l36tols1 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Hey guys, A friend of mine has a 2011 Chevy Impala the only history of the car that I know, it's a former fleet bought at 140k miles currently has 169k. I was actually in the car when it happened. Driving on the freeway doing 75mph (This is actually the speed limit in a lot of AZ) Car starts struggling to get up an incline. Then a knocking noise. We pull over and it sounds horrible. For reference this is the exact knocking sound it is making. Towed it to a shop, they claim there is no oil getting to the top end of the engine and there is no compression in cylinder #3 They recommend replacing the whole engine. Should she even bother towing it to a different shop for a second opinion? The guy's Impala in the youtube video only needed a new water pump and timing belt. What are your thoughts? It was running just fine up until then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergwheel1647545492 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 sounds like a sludge motor to me. Timing belt and water pump won't fix no compression on #3. you can take it somewhere else and get another opinion, but it sounds like the motor is shot. which is kind of surprising at only 169k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grudes Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Replacing the engine would probably be the better and cheaper option as their is a lot more labor involved in tearing down and rebuilding the engine on top of the replacement parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99StockGT Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Hey guys, A friend of mine has a 2011 Chevy Impala the only history of the car that I know, it's a former fleet bought at 140k miles currently has 169k. I was actually in the car when it happened. Driving on the freeway doing 75mph (This is actually the speed limit in a lot of AZ) Car starts struggling to get up an incline. Then a knocking noise. We pull over and it sounds horrible. For reference this is the exact knocking sound it is making. Towed it to a shop, they claim there is no oil getting to the top end of the engine and there is no compression in cylinder #3 They recommend replacing the whole engine. Should she even bother towing it to a different shop for a second opinion? The guy's Impala in the youtube video only needed a new water pump and timing belt. What are your thoughts? It was running just fine up until then. A couple things to note here. What sort of "Fleet Vehicle" was this before your friend purchased it? Many vehicles that have seen fleet use have a LOT more engine hours on them than what their actual mileage displays so keep that in mind. On the flip side you also can run into fleet cars that were incredibly well maintained because they are done on a tax payers dollar and keeping things tip top is in their best interest. Now.. moving on to the noise. Aside from actually getting to the car and/or seeing a video of it running it would be hard to give you an exact idea of what is wrong. If it's a water pump that more often than not will have more of an outside the motor source of noise versus internal. However if it's been run low on oil and there's a significant drop in cylinder compression in #3 you could very well be talking internal engine damage. From a shop perspective unless its a desirable or expensive engine the usual best route is an entire engine swap out. Typical book time on a 2011 Impala is somewhere between 15-17 hour depending on what motor is in it. To pull and rebuild it you are going to be somewhere in the 24-27 hour range book time, plus parts. If you need head work, you have additional machining costs. You can rapidly see yourself in the $1000+ in parts and machine work depending on what's discovered on the inside. Depending what they quote you in the long run you often times are MUCH better off just getting a rebuilt warrantied long block from a provider like LKQ and having the swap done. Either way you will easily be north of $3500 for the repair. Just some friendly local shop knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeto67 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Is "replacing" even a viable option? It's a 2011 impala fleet car with 170k miles - it's like a $3k car on it's best day. Assuming Austin's 15-17 hour labor quote is accurate (I believe it is) that's almost $1500 in labor before you even get to the cost of the engine which could be anywhere from $400-$800. I mean it sucks that it's your friend and they are in this position and all, but I would get a soup to nuts quote on price before considering anything going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99StockGT Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 This is one of those situations where the shop needs to be an adviser only and not pressuring one way or another. Sometimes it makes sense to put a lot of money into a ride sometimes it doesn't, all the shop can do is break it down and give you the most comprehensive and honest quote they can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l36tols1 Posted January 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Thank you everyone. She bought the car for only $3k last year. Sooooo repair is out of the question lol She was holding off buying a newer car for at least another year to save money looks like those plans will have to change now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiek2000 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 I'd check the pushrods. Not uncommon to bend 1 or 2 on a 3.5/3.9. Would make noise as well as no compression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 I've seen A/C compressors lock up and do similar stuff, doubt it given the description of what happened. That video was hard to watch with such a moron. I wouldn't mind looking at it, but it's very likely to need an engine. It sucks that the valve covers aren't super easy to get off. For that reason I'd question how well this shop even diagnosed it. I mean those pay a couple hours to pull and I wouldn't do it for an hour diag, so not sure the situation but I know many techs that would look at that say "internal engien noise" and quote an engine without poping some valve covers off and making sure something didn't just come apart in the valvetrain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.