My wife drove home, and told me "something is wrong with the car".

She said there was white smoke coming from the exhaust. I tried to start it up, and it turned over a couple of times, and then hydrolocked (under the power of the starter only).

I got it into the garage, drained the oil (it looked fine), and consulted the forum. I bought a new UIM (with the modified stovepipe) and LIM gaskets and installed them. I also put in new spark plugs. I got it all put back together last night and fired it up. It ran great, with a little bit of steam coming out of the exhaust as the remaining coolant burned out of the cylinders.

Then all of the sudden, it sounded like a diesel, and began knocking and making all kinds of noise. It sounded like someone had dropped a lug nut into one of the cylinders. It was also leaking gas around one of the injectors, so I shut it down.

Could the hydrolock have severely damaged the lower end, even tho the car was only being turned over by the starter? The car has 130K on it, so I'm looking at a long-block replacement.

I've got a couple of calls into a dealer that deals with Jasper and 2 other brands of reman engines. Any idea about how much labor should be?

This sucks!

Yup, the bottom end is toast, either rebuild or get a crate engine.

What year is the car?

It sounds as if you spun a bearing. If curious, get the car up on jack stands, pull the oil pan and check for any obvious damage.

Pinky..we don't know that for sure.

I'm interested in this fuel leaking by the injectors. A serious misfire may (not likely) sound bad enough to misunderstand it as an issue. Although this does sound like a bad bottom end.

It'* a '97.

I just got a call from the local shop. A Jasper engine, installed, was quoted to me at 4900 bucks!!

How difficult is it to replace an engine myself?

If you have the right tools and are mechanically inclined, then with a little bit of time and a whole lot of patience, you can do the swap yourself. just mark everything where it came from to keep track of it all.

Sorry to hear the bottom end is shot.

I found a local shop who comes highly recommended by a local consumer advocate. They quoted me 3000 bucks for a reman engine, installed with new hoses, belts, thermostat, EGR, etc. The engine comes with a 5 year, 50,000 mile warranty on parts and labor.

They're coming to pick it up tomorrow.

Sucks, but what kind of replacement car could a person buy for 3K?

Iwas gonna say that'* kinda pricey, considering I got an engine and tranny for 4000. But a 5 year warranty?? I think I'd go for it! I only got 1 year.

Sounds like a lot to me, but I like the waranty. Where are you located? There are a lot of Bonnes around me for 3k or less. Check your local Craigslist.com for one or parts.