2004 Pontiac Sunfire Possible Blown Engine Block

KIVASP

MEMBER
2004 PONTIAC SUNFIRE
118,000 MILES

Hi, I was driving on the highway when my Sunfire let out a boom and a rattle. Thinking I blew a tire, I pulled to the shoulder and noticed my car was releasing a cloud of white smoke from the exhaust. After seeing my tires were fine I noticed that my car was leaking copious amounts of oil. I tried starting the car back up and it started shaking bad and getting really loud. I believe my engine block may have blown, because I have heard similar stories, but didn't spot any immediate problems when I popped the hood. I spent $450 dollars getting it towed home and that is the last of my expendable funds. My question is should I even bother taking it to a mechanic for a full diagnoses or should the car be scrapped?

PS- When I explained it to my boyfriends father he said it could have been the distributor cap or a hose crapping out, but as I don't know a bunch about cars I can't see how all the oil would leak out.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,873 POSTS

You're right. The parts they mentioned won't cause anything close to what you described. With the excessive oil leakage the cause should be pretty easy to determine.

In my opinion most GM small cars hold up miserably in a crash so I would look at this as an opportunity to trade it for anything else. If you consider the value of the car, then subtract the cost of replacing the entire engine, most new and used car dealers will give you more than that toward a different car.

Should you choose to have the car repaired, a mechanic is going to have to look at it to determine whether the engine can be repaired or if it's less expensive to install a good used one. Many shops will do a preliminary inspection at no or little cost so they can give you an estimate. Even if you have to pay for a professional opinion, that will be better than getting lots of advice from people who know even less about cars than you do.