A Small Rattle Can’t Be a Big Deal; Right?
I really debated whether or not to share this information and I decided to do so to avoid having to put in a lot of back story later, once I have all the necessary information and decisions are made.
Driving back from Wakefield on Wednesday evening, I began to hear a strange rattle from the engine compartment of the truck. Besides that, everything was normal. Nothing was overheating, no gauges were lighting up, the noise would come and go.
First thing Thursday, I took the truck into a Ford dealership and they immediately took it in for a look. The mechanic took Moya for a long road test until he could reproduce the noise. He then took me along and repeated the exercise to make sure we were hearing the same thing, which we were.
His diagnosis: a bad bearing in the engine and my trucks needs a new motor!!!!!!!!!!!
He also noted that the truck was missing about a quart of oil, so he added some and the noise has not come back since; the drive home from Montreal was uneventful. So I am definitely going to get a second opinion.
My warranty on the truck could cover a new engine, which would be awesome, but I bet there’s fine print. If not, I would still go ahead with a replacement. The mechanic said that if Moya was his truck, he wouldn’t hesitate. I paid peanuts for her and she’s otherwise in great shape, so this would be a much cheaper option than going for another truck.
He thinks I can get the new engine put in for about $2,000, which would still put my total expenditure for this truck well within the price range for a 2000 Ford Ranger. The next most expensive repair would be a tranmission, and that’s not a likely expenditure on a manual vehicle. He also said that based on the level of noise, there’s no rush at this point to get a new engine in and that I could probably make it all the way back to Alberta without incident. So his suggestion is to check if the warranty will cover the engine. If not, get roadside assistance in case my engine blows and start saving up money. I would definitely investigate having this repair done in the States if I had to pay out of pocket.
So that’s the latest excitement in my life. Never a dull moment.
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