Help please - fiesta pistons melted

happydragon

I really don't know what to do. The head gasket on my 05 Fiesta has blown & melted the pistons. I have been quoted £1200 to fix. She's not worth more than that. Should I get a second hand engine & have that installed £290 for the engine & £350 to fit. How does this affect the car for resale? Or do I scrap her for £200 & look at getting another car with the repair money?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am completely stumped :-(

Ebe_Scrooge

The price you've quoted for a second-hand engine - is that just an engine straight from the scrappie, or has it been reconditioned ? If the latter, I'd say go for that, assuming the rest of the car is OK - you'll be spending £640 to get a car that should last you for a long time to come, you wouldn't be able to buy a new car for that sort of money.

A reconditioned engine should be near enough as good as new. If it hasn't been reconditioned, then it's a little less clear-cut. It could well be fine, but you don't know what problems may occur in the near future. Knowing the history of the car it's come from should help you make a judgement.

Hope this helps.

colino

Breaker yards are full of smashed up Fords, engines are plentiful and unless this is an unusual Fiesta, find out who and where your local, friendly independent repairer is and work out between you how to get that car back on the road.
Remember too to fix what cooling fault wrecked the first engine, those little buzz boxes are normally very hardy.

forgotmyname

Dont forget to inform the DVLA with the new engine number.

Resale value will depend on the engine number matching and how clued up the buyer is.
It maybe obvious to a buyer that its been tinkered with.

Melted the pistons on the old engine. Are you sure on that?
A blown headgasket wont melt pistons. Lots of other parts will fail long before that
happens.

arcon5

Can't ever recall notifying dvla when changing an engine . Dunno if you have to but I wouldn't.

Buy from a breakers yard and find a cheap local garage. Bet you could bring the price down a bit further than that as well on a fiesta.

You wouldn't get £200 for it either scrap. More like £130 mark

topdaddy_2

Thats not a bad price for the replacement engine

SailorSam

What is a 05 Fiesta worth, £1500 ????
Work out what it's going to cost to get it back on the road and consider what it's going to cost if you scrap it.
£1200 sounds high and may not be worth fixing on a £1500 car, but if you can get back on the road for £500/£6oo, it maybe better than buying a new second hand car you don't know the history of.
As already been said, why did it blow-up.

There are plenty of places online, just put in your details to get a price on a replacement engine

happydragon

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

The price you've quoted for a second-hand engine - is that just an engine straight from the scrappie, or has it been reconditioned ? If the latter, I'd say go for that, assuming the rest of the car is OK - you'll be spending £640 to get a car that should last you for a long time to come, you wouldn't be able to buy a new car for that sort of money.

A reconditioned engine should be near enough as good as new. If it hasn't been reconditioned, then it's a little less clear-cut. It could well be fine, but you don't know what problems may occur in the near future. Knowing the history of the car it's come from should help you make a judgement.

Hope this helps.

The price they gave me was for a fully tested engine with 3 months warranty not reconditioned.

happydragon

forgotmyname wrote: »

Dont forget to inform the DVLA with the new engine number.

Resale value will depend on the engine number matching and how clued up the buyer is.
It maybe obvious to a buyer that its been tinkered with.

Melted the pistons on the old engine. Are you sure on that?
A blown headgasket wont melt pistons. Lots of other parts will fail long before that
happens.

Theyve taken the head off it as she was still running (like a dog) so they were hopefull of getting her back on the road but its definitely the pistons.

happydragon

arcon5 wrote: »

Can't ever recall notifying dvla when changing an engine . Dunno if you have to but I wouldn't.

Buy from a breakers yard and find a cheap local garage. Bet you could bring the price down a bit further than that as well on a fiesta.

You wouldn't get £200 for it either scrap. More like £130 mark

I've been quoted 241 & 210 so far

happydragon

SailorSam wrote: »

What is a 05 Fiesta worth, £1500 ????
Work out what it's going to cost to get it back on the road and consider what it's going to cost if you scrap it.
£1200 sounds high and may not be worth fixing on a £1500 car, but if you can get back on the road for £500/£6oo, it maybe better than buying a new second hand car you don't know the history of.
As already been said, why did it blow-up.

There are plenty of places online, just put in your details to get a price on a replacement engine

Also what does it do to a cars resale value for having a engine replaced. Trying to find a reputable breakers yard nearby. Sometimes things are just so complicated.