Broke down in Beckley, WV

[McGyver]

Last Night:

I was driving down the mountain on 64 West towards Charlestown in my mom's 2000 Buick LeSaber with my mom, grandpa, and sister when the shit hit the fan.

I noticed the car struggling even though it was down hill. It felt like it didn't have any pickup when I hit the gas, but didn't feel like it was held back when coasting. I think I was getting 17 mpg going down the mountain at 70mph.

The car started making a knocking noise that I only really heard when I was on the gas. My sister said it did that all the way from Virginia, so I kept going.

I went to overtake a truck and was boxed in when the noise got really loud and I knew it was time to pull over, then power steering went out. I noticed the engine died while I was on the gas. I put on the flashers and got to the shoulder and coasted.

I ended up coasting 2 miles in the shoulder to the Morton Travel Plaza at mile post 72. No cell service, but they let me use their phone and we got towed by Two Guys Towing to their place in Buckley, WV.

This Morning:

The car is at their shop and it looks like we might get a rental car to drive the rest of the way to Kentucky.

So it is definitely some sort of major internal engine damage even though it still runs. It's clanking really loud and the only thing I can think about is a dropped rod, Brocken rocker arm, worn through lifter... Its definitely not just a bad plug/injector/coil. So I think the engine is just trash.

So now the question is, what do we do? My mom just did ~$3600 of maitenence on this car. The interior/exterior is nice and it drove well. So it doesn't make sense to sell it for $300 for scrap, but it's really only worth ~$2000. We're about 250 miles from home, so its not like I can swap the engine for my mom. We're about 250 from my uncle's, so he can't hold it long enough to sell it.

We're just in a bad spot and could use any ideas/advice.
Thanks.

[mrcheezle19]

If she just did 3600 in maintenance on the car, did a shop do the work on it?

[McGyver]

If she just did 3600 in maintenance on the car, did a shop do the work on it?

Yeah, a shop in Culpeper. Stuff like plugs, wires, struts, engine mounts. That's all my mom could remember, but she doesn't think they did any internal stuff.

[rcsoundn1]

You could rent a pickup and tow dolly and get it to the closest place you can keep it, or tow it all the way home. You have already posted the only other options I see.

[MR 325]

With all due respect, why would you put $3600 in work in to a car that's not even worth $2000?

It's pretty hard for anyone to give advice until we know what's wrong with the car.

What did the shop do to it for $3600?

[Mr. Burns]

those 3.8L series II engines are pretty bulletproof and can be had for super cheap from a PnP.

do you have some type of AAA towing plan you can get the car to your place?

personally I couldn't give up a car that just had $3K+ worth of "maintenance" done to it just like that...

and your poor mom needs to find another garage.

[McGyver]

So I have no idea why she dumped so much money into the car, and I have my suspisions that they overcharged for the work. But, she didn't ask me first, so it just happened.

Apparently they replaced the front wheel bearings, all engine mounts, all shocks/struts, plugs/wires,radiator hoses, oil pressure sensor, lower intake gasket, upper intake manifold, 2 coil packs, and a "fuel and transmission system service". But no new transmission filter.

Turns out that the guys who towed us have a shop and they're going to slam a junkyard engine in there by wed for $1800. So at least all the recent work won't be scrapped, but now I need to have a talk with her about how much she should be putting into a 15 year old car.

Thanks for the advice, I was hoping for some sort of miracle, but at least everything worked out. We just made it to our family's place in KY, just 24 hours late.

[mrsleeve]

thats kinda odd for a 3.8 those old L36's were dam near indestructible so long as they had oil and coolant in them, not to mention run like complete shit longer than most hondas will ever be on the road .

Though I am forced to wonder how long the lower intake gasket was leaking or the upper to lower intake was bad for. As if these are let go for too long you can get A LOT of coolant into the oiling system........ Or if the maintenance that was done did not seat well and was allowing a lot of coolant into the innards where its not supposed to be



I have never been that far south in WV though I have spent A LOT of time in the panhandle and northern parts of the state. That must have been an interesting place to get stranded to say the least.......................

