Let me preface this: 2012 CWP, original motor. 190k miles. Great compression 180 across the board but last year I started losing leakdown in cylinder 3 (was losing about 40%). Driving on the freeway yesterday, getting up to about 50 when i noticed a blinking CEL, traction control light, and roughy misfire. Car went into limp home mode, couldn’t exceed 3k rpm. I managed to get it home and parked it overnight. Figured number 3 finally let go. this morning I pulled the plugs, number 2 was gunked up and the top of the piston was wet. 1,3,&4 were fine in contrast, plugs and cylinders were all clean. Ran compression on all four and #2 was zero, all the others were 180ish. At this point is it safe to deduce I’m dealing with a catastrophic failure? ringlands one would assume? I attached a photo from the Amazon boroscope camera.
Got done talking with my mechanic, used low mileage motor is $3500, rebuild is $4k, new one long block is $5450. That coupled with labor ($1500), a rebuilt turbo($500), new axles($$$?), replacing worn suspension and wheel bearings (still in original everything!), and whatever else it needs is easy $10k. I did a quick Google and clean low mileage pu’s are in the $13k-$15k range in so cal. It doesn’t make sense to dump money in a car like this. I owned her new and happy I got 190k out of her but I think I gotta dump it and get something else. Reliability is key especially taking care of my elderly parents.
good run at 190k that's for sure given current market unless you want to keep your car I can see moving on
Sorry for your loss. I agree on your decision. Only if you are going to turn into a spare driver and prepared to spend $$$. I hope your next ride is as good as we know our speed 3's are.
Gonna throw it up on CL/FBM for $4k see if anyone takes it. If not the local wreckers offered me $2k.
We are on same boat with my 09 Speed with 232K miles however after weighing all the options I decided to resurrect her with a new motor from Mazda and refresh S4 turbo. I'm also planning on replacing the Koni Eibach spring to B16 in the near future after the engine. Too bad Corksports camber plates will not be available until September. She's going see some daily driving and occasional track days.
This isn’t the ideal solution, but if it were mine I’d just pull the head and replace the one piston and perhaps refresh the rings on all of them. That could be done in a few part time days of work and for relatively cheap. I’ve even got 6 or 7 OEM pistons/rods in decent condition I could give you.
I thought about it and if I were still in my 20s I totally would. But I’m self employed and need reliable transportation to get me and my gear to giga. I cant risk being down again for another failure. Being responsible isn’t fun but hey it’s what I gotta do. Been looking at CL and FB all day, lots of avalons/Camrys/crown Vics for sale under $5k. Think I’ll pick one up for beater status while I save for something more fun.
You should do what makes sense for your situation! I’m not in my 20’s either but I hate paying for car repairs since they can be so expensive. That’s the entire reason I started working on cars
