BIG problems

[turbowannabe]

Ok, now i'm pretty mad. I find out that i'm goin to need a new engine, which buying a remanufactured one is goin to cost me $3000 or more. So instead of paying $7200 for the car i'm now goin to have $10,000 invested in this car that is not even worth near that much. I coulda bought a mint condition low mile car for that money. So instead of being in debt a good amount I'm REALLY in debt. Reliable my @ss. I just got screwed

 

[2slow]

What Happened?

What was found to be wrong?

 

[Jon01]

You need to slow down and tell us what was found to be the problem before you start throwing out accusations that you've been screwed.
If it's seized then there's some kind problem with the bottom end(bearings, crank, etc...). There's no reason to get a reman motor, and actually, it would probably be better to get what you have rebuilt so you can be sure that you'll have the turbo crank and block. There's no way I see a fresh shortblock running you 3 grand. Yes, you will have some $$ tied up in it, but you'll also learn a lot from this experience. Most of all, you'll respect the car more from all the time you're going to spend bonding with it.
Tell us what went wrong though and we'll be able to help you as best we can, just don't get all riled up, it won't change the fact that the car is broken.

 

[The Radius Kid]

Originally posted by turbowannabe
Ok, now i'm pretty mad. I find out that i'm goin to need a new engine, which buying a remanufactured one is goin to cost me $3000 or more. So instead of paying $7200 for the car i'm now goin to have $10,000 invested in this car that is not even worth near that much. I coulda bought a mint condition low mile car for that money. So instead of being in debt a good amount I'm REALLY in debt. Reliable my @ss. I just got screwed

Jon01 is right.What happened?
I assume your boss opened it up and saw some things he didn't like.What were they?

 

[turbowannabe]

The crank is done for. I guess i'll be buying a new motor now. I just got a little upset of all the money i am goin to be spending.

 

[2slow]

More Details!

There is a turbo crank on the parts board ready to go. Give us more details on what was found. If it spun a bearing there was a reason ie worn bearing or crank, over reving the motor...ect

 

[jeff*k]

are we getting the whole story???

i also bought my gn when i was 16, i still remember the first week i drove it and i am still amazed it suvived. i was very, very hard on the car when i first got it. won a lot of races and burned a lot of tires.

 

[jeff*k]

if this is the case, look at it this way. some people take 5-10 years to blow their fist motor, you did it in four days!!. be proud.
build it right and there is not a faster street car.

hope i didnt piss you off. no flames intended

 

[Darrens89Z]

Well in MA they call it a Lemon Law....

If something goes wrong with a car you purchased either private or from a buisness over x amount of dollars,I think it is $1800 here in MA,the people or persons you bought the car have to refund your money or take care of the problem,or problems.In this case I assume the car was sold as a good running vehicle.If there is something wrong with the car I wouldnt worry,it seems a case like this would be easily won in court by the buyer if it gets that far.The person who sold it to you should be contacting you and taking care of things.Just my opinion.

 

[tjthorson]

Well, I will just chime in my .02 since something like this happened to me as a seller. I sold my 87 SUnbird turbo convertible on ebay to a kid from New York. I put 4000 miles on the car myself, a lot on the highway, and a lot under boost!

Kid came to pick up the car (I am outside Chicago) and made it exactly 3 blocks! He broke 2 rods and sent them sailing and there was a 30 foot line of oil goin up the street where 1 rod came out the bottom of the pan.

Here's a pic!
http://home.attbi.com/~thorsont/87sunbird06.jpg

Now, I know and you know, this kid took the car out and revved the heck out of it and scattered it. Legally I could have said - "oooh. that sucks. And shut the door." Rather then have that on my conscious, I spent half the money I got for selling the car in getting a shortblock and swapping out the engine. In January, no less. Kid came back to get the car in March, drove all the way back to New York and the only problem was sunburn with the top down. Made me feel better, and I helped out some poor kid who just seems to love those little Sunbird GTs, and who I know couldn't afford to rebuild that engine.

Just some experience I thought I would relay. My point is, that while it looks fishy because this happened so fast after getting the car - these things DO happen, even when the seller may have had no issues with the car.

The 16 year olds driving habits MAY be a little different, and might be the final straw on a rod or crank that is "ready to go"

Either way, I feel for the buyer - borrowing money, 16 years old, now no car. i can hear the fathers' voice now. "Damn kids, always gotta waste money on those hot rods!!! When I was a kid......."

 

[TurboDave]

Originally posted by turbowannabe
The crank is done for. I guess i'll be buying a new motor now. I just got a little upset of all the money i am goin to be spending.

Don't go flying off half cocked! If it's nothing more than the crank, get a new crank, not a whole new engine! What exactly happened? Spun a bearing? Starved of oil and siezed? what?

