1995 TransAm

[lindals]

HELP!!! Let me start by saying that I know NOTHING about cars. My 1995 Pontiac Firebird TransAm just gave out on me, and a mechanic who saw it for less than five minutes said "it was dead"!!! He said I needed a rebuilt engine. I need to know from anybody out there, the average cost for such a thing. HELP!!!

[tuske427]

whoah, hang on a second there.

if you don't know anything about cars, then how do you know your mechanic isn't trying to take advantage of that?

do you have any friends you can trust to take a look at it? at the least get a second opinion even if you trust the mechanic who looked at it. Ask them to tell you exactly what is wrong with it.

there are a hundred things that can prevent a car from starting. some are very cheap. cheap as a fuel filter...

and unless there's a huge hole out the side of an engine or something as visually obvious as that, it's usually pretty hard to tell if an engine is dead just by looking at it without performing several tests.

I'd give you a list of things to check, but if you're not familiar with cars, it may be best left for someone you know to do them instead.

take it to someone else and get a second opinion first. don't just assume this one mechanic is right.

let us know your results.

[lindals]

Okay, for the sake of space I guess I must have left some important information out. I know and trust this mechanic; I have had him for a little over a year now. When I was getting messed over by several others (even those claiming to be Christians), I found him, and he has been wonderful. However, he does not wish to tackle this present problem with my car.

Another thing I left out was that I told him that on the way to Corpus Christi, my car started clicking very loudly, until it started to lock up on me, and shut off automatically. It began smoking from underneath, and upon checking it, it had apparently leaked almost all of the oil it had. After allowing it to "cool" off for about an hour, I continued on the shoulder of the road going 30 mph. The max it would go. Then it started making even louder noises until I couldn't drive it any longer. At that point some man who stopped to help, said it was the rods or something like that.

Does this info help out a little more. Should I still get a second opinion?

[Matt365]

well, if it leaked all the oil you had, that means u just burnt the sh it out of just about everything, and the engine is basically no good.

[tuske427]

Yes, that was all very critical information in describing your problem.

Losing all your oil, then still driving the car will most likely ruin the bearings and/ or seize the engine.

Yeah, you probably did ruin it.

It might be cheaper to buy a used LT1 engine form an F-body wrecking yard. Maybe you can get a short block assembly (since you already have the fuel injection and all the other peripherals) and then just have your trusted mechanic or someone else install it. This will avoid machine work, undersized bearings, machine work on the crank, etc all of which cna add up fast.

All you'd have ot do is have the engine parts swapped out. still no small job, but it will be faster and easier than rebuilding the original engine.

a maintained LT1 engine would last 200k miles easily so I wouldn't worry about a used one. Look at all the retired cop cars turned taxis still running around. they have hard lives and hundreds of thousands of miles put on them. The LT1 is a great engine, it's just overshadowed by the LS1. Just have a trusted friend help you pick out a decent example is possible.

Is Chorpus Christi in Texas? If so, try a place called "Billy Graham's salvage" (no, not the evangelist, at least I don't think he is) he parts out F-bodies and should be able to help locally. Nice guy. There are some other places if your'e not in that area.

If there's anything else we can do to help, don't be afraid to ask!

[DVS LT1]

Originally Posted by lindals

...my car started clicking very loudly, until it started to lock up on me, and shut off automatically. It began smoking from underneath, and upon checking it, it had apparently leaked almost all of the oil it had. After allowing it to "cool" off for about an hour, I continued on the shoulder of the road going 30 mph. The max it would go. Then it started making even louder noises until I couldn't drive it any longer...

:22yikes: :22yikes: :22yikes:
AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rest in peaces oh once mighty King! But on the bright side you can , like tuske427 mentioned, pick up a used LT1 (block at least) for cheap. And local junkyards are the cheapest place - you buy from eBay or wherever even though the parts are dirt cheap you'll end up paying us much in shipping.

Hell I'll sell you my stock '95 crank (120,000 kms or 75k miles), GM performance parts powdered metal rods (35k miles) and Sterling over .030 Hypertuenic pistons for a hundred bucks or two - would probably cost a bill to ship down to you. Your heads and intake should be fine to re-use. You can have my used Hot Cam (35k) for like $30!


You just deal with the fact that your Bird will be off the road for a season or two and incorporate this "problem" into a project! Build her up even better than before.