Hearing that your engine is blown is one of the worst calls a car owner can get. Naturally, many people want a second opinion before they spend thousands. That is exactly what one father did when he was told his daughter’s Kia Sportage was finished.
The father lives in another state, so he asked an Australian mobile mechanic named Andy, who posts as @SouthSideMobileBrakeService., to take a look. Andy says the owner had watched his videos and trusted him to check the car.
“Is somebody lying or are they telling the truth?”
First Checks On The Kia Sportage
First, Andy went through the basics. The coolant was full, the air filter was clean and the oil was only about halfway up the dipstick and very dirty. There was no sludge under the oil cap. The odometer showed 157,000 kilometers, about 97,500 miles, and he notes the service was already overdue.
He also explains that the 2-liter petrol four in this Kia Sportage is normally a good engine, one he often recommends. So he wanted to know what went wrong.
What The Family Says Two Shops Found
Then the owner’s son-in-law arrived and filled in the history. He says the car had a blocked catalytic converter earlier. After that, he took it to two mechanics. According to him, they removed the oil pan, found metal in the oil and used a camera to look inside. Their verdict was a failed bottom-end bearing.
He adds that the car burned oil from the day the family bought it, and they had to top it up every week. When Andy started the engine, it knocked badly, ran rough and showed a misfire code. In his view, the noise came from both the top and the bottom of the engine.
Pulling The Valve Cover
Instead of stopping there, Andy decided to look at the top end too. First, he pulled the fuel pump fuse to bleed off the pressure. Next, he removed the high-pressure fuel pump, the coil packs and the valve cover. The cover had clearly never been off before.
He explains each step as he goes. With the fuse out, the engine runs briefly and then dies once the pump has no fuel left. That way, no fuel sprays everywhere when the lines come off. Afterward, he puts the fuse back so he does not forget it later.
“There’s your problem.”
The timing chain was so slack that he could almost lift it off the crank gear. He notes that this is an interference engine, so the valves could hit the pistons if the chain jumped a tooth. He adds that the cam lobes looked fair, but some metal had collected inside. When the car was driven into the garage, he says, the noise was hard to miss.
“it was like shaking a box of bolts.”
He also points out that the engine’s cam phasers can adjust the timing and partly hide a problem like this. That, in his view, explains a lot of the slapping noise from the top end. For the owner’s family, though, the result matched what they had already heard.
Signs To Take Seriously On Any Modern Engine
This second opinion did not save the engine, but it showed the full picture. Here is what we took from it:
- Treat heavy oil use as a warning, not just a nuisance to top up.
- Keep up with oil changes, especially on a timing chain engine.
- Listen for rattles at start-up, since a slack chain can be loud.
- Ask for a second opinion before a costly repair. It can confirm the bad news or save you money.
- Get quotes for a used engine and the labor before deciding what to do.
Where Things Stand
In the end, Andy agrees the engine is done. Rather than rebuild it, he says the realistic choices are to sell the car or fit another engine. He estimates a decent used engine at no less than about $1,400, with about the same again to install it. Meanwhile, other shops might charge up to about $4,500 for the whole job. These figures were converted from Australian dollars and rounded.
“Now, look, second opinion, sometimes they reveal truths, sometimes they just confirm things we already knew.”
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