My almost 17 year old son recently purchased a used (on CraigsList) 1986 Suzuki Samurai. He has been now told by the mechanic there is something 'very wrong' and he'd need to open up the engine to diagnose (he used words like the second cylinder has low compression, it could be a rod, could be a piston). The immediate issues is that it was overheating (all of a sudden) smoking from under the hood, the radiator fluid was leaking everywhere (though the guy could not find a hole and it may have been from the over flow thingy. It also sounds really loud, and the mechanic said it was something in the engine. It has also been a pretty hard vehicle to start up.
One option he suggested is that it might be more economical (rather than spend all that money on diagnosing) to get a new engine. The current car is 1.3 liter. My son had mentioned replacing it with a rebuilt 1.6 liter -- but the mechanic was told by his engine guy that you can't just swap one for one on this particular year. My son (with all the wisdom of being almost 17) KNOWS that he can swap it out, but mechanic said there would be issues with transmission, wiring everything.
My son is quite attached to this car, though it has never been running "stable" -- meaning it seems like it is always something. He has made some investments in purchasing and lift kit (not installed) and new wheels and tires (now sitting in the garage waiting to be installed). We told him not to buy before it was running consistently, but oh well, it was his own money and a good lesson, but since he has spent as much in "after market" stuff as the car, I think he'd like to be able to use that stuff.
A few questions for the wise folks of Yahoo:
1. My son loves the car and he spent his own $$$ on it ($1400) do you think it makes sense to replace engine or fix?
2. If replace, can we swap a 1.6 liter?
3. Should we just cut our losses?
4. Other options to consider
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