Subject:	mitsibishi montero engine rebuild
Question:	Anthony, I bought a '94 Montero with a worn out engine. ( I knew this) It's the first used vehicle I've bought & it's beautiful. I took it to 2 different places (both very good reps) & was told to get a low mile rebuilt engine. I found an engine sales place who said they could get hold of one & the guy recommended a shop to do install. I laid down $1950.00 for the rebuilt eng. & agreed to pay $1225.00 for install. Had my rig towed to repair shop. Totally trusted these guys. In the end, the repair shop took my rig to this engine sales place, who put a piston in, told me engine I had bought was defective so eng. sales place kept my $1950.00 for piston work, repair shop wants $2004.00 for defective eng. install. ( absolutely no proof of this "defective engine". They say I got a full rebuild on my original. Piston,( one) rings bearings ect... (their words to describe full rebuild) Can you tell me what a FULL rebuild is? Can you tell me where to find some clear laws on this? Is this normal behaviour for repair shops? Please Help! thanx, C. Cruz "94 mits. mont. 3.5 dual cam v-6
Answer:	Corrine, Many people would argue what a true "full rebuild" would be. Put quite simply, this is because some rebuilds include far less in terms of labor and materials than others. There are those that would consider tearing an engine down and replacing bearings, piston rings and gaskets to be a full engine rebuild. It is easier to say what is not replaced. The items which are normally reused from an engine are the block, the cylinder head, the crankshaft, the oil pan, the camshafts, the timing belt frame and drive assembly, the main caps, the camshaft caps, the distributor drive and the oil pick up pipes. I'm not a lawyer so I don't know if there are any set rules for what would qualify for a full engine rebuild. I'd recommend getting a lawyer to look over any contract and/or service agreement you received with you engine and service. There may be a loop hole in there to get you out of paying for extra machine work. The prices you paid for the original rebuild and install are average to good. And its not uncommon for there to be additional machine work that goes into a rebuild install. I've heard of others paying up to $7000 for a rebuild, labor, and machine work. I would still contact a lawyer and find out if your contract/service agreements are on the level. Good luck!