dr_ace07

Hey guys, I am from Pennsylvania. I'm into some deep trouble and I really need to get something resolved. This is why I came here.

So I bought a Scion tC from this guy a few days ago. It was turbo charged, AEM tuned, Greddy Exhaust and nicely setup intercooler system. Now I was traveling back to my college after buying the car. The problem is that there are so many steep hills going up. On my way my engine threw a rod and made a big whole in the engine, car started smoking and so I pulled over. Currently it's at a garrage, confirmed that engine blew up.

The problem is that I can't tell my parents about this. They trusted me with this car and I bought it by myself without their presence. I found a scion tc engine on eBay for $1230, with warranty. I want to know an estimate for the replacement and would it work?

Car had transsmission change from automatic to manual, but my friends said that shouldn't be a problem.

Please let me know what can be done here. It's my parents trust that I don't want to loose. My max budget is $3000. And may be some additional costs here and there.

Thank you guys in advance!!!

bbsciontc

Well apparently it wasn't tuned well and/or had previous issues if it failed on your first drive home. No one is going to be able to give you an estimated replacement, because it's not a standard engine swap. It'll essentially involve removing and reinstalling the turbo kit itself, including the manifold, turbo, downpipe, some intercooler piping and fuel injectors. I imagine your standard mechanic may not even want to work on a car with an aftermarket turbo kit.

Your best bet from a reliability standpoint would be to reinstall the engine and return back to stock. At least then you will keep the warranty on the engine that would be completely voided with a turbo. Keep in mind that you will need to obtain an original air intake system, exhaust manifold, s-pipe and injectors if you go this route.

If you want to keep the turbo, then have ALL the work (engine swap, turbo install and most importantly, a tune!) done by a single automotive performance shop that is willing to tune whatever engine management you have (AEM FIC?). This probably won't be cheap, but you'll have to ask around and get quotes.

I feel sorry about your unfortunate situation, but there really aren't any other options.

HATEnFATE

The last thing I would do is purchase an engine from ebay...

I hate to tell you this, but if you don't know how to do this work yourself, you're going to exceed your budget.


There's a few things I'm trying to figure out...

....What is the significance of the uphills? Were you accelerating unnecessarily up them?
....There's a hole in the block, but you took it too a garage to have them confirm there's a hole in the block?
.... you don't want to lose your parents trust, so you're going to lie to them to cover something up, and hope they don't find out???

Man up, tell them what happened, own it, and earn their respect by handling the mishap the way it needs to be done, instead of skating around them and lying to them..

dr_ace07

Im not lying, just trying to fix my mistakes.

dr_ace07

Thanks for the reply man. I'm trying to go stock.... but with the AEM tune do you think I would need to get this done by a specialized shops or any advanced auto repair can do it?

bbsciontc

If you are going to stock it should be easier. Assuming you have an AEM FIC piggyback with a plug and play harness (NOT standalone AEM EMS), you already have the factory ECU. There's nothing to tune except for removing the FIC and plugging in the original harness into the ECU. If it was hard wired... yea that might be a bit more challenging.

You will also need to reinstall the factory fuel injectors. They were likely upgraded with the turbo kit, and you will need to go back to stock for it to work with the factory ECU. Besides that, you'll need all the exhaust parts/piping I mentioned and maybe a new oil pan if the new engine doesn't come with one.

A more cost effective option for the engine would be to get a used one from a local junkyard. Try to find one with decent mileage. Since yours is a 2006, you need an engine from an 05 or 06 only. The newer ones are slightly different, and I don't know if it would work or not. Check out Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market to search junkyards around the country.

HATEnFATE

Withholding info is still dishonesty......

Anyway in all seriousness, stay away from an ebay engine. i know it sounds like a good deal, but if you have problems, you'll end up really duking in out in the end. Try to find something a little more local. You can use a Camry engine, and all you'll have to do it change the timing cover to make it fit so that may help you search out more options and different prices. Try to stay away from the early 2AZ engines so help avoid oil consumption since you wont have any recourse on that now either.

You're going to be over your budget with all the extras you have to deal with. Just replacing the engine and it's parts alone will be over 3k, then throw a tune on it, and you're still going up.

I know I sound like a d-bag, but honesty is better then me B/S'in ya and telling you that it can be done cheap....

Still, tell the rents, because if they find out that you are doing all this, and that you've been hiding it from them, they'll know you lied, and then you'll regret not fessing up. Respect is earned....earn some.