Eating oil/ dropping in new long block

S

stupkat

Member
Location
St. Louis
Well the 2003FX45 has been swallowing oil.... like 1qt/tank of gas. Had valve covers pulled and clean, no sludge. Going to drop in a new long block now. Any suggestions on what is a good fit and year? Will an 06 vk45de fit in place of the 2003 block? Any years get better with the piston rings? Im going to drop in a vk45de long block of some kind, just looking to get an idea of good years if I buy used instead of new and what will fit in the place with my current parts from my engine.

Thanks in advance

Car has 125k on her.
 
did you do a leak down and/or compression test? your choice for replacement engine is either used or rebuild from 03-08. there's no new vk45 engine that you can get...
 
im going to get a re-manufactured engine. There was not a test done. Do you know the cost? I wouldn't be shocked if it was just head gaskets. how much would this cost for the test?

---------- Post added at 10:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 AM ----------

dealer tech said he thinks its in the block and the only way he thinks itll be fixed entirely is to have a new short block put in. He said a whole long block would guarantee its taken care of... seems like the way to go instead of dumping $$$ into taking stabs at whats possibly wrong when it might not be the fix.
 
Try changing the oil with half a bottle of lucas stabilizer. If it stops consuming slighly its the piston rings. Does it smoke?
 
Yep, I've got that same problem.
2003 FX45. 199k miles. She's drinking a quart every 1-2 gas tanks.
Do you have all the same symptoms? Seems like oil is getting in the engine somewhere and out the exhaust. Oil rich exhaust has clogged my cats. It's not a lot of visual smoke like a smoke bomb, but its rich raw race exhaust. (But I'm not sure how much of that is from the unfiltered clogged cats. Test pipe effect.)
 
porkandbeans... this is identical! It ran ok, but 2 injectors went out this past week and its misfiring in 2 cylinders now. Otherwise it ran like a top still glugging down oil.
Had leak in exhaust while back and replaced the mid pipe, otherwise it was fouling the cats. It smokes hard when you get on it once its started up and then it calms down a little, additives seem to stop it or at least minimize it. Heavy throttle seems to bog it down and it stumbles on accelleration

Maybe ill just have them tear into it and see whats up today and hope its just rings.... then ill get new rings, gaskets, and toss on some heads to cover all the damn bases with it.
 
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Sounds right. It runs "okay" in what I call 2-stroke mode. Performance is a bit sluggish and mpg has decreased from mid-16's to mid-14's. Exhaust is definitely oil rich when I stomp on it, but never any plooms of blue or white smoke.
I have no known problems with injectors or misfires. My valve covers were recently replaced by the dealer. I was hoping the leaking valve covers were part of the early issue. but I guess not. I do have a high idle, so not sure how much of that relates to poor mpg and rich exhaust. (pedal dance hasn't been working).
I've tried different oil brands with no change. Was going to stop dropping oil additives next. Maybe I'll get a compression check today.
 
I had a high idle too, in 50 degree weather it idles around 1000-1200 but recently was down low closer to 500 and kinda rough, assuming due to misfires. I had a compression test done around the time it started eating oil, before it really picked up and all cylinders came back good from the dealer. I had the valve covers done recently too hoping it would be the problem, they were clean, and it still smokes and is rough. I tried everything with oils, valvoline, mobil1, royal purple, 5w30/ 10w30/ 10w40 and honestly didnt make a difference in how much it was consuming. Additives stopped the smoke but never really put a huge slow down in the amount of oil being eaten.

Talked to the tech again this morning, hes confident that breaking into it we could do valve covers, and shoot for gaskets and piston rings and stop everthing. So im going to go that route now, i assume they wanted to drop the new block in just because they didnt want to do any machine work or clean up the burnt oil mess inside.
 
At a shop today getting my starter replaced, I inquired about the engine issue. Mostly for their input... not really a place I'd take it to for major engine work.
They had no interest in tearing into an engine, and that's fine. They would do an engine swap and did however call around but were unable to find a used engine: no surprise. He was able to find a re-manufactured engine and quoted me $13,500 parts and labor. Like I said, this was not a place I would have given the job of major work to anyways.
 
Dealer just called me and said the same. They quoted me 22h labor and brought price down to $2,499 for labor to install a new block or used engine. Found some engines online and contemplating next steps...might toss a bunch of rislone in the bitch and dump it on another dealer for a g37x once it stops smoking. Going to spend the weekend and tomorrow doing hard research on what the next steps will be. Found some remanufactured long blocks online for around $4k. So esentially $6500 has a fresh block all hooked up at the dealer.
 
stupkat said:
Dealer just called me and said the same. They quoted me 22h labor and brought price down to $2,499 for labor to install a new block or used engine. Found some engines online and contemplating next steps...might toss a bunch of rislone in the bitch and dump it on another dealer for a g37x once it stops smoking. Going to spend the weekend and tomorrow doing hard research on what the next steps will be. Found some remanufactured long blocks online for around $4k. So esentially $6500 has a fresh block all hooked up at the dealer.
Click to expand...

6500? Seems like too much money to spend on a 2003 FX. Unless its modded show car or has some crazy sentimental value. You could probably pick up a used engine and have some independent shop do the swap. Then trade it in after or sell it and buy a new ride. dropping 6500 is crazy talk
 
does anyone know if an 06-07 block will fit the 03? IMO it should, dealer was hesitant.

---------- Post added at 11:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:58 AM ----------

Im not going to drop the refurb block into it... maybe a used engine and do that. Just gotta find one I like with a warranty of some kind
 
Your prices seem right to me. ~$4000+ for the motor plus ~$2500 for install is what I've heard without doing serious research. When/if the time comes, that's probably what I'll do. But that's not in the near future. IMO, it's simply too good of a car to dump off.
 
if you plan to keep the vehicle for a long time then go with a used motor with 30 to 90-day warranty like you said and try to find it locally. this is because if you got a bad motor from online then you'll have to pull it out, ship it back and be without a vehicle for months. personally, i would just do a temporary fix and trade/sell it. an 03 fx45 with compatible millage seems to go for around $6-7K anyway.
 
Found used engine block with compression below:
[h=3]COMP 230 190 200 200 225 215 200 210[/h]Where should it read? the 190 is decent stdev from the others imo
 
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