Oil drain plug flew out on highway

Sorry, PB4, my last post was confusing. They are not going to try and fix my engine, probably because of what you mentioned. They are going to replace it.

The owner of the Kwik Kar lube place has multiple locations, some bigger and with mechanics on staff. They have relocated my car to one of their larger places. They haven't called me back with more info on the clutch, so I'll just leave the original in. (I'll replace it myself when I get a house with a garage if it's ever needed.) It's not slipping at all even with 130k, mostly in-town, and with my penchant for down-shifting. My lady friend has been asking me to teach her to drive manual, so hopefully it can survive that. :) My mom's '76 Toyota Corona survived my learning manual at the age of 14.

At this point, I think I'm OK with a used engine (vs. rebuilt/remanufactured) with a warranty. The used engine has the advantage - in my mind at least - of being assembled in Japan by Mazda.
 
i12drivemyMP5 said:
The reason they backed off rebuild is that cams have journals, not bearings and that would mean new head. As was stated, push for new long block and not a used motor. They are not hard to come by, it is just gonna cost them money to have one shipped because none around nearby. The clutch thing is judgement call....if you could end up with new motor and the clutch at reasonable cost, that'd be great.
Click to expand...

I12, is a used motor effectively a long block in this case, but just used? I mean, any used engine would have to include the cylinder head since the head is probably toast on my old engine as you said.
 
i'm referring to a remanufactured long block with new bearings rings head cams and oil pump....new everything that a dumbass not tightening the drain plug and ALL the resulting damage oil starvation causes. piecing ur motor back together or replacing with used junkyard motor is less than they owe you at this point.....IMO.
 
Agreed with i12. I'd push for the jasper engine if you can. They build good motors, I've used several with no issues.

Long block is a full motor. Just without the bolt on accessories like intake manifold, alternstor, etc.
 
A friend of mine is just now in the market for a used Lexus engine and went to a place that sold them. When he asked the guy how they knew how many miles were on them, the guy said they just make a up number based on the condition of the engine. Consequently, all their engines that are in decent shape say they have 70k to 100k miles on them. That wasn't encouraging news to me, given my current situation.

So I talked to the mechanic who is working on my car. He seems pretty earnest. I asked him how he knew the actual mileage on the used engine he'd sourced and he told me he pulled it himself. He lives pretty far north of Dallas and went to Oklahoma for it. They're putting it in now.

He also gave me more info on my clutch. He said it's shot, and because locally-available clutch kits are so damn expensive, I ordered a Sachs kit (four pieces total plus grease; no flywheel or slave cylinder) for $100+ off rockauto.com. I'll take it up there Thursday or Friday.
 
In my opinion, I think you're doing OK.

The mechanic is making no money off of the clutch and you get free labor for that install.

I know of mechanics that charge a higher hourly rate if you supply the parts.

Your car and the donor car are both almost 20 years old.

You could end up with a better car than you started with and you've got a warranty.

Keep an eye on oil burning.
If it's not worse than your previous engine then you win.
(except for your $damages due to the pain in the ass of it all)
 
katapaltes said:
A friend of mine is just now in the market for a used Lexus engine and went to a place that sold them. When he asked the guy how they knew how many miles were on them, the guy said they just make a up number based on the condition of the engine. Consequently, all their engines that are in decent shape say they have 70k to 100k miles on them. That wasn't encouraging news to me, given my current situation.

So I talked to the mechanic who is working on my car. He seems pretty earnest. I asked him how he knew the actual mileage on the used engine he'd sourced and he told me he pulled it himself. He lives pretty far north of Dallas and went to Oklahoma for it. They're putting it in now.

He also gave me more info on my clutch. He said it's shot, and because locally-available clutch kits are so damn expensive, I ordered a Sachs kit (four pieces total plus grease; no flywheel or slave cylinder) for $100+ off rockauto.com. I'll take it up there Thursday or Friday.
Click to expand...


I think you'll be perfectly fine with that. :)

As for the friend of yours, I don't know where he's shopping for an engine but that's definitely not the norm. most used engines come from salvage yards. reputable salvage yards will tag the engine with the VIN, mileage, and stock number of the vehicle it was removed from. If mileage is unknown, then it is listed as "unknown mileage".

I use www.car-part.com when I look for things. rarely can't find what I'm looking for
 
I'm optimistic at this point. I dropped off the clutch kit today and spoke to the mechanic. He showed me the clutch disc and two of the springs had come out of the disc and it was almost down to the rivets. :-o

The rear mount is shot and he would replace that too, but I can't find one for a manual in the DFW area. A nearby AutoZone had one in stock for an automatic. I guess I'll leave it as it is and go buy some Window Weld for later. Any ideas there? :)
 
I'm almost positive the rear mounts are the same.

The only difference is the side (transmission) mount and the unmentioned difference between the other side mounts.

 
There's another post on the forum that gives the part numbers for all four mounts, and only the front mount has the same part number. Autozone and most of the other stores mention the rear mount they carry along with the words "with automatic transmission."

