Engine knock,...???

[jmansour]

So I'm going to the auction Tuesday and there is a 2004 wrx, white, 90ish K miles on it, says online the engine knocks (I will check it out more that day when im aloud to) / I can see the radio was stolen.
My questions...
1 What causes a knock (bearing gone bad b/c lack of oil?).
2 Can I fix it myself or do I need a whole new engine? If so, what is it and how much would it cost?
3 Assuming the rest of the car is well, how much should I bid on it? I found a new engine with 74k miles on it for 1100 and labor costs me about 400. (would cost the same if i did it.. i would have to buy tools/ lift)
4 If i buy it, can I drive it home like that (30 miles highway)

Thanks guys.

Anyone else had this problem and how was it resolved?

[MainFrame]

Most common is rod knock due to a spun rod bearing. At minimum it will need to be rebuilt with all new bearings, rings, oil cooler, oil pump, etc. That is if the engine was shut off right after knock started and not run again. If the engine has been ran since the knock started you will probably be best off replacing the whole short block. The heads might be okay, but they should be rebuilt as well, and the cams will need to be inspected for scratches.

I would think $3,000-$4,000 should get it done, although without determining the cause of the failure there's no guarantee it won't just happen again.


I would look up the blue book value of the car, then subtract how much it will cost to fix, and not pay a dime over that..

[jmansour]

Well problem is kbb is over priced for (auction) price... its where the dealers get the cars lol,
i.e. last car i got valued at 6k i got for 4... 06-7 wrx sold for 8k.
So i would probly get that new engine then (2.3k fix) plus radio.
i was thinking paying like ~4k? Sound right?

[MainFrame]

Maybe go by what the kbb dealer trade in value is then, that value will be substantially lower than private buyer price and more akin to what the auction price would actually be.

[MainFrame]

ohh yeah ..and in my experience, figure up how much you think it should cost to fix something, then double that amount, and that will be about how much it ends up costing when it's all done.

[metaldahlberg]

ohh yeah ..and in my experience, figure up how much you think it should cost to fix something, then double that amount, and that will be about how much it ends up costing when it's all done.

Pretty true.

[jmansour]

Maybe go by what the kbb dealer trade in value is then, that value will be substantially lower than private buyer price and more akin to what the auction price would actually be.

Thanks! completely forgot about that!