Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting HELP !! Blown SVT engine, what to do ?

OK, all . . . my precious SVT is dead in the shop, I've been told the engine has gone to lunch, permanently. They (Koons Ford in Falls Church, VA) don't know precisely what is wrong, but I was told it isn't worth spending the money to determine the details, and that a new engine is needed. A factory remanufactured engine, plus labor, will cost several $K.


What would any of you do in my position ? We have almost-new, "almost-twins" (one adopted a year ago this month, the other our own birth this past July) . . . I've been laid off many months ago, with pretty lean fill-in income since . . . I'm starting college classes Monday and that cost me a lot of $$$ . . . the engine replacement will cost me roughly 15% of my personal savings . . . I must have my own car . . . well, you get the idea. To top it off, this SVT is in beautiful condition in every way, aside from the blown engine. I cannot even dream of parting it out or selling it for street value as-is. And I owe roughly $10K or so on the loan.


Technically, I do have money to buy the new engine/installation. Does it make sense to go for it ? Are there other less costly avenues to have this done ? I understand that I cannot legally have an engine from any other year installed (my SVT is a 98). I even looked at eBay for an engine, or for an SVT being sold as is for parts, but .... nothing.


I am quite obviously too upset to even think about this rationally. Any ideas ? Again, what would you do in my shoes ? Thanks for reading, and thanks to anyone with constructive advice and/or some silver lining to a very dark cloud . . .

I don't know about why you can't legally put another motor in there other than a 98. Heck, I put the engine block from a 2001 Taurus in mine when I had the same situation present itself. How would anyone know?

Depending on what's wrong (my problem was with the block), you could do what I did (see sig). It's not any cheaper, and it certainly isn't any easier. And doing that requires more work than just dropping the block in there. Those reman "G VIN" motors are definitely not cheap - I shopped around and the absolute best price I found was $2600 from a local shop that I'm not sure I really trusted (might be hot).

The situation totally sucks, and there is no good way out. Sorry 'bout that and welcome to the club nobody ever wanted to join.

Option 1) second hand low milage motor 2) Strip it and repair existing motor......

I just wrecked my '98 SVT (see sig) the day after xmas. It hasn't even gotten to a junk yard yet. If you have time soon to come up and help me strip it, then there you go. PM or email me (again, see sig). Good luck!

Thanks for the replies so far, everyone. Terry, you mentioned "Option 1) second hand low milage motor 2) Strip it and repair existing motor." For option #1, do you mean visiting a salvage/wrecking yard? And while I am good with cars, my expertise doesn't include rebuilding engines, not to mention removing and installing them. What are my options besides this dealer asking $thousands for this transplant? I hate the thought of merely browsing the Yellow Pages for major mechanic shops -- I am still new to the area (moved from California a few years ago) and have no clue about any reputable shops. The only places that have serviced my car aside from the dealer are not equipped or staffed for doing engine replacements. Does anyone in the northern Virginia/Wash DC area know of reputable places that do this work?
As far as putting a different-than-stock engine in ... yep, I know you *could* put other engines in, even a Chevy 454 or something. To be more specific, I was simply saying that the Ford dealer here refused to put anything than the original in, since they would be in trouble, EVEN if it was an SVT engine from a different year. Anyway, I was only repeating what I was told. I know I could probably go to a smaller shop or even to someone in the list here and get something else put in. All this said, though, I think I would prefer replacement with the same engine anyway, unless of course I could shoe-horn a Mustang Cobra R engine into it .
Anyway, thanks again to all for your posts thus far. I am going to be awhile thinking things over and reviewing my options. Meanwhile, feel free to keep posting !

Dave, if you haven't yet, float this question out into the Capitol CEG forum down the page. Some of the guys in there should be able to help you figure out how to proceed locally.

several thousand dollars?!!?!?!?!?!?
Goddam, Go to woodfins.com get a used engine and come to connecticut and I'll have some spanish dudes drop that ***** in for $500.
Total price with purchase of Rum and install -

around $4000 at the most.

Send the car & the engine to me ,'some dude' will 'F' it up,Contours are not a John Deer!!! Cost you arround $750 for a straight 'swap'...

Cisco, thanks for the offer. The dealer quoted somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000 to $4,500. If you meant to say $4K, that saves me little or no $, and I would have to pay for transportation. Or maybe I misunderstood . .. CT is quite a ways, anyway. Terry Haines, thanks to you too, but again, transportation can run high. I assume you quoted $750 for labor -- how much for the engine ?
Thanks to both of you for the input!

What do you want..new or second hand motor?