 

[eiuskoalman]

well, i dont really know what to say in this situation. its happened to me before with a previously owned vehicle but not in this short period of time. i'm curious to know what your mechanic means when he said the crank is done for? was there anything else found that looked questionable? dan, i really feel bad about the whole situation and i've talked with many people about it. most peope have told me not to get involved because i sold a 16 year old car with 116K on it. well, i dont look at it that way, i spent a LOT of time with that car and want to see it live on. although i cant afford to buy a new shortblock for ya i will offer any mechanical/troubleshooting/tuning help that you're willing to look me up for.
aaron

 

[turbowannabe]

Sorry i took so long to reply but i had to talk to Aaron first. Here's what happened. The crank is broke and a couple piston skirts got chipped, the mechanic said to put a new engine in it because it may have stressed the block, he is a friend of the family and wouldn't lie to us. Engine is goin to cost me around $3000 after installation. We're gettin a "Gopher" motor which is turbo specified. See the thing is that Aaron told me the car was reliable, turbo, tranny and turbo all rebuilt 3 years ago on the 100,000 mile mark. But now i find out that it was all done 6 years ago, turbo was rebuilt twice (i was not told about that) and it was rebuilt around 92,000 miles. We went to talk to him to see if he'd go in half in half on the motor but said he'd give us nothing. Has anyone ever had this problem before, and if you did what happened. What kind of legal recourse do I have? If he woulda told me the truth we wouldn't have this problem but since he lied to me and my dad's face it's goin to a bit more. My dad is making me sell the car after we get the new motor put in because i don't have the money to afford it now. I know most of you think that i was probably out hot rodding around town the whole time i was driving it but that is not even the case. If you have any info or questions let me know

thanks
dan

 

[Darrens89Z]

Heres some advice

A lawyer will get the ball rolling faster than anyone.When the seller has a date to appear in court he will suddenly be interested in your problem as if he has a firecracker up his behind.Court is the only way to get this solved.Makes you wonder why he couldnt come up with the paperwork.Now you know why.Hope you get things worked out.

 

[2slow]

Sell

sorry about your troubles Think about this if you gave $7K for the car and you spend $3K more on it....it will be very hard to get the 10K for the car so, think about selling it as is if you are gonna lose money on it anyway why spend all the time and aggravation getting it repaired ? Someone may want to build it with trick parts. You can at least try and sell it before you spend the money and see what happens or even trade it for something you can drive. Try e-bay and the for sale board here. Talk too your Dad about this and it could save you some time and more troubles...hope this helps........ John

 

[turbowannabe]

Yeah i think we have a pretty good case against him. After he said he wouldn't give us anything we said we'd see him in small claims court, and he got all defensive and acted like we had no case against him. We really didn't want to go this route and go to court, but that was his decision after pretty much telling us to get screwed.

2slow,
I know i'm gonna be losing money in this situation but the engine is already being put in. My dad just wants to get rid of it now, and he thinks the only way of doin that is selling it running and plus a 36,000 mile warranty on the new engine and the original engine included will help. I would like to get another buick after this but i will probably not be able to afford it and now my dad thinks that their too much maintanence for me to take care of. I'll probably be puttin it on ebay and on the the for sale board here. Thanks for your help

dan

 

[2slow]

?????

What is a gopher motor? I think a turbo motor has lots of trick stuff so it can handel boost. are you using the turbo heads,cam,ect ? I think the pistons in a turbo car are stronger than cast pistons.

 

[turbowannabe]

A gopher motor is a remanufactured motor like a jasper motor. It is turbo specified so it shoulda have all the turbo components. I think turbo pistons are the same as non turbo pistons.

 

[TurboDave]

Originally posted by turbowannabe
A gopher motor is a remanufactured motor like a jasper motor. It is turbo specified so it shoulda have all the turbo components. I think turbo pistons are the same as non turbo pistons.

A. Turbo and non turbo pistons are not the same.

B. "gopher" motors might be advertised to be turbo specific, but they're not. You won't find a true turbo crank in them, and unless things have changed recently you wont find a turbo drain back hole in them either. Turbo specific my hind foot

 

[Lee_Burough]

Nobody is going to win....

Turbowannabe, I've seen your posts for weeks and share your enthusiasm for our cars. I'm sorry to hear that the engine failed so soon for you. It is times like these that we show what we're made of....(Buyer and Seller)

The timeing for this failure is intriguing. But, I have to say that any car can fail unexpectedly on any day There is some middle ground on this issue. I don't know the facts, but, try to realize that a seller does not always know what the future will bring in a situation like this.

If however, the seller made claims that were not accurate, you may do some good for yourself in small claims court.

Make SURE the crank in your "gopher engine" is a turbo crank in a 109 block! Otherwise, it could be an issue to a real knowledgeable Buick enthusiast. Some larger remanufacturers do not always use turbo cranks, and, you MUST have a turbo block!

These things happen, its not turbo specific or Buick specific. It can happen to a new car off the showroom floor. Don't be too hard on yourself In time, you're gonna tell this story a hundred times....Make a good ending for yourself