Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior Engine Toasted

The Story:
I was diving my 2000 Celica GTS to work on Thursday. Whilst I was drive about 85 mph on I-75 I heard a metallic sound coming from the other side of the fire wall. I dismissed it as a loose heat shield or something (it sounded like vibration). When I got off I-75 and pulled up to the first traffic light, my car stalled. I thought to myself, "interesting". I started it right back up and there was a terrible clanking sound coming from the engine. I drove it directly to the shop.
Diagnosis:
"You need a new engine". "There's not a drop of oil in it". I got this call roughly 30 mins after dropping it off. The mechanic said a new rebuilt motor would be $4800 out of Texas.
The excuse:
Don't ask.
The question:
I am no expert when it comes to engines (I know they need oil). My question is, as long as I am considering spending this kind of cash (I may trade it on a new), could the current engine be rebuilt and the parts be replaced with cooler "go fast" parts for the $5K - $6K range? I have e-mailed "Toyomoto" who I understand are the best Toyota tuners in S. Florida, but I was hoping to get armed with some info here. I have tried the "search" function, but nothing seemed to be a direct fit. I know that some Turbo kits require new engine internals would the bases get covered with the installation? I believe what happened was a connecting rod broke free of the piston and is rattling around in there.
Please let me know what you think except for what an ass I am for driving around with no oil (I get that).
Thank you.

you drove around with no oil? what were you thinking??..i don't know nothing bout engine..but Good Luck though..hope you find what you looking for.

the excuse: I'm going to ask anyway.. why were you driving without oil?

The answer to your question: you can probably get some new pistons rods, and crank for around the $5k range... but, if you damaged your block (very real possibility) it could end up costing you a LOT more than it would to buy a new engine.

pistons -brashboy or go to www.monkeywrenchracing.com [monkeywrenchracing.com]
turbo- xs or stafford fabrications

you have been watching late night info-mershals too much... dura lube!

are you still under warenty? try getting it replaced from toyota...

if you want to keep your celica see how much a swap to a bigger engine would be... now you have your chance

your definately gonna wanna bore out and re sleeve the cylenders after driving with no oil...

why diddn't it have oil???????
i know one thing, no oil=bad. usedengine.com i saw one for $2k (gts motor) on a stock block you can pump 7.5 psi. as long as you don't redline every gear everyday. i suggest getting a cheap japan-spec motor, lower compression pistons, and a Turbo snail(only the Turbo itself) and find a good mufler shop to costomize the pumbing and exhaust manifold w/ a cheap intercooler @ 15 psi. also an apex power fc. can you say... BIG BAWLS

Isnt there an oil gauge in ur car?? Im consued if celicas have them, even though i have one.lol

I has recently blown up my engine also, not for the same reasons but I looked in the same options. Toyota payed for my parts but the labor was like 2000. Any way you can get a low mileage engine for like 1500 complete in Intake manifold and exhaust. The engines are the same as j spec and you get no advantage. Call around to your local junkyards and try to find a used one. you can find custom everything if you want to rebiuld it yourself. For about 4000 you could get all aftermarket stuff. monkey wrench racing is a good place to start.

ee

didnt the oil light come on??? they usually go off when its low on oil...

You should be banned from car ownership

Unless you plan on doing FI, don't bother changing anything in the engine.

Humm engine lights didn't turn on?? hummm.. sorry to hear about your engine.. but he why not put a Supra Twin Turbo engine?? I heard that they can fit on the Celica..

LOL but not for 5000

Um, those things are huge.

And I still don't see how you could have no oil in your engine.

hmmm if the oil light didnt go off...shouldnt dat be covered by toyota since its a factory mistake??? unless he messed around with the wires and somehow disabled it...

bro...go to atk-engines.com...they have a partner that sells rebuilt toyota engines (longblock already assmebled with the head and all)...I was looking to buy another engine for my celi just to play with, and they said it would be $2,695.00...and have a warranty behind them...let me know if you want the phone number...but if you are going the F/I route, then go to MWR, and you can get the wild internals you are looking for

****UPDATE****
I brought my Celica in for the service guys to look at. After many requests of being asked to "come clean" (they figured I mis-shifted) the computer came back with no explination of what happened. They told me that "the oil looked bad" (I guess there was oil in it after all). The service writer told me that Toyota would require 4 years worth of sevice records to prove the car was maintained (I didn't have this) or else it would be $6k - $7k to fix. Management at Maroone Toyota (thanks GM Mike) and Maroone Corporate really went to bat for me and got Toyota to agree to warranty the car. I got the good news yesterday.
They say "it's not what you know it's who you know" and in this case it didn't hurt to be a friend of someone in charge at the parent company. However, if it wasn't for the willingness of my new friends at Maroone Toyota to help me (a customer) I would be up a creek.
Thanks to all who gave constructive advice

4 years of service records to prove the car is maintained...

What BS.

