Rod knock with my '05 2.5i

Well, I took the car in for its 60k service today, and the dealership called me back confirming the worst. Rod knock. Recently, I've been noticing a sound between 3-4500RPM at partial throttle that sounded an awful lot like knocking. At full throttle, there wasn't any noise, and it went away at high RPM too. I know the obvious solution is to only drive the car flat out, but for the sake of fuel economy and certain posted speed limits, I've had to rule that out. The dealership said that the best scenario they could quote me was to swap out the short block, for $7k. So my question is, at this point, what options do I have?

Well, I took the car in for its 60k service today, and the dealership called me back confirming the worst. Rod knock. Recently, I've been noticing a sound between 3-4500RPM at partial throttle that sounded an awful lot like knocking. At full throttle, there wasn't any noise, and it went away at high RPM too. I know the obvious solution is to only drive the car flat out, but for the sake of fuel economy and certain posted speed limits, I've had to rule that out. The dealership said that the best scenario they could quote me was to swap out the short block, for $7k. So my question is, at this point, what options do I have?

 

GOOD GARSHHHHHHHHH $7000.00:eek:

 

How much of that price is labor and how much parts?

 

Are they simply swapping accessories and heads from your blown block to a factory fresh short block?

 

Have you considered buying a used engine with low mileage and paying a shop to swap that engine in for you ?

 

Have you considered find a different shop to do the same tasks the stealer suggested to you ?

 

 

Thought about using that $7K towards a different vehicle?

Your car probably isnt worth much more than $7K but if this is your only mode of transportation then you have less options to resolve the issue.

Your First option is to get a Second opinion.

 

A brand new shortblock shouldn't cost more than 2-3k at maximum. So that means they want 4k for labor. I know we can get an entire motor out and back in within a few hours. A day at the most.

 

So unless there's a lot of other things being included in that quote besides a simple shortblock swap, the dealership is taking you for a ride.

 

Back to the original issue - these motors make a lot of noise. I should know, I obsess about every little one, since I'm running a prototype turbo kit at various psi's on my 2.5i, seeing if and when I'll break it. When I got it, it had 180k miles already, and clattered enough at various rpm's and light load that I was halfway convinced it's on it's way out before the turbokit went on. I'm nearly at 200k and the possessed bastard from hell still won't even get close to kicking the bucket.

 

And thus, that's why I'll repeat what I said at the beginning. Get a second opinion. Right now at least, it sounds like your dealership sees you as a good bit of bonus cash, since this will be done out of your pocket, not warranty. Bring it to an independent, keep your cynical face on, and see what they have to say.

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/BRZSportsCarClub

Also, if it is rod knock, the absolute WORST thing you can do is rev it super high all the time. That will grenade it in no time. Also, rod knock tends to happen most under load (so like say starting off from a stop light/sign). I second that taking it to an independent shop would be best.

does it knock really loud in the morning when you start it up?