So there is a 04 limited coupe near me with "an engine that is knocking" and the owner has stated that it will need a new engine or a rebuild to be good to go. Does anyone have any experience rebuilding these motors? I understand that the cylinder bores have a special coding to reduce friction but I don't really allow for easy rebuilding. Thoughts?

 

The maching of the cylinder walls requires some special tooling and depending on the condition may need a recoating. We have a machine shop we work with here that has done well on a few blocks.

Where are you located? What's the asking price? It may not be cost effective to rebuild the engine. There's also a good possibility other parts of the DT are damaged if it was abused that much.

 

I am located in mid missouri. They want 5500 for it but I can't imagine them being able to sell it for that price with a blown motor. I was planning on offering 3K and hoping to get it for 3.5K. They were pretty vague in the ad so I requested more info. I am still interested in how much a honing and maybe a re-coat would cost.

 

http://www.mercedesengines.net/

 

They are ridiculously overpriced.

You can bore and hone it for 1800-2500 depending on shop.

If you can get the car for under 5K ship it here and we'll rebuild your engine. I must warn you though it will be a tad more powerful.

 

Sure - if all you want is a hone and new rings - but if your going to pay to replace all the components in the engine to factory tolerances (timing gears/chains/crank/cams/rods/pumps etc...) - it's going to cost $$ - no matter what engine. Remember - these are for MB not Chevy's.

Besides - Lots of 3.2L drop-in engines out there on Ebay and LKQ for around $2K - I found 18 engines http://www.lkqcorp.com/location/fSearch.asp?L=58

 

If you watch Ebay they list them used from time to time for about 1500.00

 

Well, I offered the guy 3K for it, which seems reasonable to me, at least better than the 5.5K he wanted. He, naturally, turned me down. The problem I see here is that unless i go with an older MB motor with an absurb amount of miles on it, its going to cost at least 3-4K for the engine and install ( I would do it myself, but that is besides the point). Which considering there is a 04 coupe in nice shape with cedar int. not to for from me for 9200 with the same miles as the other car, it seems buying a running car trumps this guy.

 

I see you have a decision to make. Out of those two cars I would get the runs better. I would also cough up the extra dough and find a srt6. I wish I would of, but the closest one was 3-4 hours away and I needed something quick. I didn't realize the difference between the two until it was too late. Just my two cents. Good luck, chris

 

The problem with the srt 6 is that it wasnt offered in a manual. This may seem a bit odd seeing as how the auto is one of the best in the biz, but I refuse to buy a sports car with an auto.

 

It really depends on what you want to do with the car and what your budget is.

For 10K you can get the car for 5K and put 5K into an engine and mods and be tons faster then a stock 04 that cost 10K. If you are looking to keep it stock then obviously get the better running one, but if your gonna modify might as well save some money for that.

 

I have said the same thing. Drive an N/A with a manual trans and then drive an SRT6 with autostick if you haven't already. I still like sticks but I wouldn't trade that power for a ten speed manual.

 

Well, this gets me thinking, not to offend the purest or anything, but for 5K I can get an GM LS motor, install it, and make as much as an SRT without the need for boost and no more weight than an srt either. I am fairly certain it will fit, considering that the m112 is a 90% v6 and since the LS is OHV it should be narrower than the m112 as well. The length is the only issue but I bet it isnt that long.

 

It'll fit, but then you need to worry about mounting it up, a trans, DS, and of course getting it to work with the ECU. We have a shop in Toms River, NJ that offered us a great deal on the swap as a business to business deal, price was 10K.

 

I have thought about that. Mounting the engine would not be anywhere near as difficult as the wiring for a srt 6 swap with stock management or even aftermarket management (money this time). The drive shaft can be made for about 500 I think, I would use a t56 (heaviest part of the swap) so I would just have to fab up a trans mount and I could probably use the stock one and build off that. The GM ECU is soo simple to fool. I could even run an aftermarket ECU designed for the LS series engines would would only cost 1500 or so and but as plug and play as anything. I may have to look into this a bit more.

 

Getting the engine to work with the rest of the car's ECU is the hard part. You will need to redo the entire ignition system. Trust me on this.

 

Fun thought but what a headache.

 

After reading through what was required to install an SRT motor into a coupe, I doubt it would be any more difficult and most likely less expensive to do. The GM ECU is incredily easy to hack and as TVT stated the ignition would be the hardest part. Making the engine "happy" in the car would be easy. Making the car happy about then engine might not be

 

Don't discount Murphy (as in his law)
http://roso.epfl.ch/dm/murphy.html

 

oh I know about murphy's law. I fully admit that it would be more difficult than it sounds, but still no more difficult than an srt swap and if I blow then engine much easier and cheaper to rebuild