I am an idiot.

[agallant80]

You ever hear that saying penny wise pound foolish? I had this brilliant idea of trading in my duramax on a Chrysler 300 and buying a 2001 Excursion V10 to haul the boat with. Ran the numbers and between the lower payment and gas savings I would be coming out about $400 ahead each month(which I am coming out at least that much ahead every month). This plan worked flawlessly until this weekend when towing the boat back from Wilmington to Raleigh the motor started knocking lost oil pressure and blew peaces of valve through the exhaust.

$770 tow back to Raleigh later I am faced with some options. I have to fix the truck because I can't pull anything with it the way it is and its not worth anything if I decide to sell it if its not running. In terms of fixing it I don't know if I want to spend the 3K on 100% rebuild motor or spend the $1400 on a used one from LKQ. Even after the truck is fixed the wife is not going to trust it and always worry about it breaking down again.

I should have stuck with the duramax....

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: I am an idiot.

Ah man that sucks...

Would it make you feel better if I told you my boat was still covered in snow?

Tough deal Bud...

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: I am an idiot.

That's a tough one. If you buy a used one you wont have any idea what your getting and you may be in the same situation as you're in now down the road........ I'm thinking you should find a reputable shop and rebuild it. There goes your savings for awhile.....

Surprised you went from a diesel to a V-10. Granted, gas is cheaper than fuel, but the MPG on a V-10 is terrible. At last it was when I had a Dodge 2500 w/ a V-10. Sure was a stump puller tho........ I guess you did get a second vehicle too.........

Good luck with your decision.....

 

[agallant80]

Re: I am an idiot.

That's a tough one. If you buy a used one you wont have any idea what your getting and you may be in the same situation as you're in now down the road........ I'm thinking you should find a reputable shop and rebuild it. There goes your savings for awhile.....

Surprised you went from a diesel to a V-10. Granted, gas is cheaper than fuel, but the MPG on a V-10 is terrible. At last it was when I had a Dodge 2500 w/ a V-10. Sure was a stump puller tho........ I guess you did get a second vehicle too.........

Good luck with your decision.....

I'm not doing my daily 40 mile round trip commute or running out to the store with the Excursion just Home Depot and boat trips. As for finding a shop I get lucky there. My neighbor is a mechanic, he offered to help.

 

[scipper77]

Re: I am an idiot.

I believe the gas savings comes from having the second vehicle for the daily driver.

If you are planning on using the truck for a tow only vehicle then the used motor would probably be fine. My thinking is that you are not putting enough miles on the motor to wear it out any time soon. Of coursed I would expect some kind of warranty on the motor either way you go.

That being said, I would probably put in the rebuilt motor and keep it. I just like knowing the history of my motors.

 

[Brian 26]

Re: I am an idiot.

That sucks. I am a numbers gut too, look at it this way, if you're saving $400+ each month you're saving enough to buy one of those used engines every 3 months. If it's been longer than 4 months (adding in that $770 tow) since you dumped the money hungry duramax then you're ahead.

If I was you I'd be looking hard at that used engine with my neighbor installing it. Can you get a history on what truck it came out of (ie how many miles it had)?

As for the wife not being happy with the truck, uh that's hard to put a number on :rant:

 

[Volphin]

Re: I am an idiot.

I'm finding long blocks for $2500 "list" or so online. Pull that engine and drop in a crate engine. Most come with a 3 year/unlimited miles warranty. It would only take a weekend to pop it in. How many miles were on the old engine?

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: I am an idiot.

I'm not doing my daily 40 mile round trip commute or running out to the store with the Excursion just Home Depot and boat trips. As for finding a shop I get lucky there. My neighbor is a mechanic, he offered to help.

If your neighbor is a sharp mechanic, that's the route I would go........ Might even save a few $.......

ps. My V-10 was a daily driver........:facepalm:

 

[agallant80]

Re: I am an idiot.

The neighbor is a good mechanic. I watch him pull an engine in his driveway about once a month (always doing someone a favor). As for the motor going it just rolled over 150K Like 150,068

 

[rbh]

Re: I am an idiot.

Ya that sucks!

In 2001 they where still using the 7.3 diesel in your truck I bet, any chance you could ditch the v10 and put in a 7.3?
Wiring harness may already be set up for it.

 

[agallant80]

Re: I am an idiot.

To make it worse I just filled her up She has about $80 worth of gas in her tank.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: I am an idiot.

Might as well pony up for the rebuilt motor, then you will know what you have and only need to worry about the trans. Dumping it and buying another used truck just puts you right back where you started wondering when it will die.

 

[agallant80]

Re: I am an idiot.

Might as well pony up for the rebuilt motor, then you will know what you have and only need to worry about the trans. Dumping it and buying another used truck just puts you right back where you started wondering when it will die.

I may dump her and the car and just go back to a truck. I see the following options

1. Fix her and sell her
2. Fix her and keep her

One way or the other she is getting fixed. If I can get her fixed with a new cuylinder head etc then I will more than likely sell her and use the money on going back to a truck. If I have to dump a new motor in to her then she is staying. Well see what i find out when I start ripping in to the motor. One way or the other its going to dent my season.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: I am an idiot.

Sh*t happens! The same analysis you did to buy the two vehicles didn't all of a sudden change. Just get it fixed and keep it.

By the way, the tranny is going to fail next! JK

 

[oldjeep]

Re: I am an idiot.

I may dump her and the car and just go back to a truck. I see the following options

1. Fix her and sell her
2. Fix her and keep her

One way or the other she is getting fixed. If I can get her fixed with a new cuylinder head etc then I will more than likely sell her and use the money on going back to a truck. If I have to dump a new motor in to her then she is staying. Well see what i find out when I start ripping in to the motor. One way or the other its going to dent my season.

So - new truck or used truck? If used, why do you think that trading off one known used truck is better than getting an unknown used truck?

 

[scipper77]

Re: I am an idiot.

At what point does paying to keep the boat in a slip become a viable option?? I personally like to fish which means hitting a different body of water as much as possible but for a recreational boater, keeping it docked will likely result in getting much more use from the boat.

 

[agallant80]

Re: I am an idiot.

At what point does paying to keep the boat in a slip become a viable option?? I personally like to fish which means hitting a different body of water as much as possible but for a recreational boater, keeping it docked will likely result in getting much more use from the boat.

The problem with that is that there is a lake 20 min from us and the ICW 3 hours from us. We like to have the boat around so we can go to the lake with out it being a weekend project and other times we like to take a day of make a long weekend and make the trip to the ICW.

As for one used truck vs another it would not be another used $5,000 Excursion I would trade in my cars on a new or newer truck and just have one vehicle. I guess we can run around town in my wife's corolla and leave the truck at home to save on gas.

 

[matt167]

Re: I am an idiot.

Sounds like the cam phaser let go.. Big problem with the 5.4L/6.8L 3 valves.. When I bought my '07 F-150 last Nov, I could have had a 5.4L truck optioned the same as the one I got, but I chose the 4.6L truck since it's enough truck for what I'll tow and with none of the 3V problems.. Doubt I'll ever have a boat as big as yours tho

 

[four winns 214]

Re: I am an idiot.

Fix the truck with the rebuilt engine. Bruceb58 may have been kidding about the transmission, but the unfortunate reality for you is that towing a big boat like yours is really hard on a transmission. Sooner rather than later you're going to drop some coin on that, too.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: I am an idiot.

If I'm not mistaken the V-10's have the same issue as the 5.4's do? Blowing spark plugs out of the head. Insufficient thread depth in the aluminum head.

I have a 2002 5.4 and had done half the engine already. Not fun.