They have to cover it under warranty, it doesn't matter if you don't ever put any oil into it, it doesn't say that in your warranty contract.

if in the last case and it can't be fixed...buy a 3sgte

FINAL UPDATE:
I got my car back on 7/12. They told me there was a balance due . Warranty doesn't cover repalcement fluids (engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant). The bill was $71.34 . They billed Toyota $7700 for parts and labor so I happily paid my bill knowing it could have been much worse.
Here is the list of what was replaced:
Crankshaft
Piston Rings
Oil Pump
Engine Gaskets
Oil Pan
Connecting Rods
Connecting Rod Bearings
Pistons
Crank Shaft Bearings
The silver lining in all of this is the car runs great, the engine is basically new now and all the work was done by the dealer. The car has 41K miles on it now.

sweet!!!!!!

Glad everything worked out for the best

Three words, GM Crate Engine. You could bore out your engine bay and drop in a 3500$ GM V8, 570 hp out of the box! You'll have the crazyiest celi, except if you try to get that power to the wheels your car will blow up...

damn..that's awesome new...Congrat!!

i dont get it though. lets say you run out of oil, first of all the light comes on. and if it didnt, im sure ull notice it. dont you completely mess up the engine when theres no oil in it or replacing the block will fix the cure of running the engine with no oil? changing the engine block will make the knocking stop?

The Saga Continues...
It seems the engine has blown again this morning. Once again, they say it's my fault. Keep in mind that I have had the car only since 7/12. They say (after they had it for 1 hr) that my CAI ingested water into the engine. My response was "it wasn't raining this AM there is no water on the ground...once again it happened while I was cruising along on I-75". The CAI has been on the car for years including the time it was being warrantied the first time. It's obvious to me that they are deflecting blame at this time. The guy who made the "diagnosis" refuses to call me although he was calling me all the time the first time around.
It seems more likely to me that the problem has more to do with poor workmanship than anything I did. I had a feeling I should have traded the car as soon as I got it back!

go loco on them

Yah, they did an amateur job rebuilding it. Take it to another dealer.

tell them to fix it or else you will sue their ass for it..or atleast u'll write a letter of complaint to Toyota and they'll get in big trouble...haha..

Good Luck bro..sorry to hear ur car broke again..this time you def..should trade it in after you get it back that is if they fix it again..

dam that sucks... hopefully everything wil work out

i had the same problem... spun rod bearing, notorious from the celica.. I hit 60,000 ON THE WAY TO THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP and was 16 miles over 60k and they would not cover it,, but i just rebuilt mine myself...$$$$$$$$

you need new engine, samething happened to my friends honda accord. And the shop was saying that it will cost more money to fix it, since you have to rebuild it from ground up, your block, crank, rod, piston, heads, everything internal is fucked up.
sorry man, there is lot of gts engines for sale in many places, ebay, ecelica forum, and search for parts in general websites, And of course junk yard.
hope you find some engines. good luck bro

id have the engine pulled apart though and checked out,, they said mine was toast but the rods and crank was fine i just had to hoan the block and a new piston would have fixed mine,, i say spend the 200 and have it pulled apart

ok i would say that your stupid for going around with no oil but it might af happened for a reason get a new rebuilt engine from http://www.totaljdm.com/index.cfm/fuseac...jdm_engines.htm [totaljdm.com] they have the 90-93 Celica 3SGTE engine for around 2g's and they have 255 hp and 225 lb. ft. with 8.5:1 Compression DOHC Turboed i dunno what kind of work you will need to install it, it might be a direct fit and i know 1 person did it to their 2001 celica and it looks bad ass and nobody will expect it they will think oh well i can beat a gts but you got more then a gts you got the power of 3SGTE but this time keep oil in it

man this all sucks

I would have definately sued them for my time and money.

Maroone is usually pretty good at customer service, i mean shit, DAN MARINO endorses them... lol. you could be able to sue them for not fixing it right the first time, if it happens again you can sue them for infractions of the lemon law, which states if the car cannot be fixed after the 3rd repair then there is something seriously wrong w/ the car and the dealership shoudl give you a FULL refund and a BRAND NEW car, i know cus my mom had this happen to her w/a Ford Contour

The Next Resolution:
Ok...I called GEICO and placed a claim on Monday 8/9. I told them the story and what the dealer claimed was wrong with my car. GEICO said they would send out an adjuster in 2 - 4 days to look at the vehicle. I had not heard anything until tonight 8/12. I got a voice mail from the dealership saying my car is all ready to go. I was like hmmmm...I didn't know GEICO even showed up.
I called GEICO to check on the status of my claim and I was told that a check for $6500 was issued to the dealership on 8/10. So in two days, they did all the repairs they did the first time plus replaced the valves. The fist time it took 5 weeks.
The lady I talked to from GEICO seemed very concerned about the quickness of all the repairs. I have a feeling I have not heard the last of this one.
I am going out of town tomorrow until 8/19. I will pick up my car then and fill you in with the details.

Sounds Flaky dude, be careful and wear your seatbelt