New engine or get rid of truck

Hello to everyone,

My sister has a 94 Suburban 5.7L with 262,000 miles on it. She currently lives in Chicago, but will be moving back to California this summer. Recently she noticed that it was making some weird sounds (what this means I really don't know) so, she brought it to one shop, she was told that the throttle sensor was bad and that it would not survive a trip to California (she lives in Chicago) just for good measure I told her to bring it to another local shop. Here they told her that the engine is shot and that it has 2 dead cylinders, a bad camshaft, and that it definitely won't make it to California (now this is a trusted mechanic that my uncle who has lived in Chicago for decades recommended). So she has to make the decision, to get the engine replaced or to sell the truck and have her furniture shipped back to California.

To anyone out there, what would you do? I mean, this is a really nice truck, it's the fully loaded Silverado trim with leather and everything, the transmission was replaced 2 years ago, but I'm gonna assume that engine rebuilds/replace are pricey like 2000+. I've never had any experience with replacing an engine, how much would this cost, and is it worth it considering how old the truck is?

I'm just asking for opinions here, because we are considering three options 1. Sell the truck for whatever we can get. 2. Donate the truck 3. Have the truck shipped to California and have the engine either rebuilt or replaced.

any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Is it in good shape?That is one consideration.Instead of a rebuild,look into a reman engine from Jasper.A Jasper reman goes for about $1200.00 with a 3 year, 100,000 mile warranty.A reman is cheaper a lot of times over an engine rebuild.

With this age vehicle I would go for a rebuilt short block with a valve job. This would get her to California saving some moving expenses. Otherwise fix it up to have some resale price. I would use a local rebuilder suggested by the mechanic. Jasper does a good job but are higher priced. With the price of fuel it maybe be cheaper to unload it and get a van for the move. Resale has dropped drastically on large vehicles. She surely won't be driving it in California with the price of fuel and emmission tests.

Consider this:

1. In Chicago they use salt on the roads in the Winter. What has that salt done to the frame and body?

2. Where is the Suburban originally from? If she is moving to California and the Suburban wasn't originally from there it will have to be brought up to California emission standards (read that as expensive).

Would it really make sense to have the engine rebuilt or to have a crate motor put into it? Seems to me that it would be more economical to sell the vehicle and buy another one in California.

Price on Jasper's reman engines have come down.Price a valve job and may get bad news,machine shop magnafluxes the heads for cracks and finds them.A short block is not the way to go,you have switch over the oil pan,valve covers,intake manifold,timing cover,hamonic balancer and costs more.Jasper found this out and is much easier to put on the oil pan,timing cover at the factory.All you have to have switched over is the intake manifold and exhaust manifolds with a Jasper reman.Most machine shops are closing due to prices of reman engines and I know of one doing this.There is a chance the crankshaft is not good after checking it and and the block is not good too.Do not get one from auto parts atore,their warranty sucks taking it to one of their places for warranty work and use cheap parts.

Hello to everyone,





I'm just asking for opinions here, because we are considering three options 1. Sell the truck for whatever we can get. 2. Donate the truck 3. Have the truck shipped to California and have the engine either rebuilt or replaced.

any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated.


sell or donate truck after another diagnosis that indicates major repair.....if the diagnosis is considered under $1,000 to repair . fix and then sell.. as ECM stated california emissions will cause this vehicle to be problem....so sell after its fixed , if its less than $1,000.....

Larger trucks and gas hog cars and bigger 4 W trucks are not doing well on the car market.
They can not even give them away.
You could look around and find one in good shape for 500$ or less.

Do not put over a few hundred dollars in one for repair.
You will never recover your money if you do.
MT