Worst case scenario - dead 3SGTE

[Lanius]

Just had the final verdict come in ... 75% compression in one cylinder, almost no compression in another cylinder, turbo's missing a big ol' chunk of something (msg relayed to me via flatmate who went to see the mechanic about his own car at the same time)

Guess I'm looking around $2500 for a full rebuild, not sure about prices for a 2nd hand 3SGTE + gearbox (my gbox is crappy already, might as well swap it out at the same time). Anyone bought one recently? Any idea of prices?

Is it worth getting the rebuild done or am I better off just getting a new engine / gbox, and take the risk that the new engine has issues too?

Sitting in the back of my mind is the possibility of flicking the car and cutting my losses Not sure what the rest is worth (lots of bolt on parts installed), so thats only a back up plan for now.

[Dell'Orto]

When my engine decided to call it a day, it was $2500 for a 2nd hand motor and box, and anywhere from $2k upwards to rebuild.
I'd personally go for a rebuild now (not quite so strapped for cash) as the extra cost would have been worth it for long term peace of mind.
With the 2nd hand motor, you've only usually got a 3 month warranty

[Lanius]

Yeah, the general consensus so far seems to be that a rebuild is the better option as far as peace of mind goes. Unfortunately, money is not something that is flowing plentifully at the moment (well, not *that* plentifully anyway), so whichever comes out as the cheapest option is the one I will have to choose.

I'm waiting on Mr Revhead's undercover feelers to come back with some results, and pending the cost he can get, the rebuild might be the go.

Cheers man

EDIT: Found an ST185 3SGTE for $1800 minus loom and harness etc. Quoted $450 to install it, plus swapping the mods from my old engine over to the new one, but then I would be cursed with a ceramic shaft CT26 as my existing hybrid has died as well. If I get the engine rebuilt, I will have to get the turbo rebuilt as well, which (so far) sounds like it will cost around $650 for new kit + shaft, as the shaft is gone in the existing turbo

Bloody cars #$%#$%^&**()$@$%!#$%
*mutter*

[Malcolm]

$1800 is super steep for an st185 engine.
I paid $1500 for one a couple of years ago from K-Rd auto spares, but that included everything. Good thing about getting 2nd hand engines is that you can sell anything you don't need, i sold the blitz ecu that came with mine (fluke) for $500, $250 for injectors, $350 for turbo, plus several smaller things and in the end it cost me less than $300 for the engine.
Rebuilding does give you a bit of piece of mind, although a badly rebuild motor will be worse than say a high mileage 2nd hand engine.
Also if you do a lot of the easy stuff yourself (removing engine, stripping accessories off etc) you can save yourself big $$. Finally you should be able to get a gt4 gearbox for $300ish in good nick.

[Lanius]

Yeh, I think its that price because they're so rare at the moment. I rang about 11 places, and the one I found was the only Celica 3SGTE model (found one other GTE but that was from an SW20).

I trust the guys who would be doing the rebuild for me if / when I get it done. They definitely know what they're doing, so thats not a worry. They've already got the engine out and are just waiting to hear my decision before getting into either rebuilding or dismantling to keep the parts I want. Then I'll probably flick everything left over to them for a discounted price on the work or something like that. They're a good bunch

$300 for a good condition ST185 gearbox!? Cheapest I could find was $500! If you know someone selling one for $300, point them my way!! I'm sick of it taking 5 seconds to change into 2nd gear!!

[Dell'Orto]

An MR2 3SGTE will work too you know, you just need to change a few bits, which you'll have conveniently sitting there

[Malcolm]

there's one on trademe for $300, and i've seen a few in the t&e for $300...i got one for $70 from pick a part

[Malcolm]

here's the link: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 660279.htm
starting bid $300, buy now is $500.
The thing about these boxes is there isn't a very big demand for them, so it's really a buyer's market i believe
if 5th gear is your only problem on your box then i might be interested in buy it cheapish off you because my car isn't powerful enough to need 5th on the strip (200kmh is still 4th gear speeds, and i'm nowhere near that), but it is powerful enough that i feel i need a reasonable supply of spare gearboxes, after blowing the last one in 2 outings

[Lanius]

Excellent ... the light is at the end of the tunnel after all
I didn't realise they were so easy to come by ... should have done a bit more searching I guess Cheers for the link man.

Nope, not 5th having trouble, its 2nd gear (every Toyota I've owned has had trouble with 2nd gear). It won't change smoothly if the engine is over 2000rpm As you can imagine, that makes taking off from the lights a bit of a pain, and thats not even trying to do it quickly!