Engine shut off while driving and will not start

Tiny
LEAH NELSON
  • MEMBER
  • 2000 MITSUBISHI MONTERO
  • 3.0L
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 200,000 MILES
I have the vehicle listed above Sport. I admit I have been somewhat neglectful in it's upkeep lately, but circumstances have kept me from being to involved (I've been broke). A while back, the engine started making this horrible ticking sound, and I had the spark plugs changed, which did help the idle, it had been erratic, but the ticking persisted. Right after having the spark plugs done (I had not gotten the wires done yet, this was all within like, a day and a half), I had the oil changed. After the oil change the engine shutdown while I was going down the road, and has not started again. It doesn't try and turn over, just a loud click from the starter and nothing. I can't run diagnostics on it because it won't start, and I'm concerned that there is probably damage inside the motor. Also, I looked at a couple of the spark plugs and there seems to be oil on the ceramic part. I know it's bad for the ends of them to be wet, but I wasn't sure about the ceramic part. It has leaked oil ever since I bought it, and I've had it for 5 years. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.
Is this vehicle even worth fixing?

So, my boyfriend started tearing into it and worst thing I could've hoped for. Big ole' hole in the engine block. Not much to be done now, I reckon.
Thursday, April 30th, 2020 AT 5:48 AM

2 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,867 POSTS
Hi,

If there is a hole in the engine block, one of the connecting rods is the likely cause. In all honesty, there is nothing that can be done other than replace the engine.

If possible, can you upload a pic of what you are seeing so I can confirm that is what has happened?

Let me know,
Joe
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Sunday, May 3rd, 2020 AT 8:38 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,555 POSTS
If the body is in good shape and the transmission hasn't been giving problems you might consider a used engine for it. Looking at Car-Part. Com which is an online search of salvage yards there seems to be plenty of them out there for reasonable money. If you go that route you may want to use that site and see what places around you have. Then if possible listen to it run before you buy it and clean it up and replace things like the rear main seal, valve cover gaskets and wear items like that before you install it.

If the body is questionable or there are other problems with it besides the engine then it may be better to replace the vehicle. This can be a tough call these days with the way car prices are. At the average payment levels putting in a used engine could be 3-5 payments on the replacement vehicle.
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Sunday, May 3rd, 2020 AT 8:40 PM

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