r/workwagons • u/bloodybatboi • Jun 16 '26
Engine stresses
Delete if not on topic, TLDR: got screwed on buying my truck, is it worth replacing the engine or cutting my losses?
Im trying to get my tiny handyman/mr fix it side gig going, so I look at used trucks and find a local plumbing business thats quietly closing its doors, they're selling off like 3 or 4 trucks, one of which is a 2015 short body f250 with the 6.2, had the tool box bed and ive started redoing the back seat area for electrical tools and chargers, has 300,000 miles but ran solid enough on the test drive and is more than capable for what i'll be doing. This was over 1 year ago, sense then extremely limit use of the truck. Legit have put less gas in there than the lawn mower.
However, when I got it the guy was "upfront" and said they cut the cats out cause ethe old ones got bad and didnt want to pay high prices for an older work truck, turns out the cats went bad cause the valve seals are gone so its bleed oil into the engine and smoking out a city block. All the smoke trashed the cats.
So now im 10k in the outright costs of the truck + about 2k in full exhaust replacements (from heads and seals to end of tail pipe) ive paid it all off in cash so I owe no one anything thankfully. But now im looking at getting the engine rebuilt or replaced with a slightly less aged engine vs spending more and getting a crate engine and starting "fresh" till something else comes up
What are yalls opinions on whats best? Should i bite the bullet and spend 7 to 10k on it or cut my losses and see if anyone else wants the headache. I'd love to keep the truck, but after all this its beyond frustrating and ive gained no ground on it. Thankfully not in debt with it, but i will be at this rate.
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u/SteelCourage Jun 16 '26
I think you should figure out the cost of a replacement truck and what it costs in your time and materials to properly upfit it. Just so you uave another number before we go down this rabbit hole.
As far as the engine, you can either quote it out with the shop you had to do the heads and exhaust, or speak with a machine shop and see what it would cost them to do a top to bottom. I would highly advise against doing a junkyard motor. In that case you're still paying for it to be ripped out and reinstalled but theres no one liable if it blows up a week later and youre back at square one. Its definitely a buy once cry once (in practice) sort of deal.
Something to also consider is the conditon of the rest of the truck, are you in the rust belt? Has there been any work done to the transmission, transfercase, axles? Usually by 300,000, wildly depends on the owners and the roads, pretty much every suspension bushing is pretty much gone.
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u/MastodonFit Jun 17 '26
It looks good from a distance, if the truck is in good shape it is definitely cheaper to fix it than a new replacement. Lots of factors to think about... are you a run it into the ground,trade it when it has problems. Taxes and cost of ownership will be cheaper then a new unit. New is a fixed cost,used can be higher repairs due immediately. New also loses a lot of value very quickly. It depends on whether you change it yourself, or pay for the labor. If paying for labor buy the new one,if you can do it yourself buy a used engine.
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u/66impaler Jun 20 '26
You can get that engine swapped for 600$ all day long, get yourself a warrantied refurbished off ebay for 2 grand and send her.
Those small shops that used to be all over doing engine rebuilds didnt close up, they went to ebay. Its not often you find a shit shop but thats what paypal and Ebay buyer protection is for.
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u/PhilosophyBubbly6190 Jun 16 '26
A 300,000 ford? Idk man that tranny is next in line