On 13 Aug 96 at 9:26, Seamus Padraic Ragan wrote:

> After a rash of mis-diagnoses I am happy to report that i have
> found the problem with my 86' GL.  I should say that i am very
> unhappy.  The problem seems to be the valve lifters.  The shop
> that i took it to wants to do the work including putting in new
> rings and putting in new head gaskets.  He wants $2000 for the
> work.  
> Questions
> 1.  What is typically done in a reuild??
> 2.  How much do rebuilt engines usually go for (installed)
> 3.  What kind of faith should i place in a 10 year old car with
> a rebuilt engine?
> 4.  Should i try to sell it now (it is in great shape otherwise
> with lots of new parts) or should i fix it and try to sell it?
> 
> Any suggestions or tales of past experience would be much
> appreciated.
> 
You don't mention the mileage on the engine, or the severity of the 
lifter problem, so I'll assume the diagnosis is correct. If so, 
beware of rebuilds involving just rings & top end work. My uncle 
spent $2600 on new heads & rings on his '88, only to have the engine 
throw a rod 2 weeks later. Obviously the mechanic screwed up for it 
to throw a rod that quickly, but my feeling right from the startwas 
that he should have at least checked the bottom end, and probably 
replaced the bearings (it had 225k km on it). 
I'd find out how much more it would cost to do a proper rebuild with 
new main bearings, etc, since you will pay for most of the labour 
gettting the rings done.

Shawn
'88 Westy 332k (Kyra)
'85 Jetta TD 350k (Jenni)