[McGyver]

I honestly didn't know how bad the stuff had gotten, but I remember the car still running decently. The professional diagnosis was a dropped rod, so I doubt it had anything to do with coolant in the oil system. I checked when we pulled off the road and the oil looked fine. Plus it had an oil change 1000 miles ago and they didn't mention any coolant in the oil.

As for Buckley? Yeah, I don't feel any need to pull off the road there.

[rex]

So I have no idea why she dumped so much money into the car, and I have my suspisions that they overcharged for the work. But, she didn't ask me first, so it just happened.

Apparently they replaced the front wheel bearings, all engine mounts, all shocks/struts, plugs/wires,radiator hoses, oil pressure sensor, lower intake gasket, upper intake manifold, 2 coil packs, and a "fuel and transmission system service". But no new transmission filter.

Turns out that the guys who towed us have a shop and they're going to slam a junkyard engine in there by wed for $1800. So at least all the recent work won't be scrapped, but now I need to have a talk with her about how much she should be putting into a 15 year old car.

Thanks for the advice, I was hoping for some sort of miracle, but at least everything worked out. We just made it to our family's place in KY, just 24 hours late.

this being an e30 board... i have to lol at that a little

i wish i could offer any actual help to your situation, good luck

[flyboyx]

we can give you better advice if you post pics of sister!

[mrsleeve]

I honestly didn't know how bad the stuff had gotten, but I remember the car still running decently. The professional diagnosis was a dropped rod, so I doubt it had anything to do with coolant in the oil system. I checked when we pulled off the road and the oil looked fine. Plus it had an oil change 1000 miles ago and they didn't mention any coolant in the oil.

As for Buckley? Yeah, I don't feel any need to pull off the road there.

Even still its very rare for a 3.8 to have a major rotating assembly failure like that. The only ones I have ever heard of have a big ass tarbo or S/C running WAY TOO MUCH BOOOOOOSSSSSTTTTTT.

[rcsoundn1]

With all due respect, why would you put $3600 in work in to a car that's not even worth $2000?

It's pretty hard for anyone to give advice until we know what's wrong with the car.

What did the shop do to it for $3600?

Wellllll, which one of us has not done this to our E30s. Some people prefer the devil they know, and overall love the car. And often times people cant afford 400+ a month in payments.

[mrsleeve]

Well I was talking with my brother the GM v6 guru, Hes forget more about them than I know, and I have pretty good handle on em ;) His current 3.4 DOHC makes about 500 on 10-12 Psi, engine is built for 1.6ish BAR maybe more

He said the same thing I did about a 90* 3.8 II tossing a rod, that just DOES NOT HAPPEN with out way too much boost or massive neglect and even more odd for a N/A. That said the only 2 hes ever heard of having a rotating assembly failure of a stock 3.8 was after a intake service where a little chunk of RTV found its way into the valley and oiling system and got into a gallery before it could make to the filter and starves a bearing of oil.

[McGyver]

Well I was talking with my brother the GM v6 guru, Hes forget more about them than I know, and I have pretty good handle on em ;) His current 3.4 DOHC makes about 500 on 10-12 Psi, engine is built for 1.6ish BAR maybe more

He said the same thing I did about a 90* 3.8 II tossing a rod, that just DOES NOT HAPPEN with out way too much boost or massive neglect and even more odd for a N/A. That said the only 2 hes ever heard of having a rotating assembly failure of a stock 3.8 was after a intake service where a little chunk of RTV found its way into the valley and oiling system and got into a gallery before it could make to the filter and starves a bearing of oil.

After hearing you guys say that major failure just doesn't happen without tons of neglect, I am even more inclined to believe that the guys who replaced the intake fucked it up. It ran fine to the mountains, but it was a long drive up, and without oil, I could see that causing major issues. Looking back, the engine didn't feel right when I got behind the wheel. I just figured it was just different from my m20 and kept driving.

Oh well, at this point I doubt I could prove it was their fault. Some times shit happens.