So I'm here bemoaning the fact that my engine is well and truly on its way to KA heaven. It seems like Wednesday's knocking disaster wasn't a 'near thing' as I was told on Thursday, but in fact a reality. So my little drift spin and burn out last night only served to aggravate whatever is causing the knocking in the engine.
And whatever is right. :( Based on what I've been told and what I've dug up on the net, it could be rod bearings, the main bearings, piston pins, the actual pistons, cam bearings or all of the above. But no one knows for sure. And since I can't bring myself to 'enjoy it while it lasts' and drive the car until maybe a rod blows out the block, I just have to find a way to know what's wrong. Now on Thursday I found out exactly where the rod bearings are and let me tell you the labour costs on a job like that are daunting to say the least. But I just can't face the alternative of driving the car and then on that fateful day when I have to dig into the RPMs to escape a chi chi bus or an 18 wheeler, BANG Max is KIA (killed in action) having DOW (died of wounds). It's hard enough to deal with that fact that my carelessness (checking everything but the oil for one month) has brought me to this stage, but to drive it till it pop would in my eyes be to commit an unforgiveable crime of turning a blind eye to the plight of my engine.
I mean, according Basil who is someone I really trust, the KA24E is already for all intent and purposes dead *gulp* but I can still feel a pulse! Oh God, I have to fight with this car till the end. This is DISTRESSING! And no one better post to comment to remind me that Max is just a car. It's like I said to J, "Being able to become one with this car, and feel the raw energy that comes from driving the car is perhaps the only thing that has made me having to be here bearable." So I've downloaded the KA24E service manual and I've done research and found a number of websites that sell OEM parts (quite a few have free shipping!). Later on today I should hopefully get a few more options from Basil, because while I know a new engine (a SR20DET and I so do not want a turbo engine out here) is about J$120k I'm not quite clear on the labour costs associated with replacing engine internals although based on what everyone is telling me it's an arm and a leg. I know that I can get a rod bearing set, a main bearing set, pistons, piston rings and a valve cover gastket set for US$331.89 including shipping, but is that all I'll need? And what IS the cost of labour? So I need more concrete dollar figures, so that I can compare and see what options are going to be feasible and worthwhile.
I really wish that I'd gotten into cars when I was younger, like all the males I know who got into the scene when they were 15 or younger. That way I would've made my mistakes at the same time they did and hopefully be as knowledgeable and mature as they are today. It's hard to be the late bloomer, your mistakes are glaring and stick out like a sore thumb because everybody else has already gone through the phase you're in. There's no help for it though. I may be a girl, but based on where I am in the car scene I'm going to have to hold my chin up, gird my loins and take this like a man.
- Mood:Max is DOW & i've got the bill
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