbours shop(you can see I am Canadian with the spelling). He has a reputable shop and has informed us that, ( Now this is where i speak with lack of knowledge) a plastic piece has maybe melted and coolant might be leaking down into the engine.
He says that there are 2 options. The first, which is cheaper, is to replace this plastic piece and flush or drain the engine , and hope that the plastic/coolant/oil mixture did't do fatal damage to the engine. $1400.00CDN

2nd option after the first doesn't work is to replace the engine. $4200.00CDN

Does this sound familiar to you? Do you have any input on this matter or an questions for me to ask? I would really appreciate your input.

[Flatrater]

I have fixed manyof these cars for this problem. Under the plastic intake is a tube that has exhaust gases running thru it. This is part of your EGR system. Now this tube gets so hot it starts to melt the intake around the tube. Real close to this opening is a collant passage. Once the tube melts enough it allows the coolant into the engine and floods the engine with coolant.

I have yet to have one that couldn't be saved. SAimplly replace the intake and spark plugs. Make sure while the plugs are out crank the engine over to get all the coolant out of the cylinders or you can bend some of the valves and ruin the pistons.

[woolly]

Sounds promising "Flatrater"! Thanks

Is there ever a problem of the melted plastic doing damage inside the internals?