So long story short, I have an '04 coupe purchased about a year ago with warrenty. It started making a very obnoxious clicking noise which i was told was the lifters, and also it burned a large amount of oil between changes so I put it into a shop assuming the warrenty would cover it.... 1 month later the *******s at the warrenty company tell me they wont cover the engine because the mileage on the car doesnt match what they have on file...............

ANYWAYS,

ive come to the conlcusion that i need to swap out my motor sooner or later because I refuse to drive around a car that burning oil and making ridiculous noises (mind you this is my daily, 60+ miles a day.) My question is how to go about this...
ive looked up several different sites for vq's all ranging between 900-2000 dollars depending on miles. I was wondering how much labor could possiblyt cost on a swap like this. Now from minor research ive read that an rb26 can also be swapped in our cars but no idea the price ranges on that and i cant seem to find any in my area. After getting my money back from the warrenty, the rest I will be paying out of my pocket so im trying to stay somewhere round 2-2500 for the complete job.

just wanted to get a better idea of what im getting myself into before wasting my/mechanics time.
any input is appreciated

 

nobody ??

 

In my searching theres not much that can be done swap wise for 2-3k ussually the average price is around 5k for the amount of work thats involved.for around 3k you can get a built short block though. If you have the knowledge/tools you can build the block yourself for around 2k.IMHO the VQ35 is a very good platform and for the money why spend around 5k to drop a USED motor in when you can spend thousands less and rebuild the one you have and it will be brand NEW. Plus not to mention that if you ever want to boost it in the futre the block is already built so you can go for big power without having to worry about the engine.

 

I had to replace my motor recently and the labor quote was for roughly 1300 at a shop not including all the little minor thing that could need replacing and fluids. Of course I bought a used engine with only 7k on it and after the warranty expired I found I had a slight headgasket leak and needed to replace the valve covers due to an oil leak. Luckily this time around I found a guy on the forums that took on the whole job for 850 labor. Should get the car back sometime this week so I'll see how this goes and report back.
Just a few words of wisdom... Take it to somebody who knows what they are doing with these cars. I found out while my car was in the shop the first time that it was their first time working on these cars and it was a nightmare. And the second go round with a forum member who specialized in these motors it has been nothing but fantastic so far. Not to mention that for the same headgasket job the first shop quoted me at 1900 and every other shop in my area wouldn't even touch my car cause of the work involved.

 

Labor, fluids, new plugs and diagnostic fees on my swap was about $2200.

I could have done it myself if I had time, a lift and engine hoist though, that's what pained me the most.

I recommend getting a new flywheel and clutch plate for the swap, as it's not guaranteed that the dual-mass flywheel will survive the removal and replacement.

 

I have the same problem and mine is a 04 6MT. Ticking noise developed and now it burns quite a bit of oil. Getting a replacement motor in soon.

My mechanic is also known guy on the forum and labor is 1000 without all other needed parts. Might be a bit expensive but his work is legit and did a swap on another member about a month back and not a single complaint from that owner.

Here is a video of mine. Skip to about 1:50. Sorry about quality.

 

In my old IS I paid a shop $1500 to swap out the motor. It was a direct replacement long block for long block so no fabing required. I think I paid around $2000 for the used motor.

 

good info.
ive decided to wait a little to really spread out my options. I just dont know if spending $3+ is really worth spending on a almost 10 year old car...... im considering trading it in or trying to sell it, just havent decided.

If i can find the right mechanic and a decent price, i will no doubt swap it but the last mechanic i took it to figure out the lifter problem made it even worse and the ticking has gotten louder and harsher.......cant trust anyone nowadays...smh

 

I've got the valvetrain tapping/ticking also - '04 coupe with 106k. I'm in the same boat wondering if it's worth the money to fix. Right now considering rebuilding the heads with new cams, springs, etc. Looks like it will cost $3-5k

 

Not sure where you are located but I know a very cheap and reliable person in the NYC region. $550 for a long block to long block swap assuming no hassles. My car was a PITA due to a lot of rust built up so it cost $1K but he threw in over $300 worth of parts for free.

Let me know if you need his contact info.

 

^ sounds like a good deal..i wish i was in the area.
as for updates, my car recently died on me on the way to work :/ the cluth pedal started to vibrate while in gear and the engine was slowly losing power.. long story short, figured it was bout that time to throw the motor in the trash, so i spoke to a couple shops and ordered a new one.

Im goin with a shop that ive gotten work from previosly. Theyre asking around 2800 for a 55k motor including labor.. not bad i guess considering what other shops were quoting me. My only concern is that from what ive heard, the "oil consumption" issue can happen to anyone at anytime with any amount of miles... the mechanic was very honest and told me directly that even with this lower mileage swap, i can still become a victim to this common issue which would be very unfortunate considering im paying for thsi out of pocket