Buying a Rebuilt 2002 Sprinter Engine 2.7

Hello fellow Sprinter owners. My engine blew on my 2002 Sprinter with 158,000 miles..Has anyone heard of US Sprinter Inc out of Alsip, Illinois? Any feedback much appreciated as I know they are a small outfit.They rebuild Sprinter engines and the price is great but I am a little hesitant to pull the trigger as they need a certified check first for $600 to deliver the engine and then the core of my engine has to be good or its another $1000..there is a 100,000 mile or 6 months warranty. The rebuilt is $3000.00 when delivered . Paid on delivery. I have a diesel mechanic in upstate NY who will put it in for $1700..
Or there is the option of the mechanic going through his normal channels buying an engine with 110,000 miles on it and installing it for $4500 approx..
Very hard decision as if he purchases engine he deals with the the third party and has a warranty. If I buy the rebuild its on me if anything sketchy happens.
Any advice appreciated!
Thanks-
Chris

What part of your engine blew?

Are there parts required to be swapped from your current engine?

I'd rather have a rebuilt engine than an engine at 100k of unknown internal condition.

greencapsule said:

Hello fellow Sprinter owners. My engine blew on my 2002 Sprinter with 158,000 miles..Has anyone heard of US Sprinter Inc out of Alsip, Illinois? Any feedback much appreciated as I know they are a small outfit.They rebuild Sprinter engines and the price is great but I am a little hesitant to pull the trigger as they need a certified check first for $600 to deliver the engine and then the core of my engine has to be good or its another $1000..there is a 100,000 mile or 6 months warranty. The rebuilt is $3000.00 when delivered . Paid on delivery. I have a diesel mechanic in upstate NY who will put it in for $1700..
Or there is the option of the mechanic going through his normal channels buying an engine with 110,000 miles on it and installing it for $4500 approx..
Very hard decision as if he purchases engine he deals with the the third party and has a warranty. If I buy the rebuild its on me if anything sketchy happens.
Any advice appreciated!
Thanks-
Chris

Click to expand...

Chris
Please list what YOU think, or consider is a rebuild.
When you are done please answer that question or general understanding.
Dennis

Thats alot of money to swap an engine. Should be alot less. Those engines are a piece of cake to swap. One day job max.

Book time is 12 hours including injector re-encode & road test.
Dressing engine from long block status to complet power pack add 5 hours .
Dennis
Mechanic

I agree that is a lot your mechanic is charging to install a motor. Consider looking for a donor engine yourself + a different mechanic to install it or maybe look around on these forums for a reputable sprinter tech close to you. Hell, if you're mechanically inclined - do it yourself! Biggest obstacle is lifting the motor, in which you can rent a 'cherry picker' or buy a cheapie from Harbor Freight/craigslist. Many times its easier to leave the transmission connected, not sure if thats the case with t1n sprinters or not.

Another question you need to ask yourself is if this 'US Sprinter Inc' sells you a bad motor, how are you going to sue them, can you sue them, how much will it cost to sue them, or even is it possible to sue them

unfortunately its easier for them to screw you and get away with it than it is for you to get your money back through the courts. I've been to small claims a couple times as the plaintiff. Even if you win the case, getting the money out of the defendant is even more difficult and another battle of its own. I mean you would probably have to fly/drive to Illinois for a few days, hire a lawyer, yikes...

OK its value for money time!
I am going to assume that the mechanic going to do this job is a skilled individual with some sort of tech credentials. In short not a You Tube Grad!
The quote for $1700 taking into account the removal, dressing the donor unit, re-install then run up and encoding clearing codes etc isn't too bad.

So it begs the question what do you nay sayers consider is a fair price?.
Curious
Dennis

lindenengineering said:

OK its value for money time!
I am going to assume that the mechanic going to do this job is a skilled individual with some sort of tech credentials. In short not a You Tube Grad!
The quote for $1700 taking into account the removal, dressing the donor unit, re-install then run up and encoding clearing codes etc isn't too bad.

So it begs the question what do you nay sayers consider is a fair price?.
Curious
Dennis

Click to expand...

Maybe you're right, thats a lot for ME I should say. Not so much the mechanic fees but the whole job for $4700. Whats the going rate for labor nowadays, $120/hour?

Being a broke bastard myself, I could never pay that. Personally I might look around for a wrecked sprinter and hope to salvage a lowish miles motor for $500-1000 if possible. I'm curious what this illinois sprinter place is actually rebuilding when they tear into an engine, I dont blame them for the 3k price tag though, that is a LOT of work. I just have trouble entrusting someone to actually do it right.

For doing a proper swap, (with inspections of everything along the way and standing beind the work) that price seems fine assuming that 17 hour time.

I'd charge less, but I don't have a regular shop overhead etc. that is expensive.

A good point on the 'rebuild'- what does that mean? I've seen some pretty poor 'rebuilds' out there, not bothering the change parts I most certainly would as long as the engine is apart.
Personally, I'd rather rebuild an existing engine- unless some very major issues. I've done engine swaps using donar engines, it was rather a pain. (One used one of those 'from Japan' used engines. It had parts almost impossible to find here)

Well that died a death didn't it?
Ask what constitutes a rebuild and the thread goes as silent as a dead engine!

A bit like asking for a price break down when people whinge about service costs at the dealer!

As a benchmark the Jasper rebuilt for an engine like this is $7300.
Then you have the RnR with maybe a cooling system replace (most likely what caused the original engine to fail) and the price turn key is more like 10 grand!
Now this Jasper engine like many comes as a dressed long block so its devoid of exhaust manifold, inlet manifolding, turbo, and various ancillaries incl FIE that all needs to be transferred over to the donor engine or final dressing. (5 hours work).

So how can they offer rebuilds for three big ones you might ask?
Well they can't not in the sense of the word.
Freshened up more like!
Mr Caveat Emptor continues to warn the unwary of cheap imitations and the well used expression , "You only get what you pay for" !
Dennis

$4500 seems like a fair price for a rebuilt and install. A rebuilt 4 cyc 4 cycle Yamaha engine cost $3000 with a 2 year warranty. I do agree with Dennis though you need to determine why the engine died. Was it sludge or over heading? The total cost could be more if the cooling system is damaged like Dennis says.
For me I am more mechanically inclined so I would swap the engine myself then take it to someone to reprogram if needed. The rebuilder should offer a warranty backed by a bond if legit.

I've never done a MB- but I can't imagine parts are cheap (well, they are not for any vehicle really)

Figure pistons/rings/wrist pin. All bearings, hang and check rods, cam chains, tensioners, guides etc. oil pump, water pump, gaskets, cleaning block etc. valves, guides, check springs. bore (or replate?)- check and linge bore if needed.

Heck, it doesn't take long to run up a healthy parts bill, then add in substantial labour costs.


Or just buy a bottle of JC. Whitney 'instant engine rebuild'. (With the pellets of course )
I've always wanted to dump some of that stuff into an engine, then tear it apart.