If it's a two-part mount and I can re-use the manual-specific part, that would be great, but I've got no way to tell. Luckily, that mount doesn't handle as much torque as two of the others, per the mechanic and advice I've seen on the forum. I've already replaced the passenger and front mounts with OEM ones, and I can replace the transmission mount if that would make things better and not worse for the rear mount.
 
Huh...
I just checked RockAuto and they only have one for the Automatic Transmission.

Except one that isn't specified.



If you could get something on line with one or two-day shipping, it would probably be worth it.

Those rear mounts are a PITA to replace.
 
Is it possible that the only difference between the rear mount for an automatic vs. a manual is a rubber bumper on the "outside" of the mount and maybe a built-in hanger for some kind of line/hose/whatever? If so, I wonder if that bumper can be re-used? I'll call the mechanic and ask if he's OK with trying the mount designed for the automatic transmission as there's one available literally down the street. The mechanic says Autozone mounts are Anchor brand and that they're good, but of course suppliers can change.

Another question if I may... Yeah, I've heard that it's a total pain to replace that rear mount (from below). How painful is it from above? I mean, do you just have to remove *a lot* of stuff, but it's relatively easy to remove that stuff, and it's simply time-consuming? I have spare time, but I just don't have the skills many of you guys do. So if I can break any job down into medium-difficulty tasks, I can do that. The most difficult repairs I've done so far is replacing the front and passenger engine mounts and all four struts if that gives you any idea of my skill level.
 
UPDATE: I called dealer back and he said he could have it by tomorrow by 9:00am. 😮😮😮 At first he said it would be a Friday delivery out of Georgia, then after I gave him my VIN and he checked again, he said he could get it from his warehouse. He had looked it up incorrectly initially, and he said he probably made the same mistake the guy I talked to on Friday did. He said the VIN takes all the guesswork out of it. The mechanic at Kwik Kar is will to wait until tomorrow and he'd really like to replace that worn mount. The guy is earnest for sure... He even spun the old throw-out (?) bearing while we were looking at the clutch so that I could hear how bad it was.

EDIT: "The mechanic at Kwik Kar is *willing* to wait" - although his name actually is "Will." :p
 
Last edited:
I suck at surfing the Google and this forum but there is a stud that needs to be broken off to gain access to one of the nuts/bolts on the rear mount when doing it from the top.
It is a tiny stud that only holds a wiring harness or connector.
You break it off and seal it with silicone.

This may not be an issue for him because the engine is out and he has plenty of access for different tools like a crow's foot wrench.

I think I've lost 10 years worth of private messages now with this new forum and apparently, I've won a big ole trophy for my First Post and people like it!!!

Woopie!!!


EDIT: I managed to find my list of messages...
 
Last edited:
Picked up the engine mount this morning and ran it up to the mechanic. Here are some pics of the manual transmission-specific mount in case anyone can spot the difference between it and the automatic version of the mount.


IMG_20200128_094424524.jpg
IMG_20200128_094523773.jpg
IMG_20200128_094810039.jpg
IMG_20200128_094821762.jpg
IMG_20200128_094825260.jpg
IMG_20200128_101040907.jpg
 
I believe the only difference is that hook thing on the top. Its to hold the shifter cable on automatics. Easily removed for manuals tho
 
There's a rubber bumper on the "outside" of the mount. I don't typically see that on the automatic transmission version of the mount. I wonder if that's for really bad shifts... :)
 
So a couple weeks back, the mechanic told me he had replaced the engine with the used one he'd pulled, but it started smoking. He said he'd been optimistic at first because engines can smoke if they've been sitting for a while. Well, it kept smoking, he said, and he wasn't going to give it to me like that. So they started looking again. I called them today and they said they had the next engine arriving in 15 minutes and that the car might be ready tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I'll be curious to see how it drives with the new clutch and rear engine mount... and a different engine.
 
pb4ugotobed said:
and no, these engines are not hard to find. Call jasper you can get a rebuilt engine with a 5 year 100k mile warranty. I just checked and LKQ ships nationwide and theyve got 4 or 5 on their website. I believe LKQ sells rebuilt motors as well, or at least they used to. Check www.car-part.com theres lots of used motors on there as well.
Click to expand...

PB4,
Well, the second engine they brought in wasn't good either. They're going to get an engine from LKQ this time. I'm guessing it's probably not a rebuilt, but the mechanic mentioned LKQ is a good vendor like you said. I imagine they're getting about as tired of my car as I am of not having it. :)
 
Sorry to hear all that. LKQ sells good quality parts. Not saying that they're 100% tested and approved before hand (because they probably aren't) but... with LKQ at least you're dealing with a reputable nation-wide company that stands behind their parts. And they do offer a warranty (think it's 90 days or something on a used motor) so if it is bad, they'll back it up and the shop will get paid labor to replace it at least. Most junk yards won't do that.

LKQ and Jasper both offer reman engines that are excellent, and come with a 3 year 100k mile warranty. Maybe they went that route with it and be done? The only problem I've had with the reman engines, think it was from LKQ, is they clean and paint everything. Well, the flange on the head where the valve cover sits was painted and the valve cover gaskets were leaking because they couldn't seal against the teflon like paint lol. Not a big deal though, little roloc disc action to sand them off and never had a problem with that one again.
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar Thread

New Posts

Back