| Author | Message | ||
     Davegess |
Anyone familiar with the FORD V150 Econoline vans? My brother has a ’97 with 130000 miles and has just spun a main bearing. It is a 4.2L six with an overdrive automatic transmission. He bought is used in 2000 with 30000 miles on it. No rust. He just did a bunch of front end work.. IS it worth dropping 4 grand on a rebuilt motor? Does 130000 mile seem slow for a main bearing failure? Most of the miles are on the highway loaded up with pottery. Very little around town. Any thoughts? Should he keep it? Just do the bottom end? Being a potter money is always tight. | ||
| Seth |
I'd swap out the motor; three grand is much less than the cost of a new van. . . . ...but that's just me. | ||
| Light_keeper |
That is a question only he can answer. If it were me I would ask myself the following. 1. Is what I have the right vehicle for what I need? 2. What would it cost to replace exactly what I have? 3. What else is wearing out that may need replaceing in the future? 4. What does not work not that I have been telling my self I don't really need? ( A/C, Heater fans, Dash lights (just one or two not all), Radio speakers (Only one side), Seats with holes/rips/tears etc. 5. Can I afford to keep shelling out to keep it running or is the engine the only thing wrong. We had an Isuzu rodeo that was paid for. at 120,000 the clutch went we thought about trading it in but had it fixed and over looked some of the basics. Not long after that the rear windows (electric) stopped working. No big deal. (Until someone rides in the back who needs air.) The a/c haddent worked in many miles but hey who needs A/C in Maine? (Only when you go south to MAss or RI in the summer. which we did frequently after clutch was fixed) to replace the A/C it would have cost big bucks. almost as much as the clutch. Lots of little things were wrong. By them selves none of them were too bad. We had had intermittant problems with the door locks(Electric) some times you had to raise and lower the drivers lock button several times to get it unlocked. After my wife got locked in the car and had to crawl over the seats to the back hatch to get out. ( Thats the only one that would still open) Dressed in skirt for work. It still ran like a champ he said with an unwelcome smerk on his face. At least with 165000 the clutch almost paid for itself. I could have fixed up all te rest i'm sure but what was hidden and was I willing to take the risk. Buy the way hows the tranny? or the cooling system? Does it need a new battery? Just my thoughts  | ||
| Loki |
Dave, doing the work yourselves or farming it out? I would price a rebuilt long block, or a short block if the heads are good, and swap all the accessories over. Might save a chunk of change. I just priced a long block for my Ram (318) and it was sub $1k after the core charge. Something to consider if doing the work yourselves is an option. | ||
| Davegess |
doing the work yourselves or farming it out? He will be farming it out. He lives in North Carolina so I can't help him and while a truly wonderful potter and very good with building things auto repair and even much understanding about how they work is over his head. He is talking about a Jasper rebuilt complete motor with a 3 year 75000 mile warrenty. Then he has to pay his mechanic. The guy is good, up where he lives everyone knows everyone so dishonest or incompetant mechanics don't last too long. | ||
| Loki |
Sounds like the good route to follow then. | ||
| Tom_b |
If he plans on keeping the van for a while as transportation, then great. In 2000 i bought a 95 e 250 with 130,000 for 2000.oo blew the rearend out of it with 258,000. Just bought a 2000 e250 with 129000 for 2800.oo and it is the extended version. Both are v-8 engines. I'm currently driving a chevy c20 with a v-8 and 230,000 on it that I bought in 2002 for 2100.oo with a 150,000 on it. Around here anyway you have a hard time getting your money back out of old vans that are more than about 7 or 8 yrs old. If it is what he uses and can't replace it for the cost of rebuild, do it,, otherwise junk it and move on. Don't buy a new van, the resale is horrible. Also ford vans are bad about having front end problems | ||
| Cyclonecharlie |
Just went through the same thing,97 Ford van 4.2 with 250,000 on it. Bought a long block from Ford(was cheaper than Jasper) installation and everything was 4K. Now I'm having to look at transmission. If you add it all up could have gotten a lot more van for the money. Paid 3K for the van,but that's hindsight.....Charlie |
