subject: When To Have An Engine Repair Done [print this page] Have you been unfortunate enough to have to listen to an engine sputter as it is supposed to be purring down the road? If you are driving an older vehicle then sometimes that just happens when you have had it on the road for dozens of thousands of miles. However, engine troubles can also happen when you have a newer car too. There isn't a rhyme or reason why a car might have an engine problem, therefore there isn't always a clear solution as to what to do to fix your car. But there are a few guidelines to help you make a decision if you should repair the current engine, get a brand new one or even look for a new car.
How to Determine When an Engine Needs Repair
It is pretty easy to tell when the engine of your car needs repair. The engine might don one or a combination of several things, like sputter, slip gears when driving, not start or simply die when you are going down the road. The engine could go immediately with no warning or else there could have been signals along the way. Those signals could have been discolored exhaust coming out, a diagnostic code on the dashboard or even a sound that didn't sound quite right on the startup.
If you aren't sure what any of those mean, then see a technician at a service center. They can listen to your engine and check to see if any diagnostic codes pop up that need attention. It is better to have things checked out and be a false alarm. But that false alarm might not be false and you discover something that truly does need to be fixed up.
Repairing an Old Engine
How much money is in your budget? That might be the first step to take when considering what type of repair you need to have done on your car. For a person with little or no free room in the budget, adding a new car payment isn't an option. Then the choice comes down to getting a brand new engine or else having a refurbished one installed by a professional ASE master technician. Both engines are installed by a service technician and might take a few days or even a week to complete. It might take longer if the engine needs to be ordered and shipped from somewhere across the country, so be prepared to not have a vehicle or rent one if the service station doesn't have their own loaner cars when service is being done on a car.
Getting a Brand New Engine
A brand new engine will be more expensive than a refurbished one, but it will also come with some warranties and a guarantee that it should work for you. Since you have to spend the money on a new engine anyway, the difference between new and refurbished might only be a couple of hundred dollars. And if you get a warranty with the brand new one, it might be worth those couple hundred dollars in case the problem continues on down the road.
