If you’re looking up things like “Engine Replacement Cost,” “Engine Replacement Labor Cost,” “Engine Rebuild Cost,” “Average Cost Of Engine Swap,” or “How Much Does It Cost To Replace A Car Engine,” you’ve come to the right place! When your car shows signs of a blown engine, you know a big repair bill is coming. This post will tell you about how much it costs to replace or rebuild an engine. A blown engine is unlike any other car problem. You can crash the front end, set it on fire, or blow a gasket, but the car is still just broken.
When the engine is gone, the car stops being a car and is more like an empty, abandoned house. But there’s good news ahead, because there’s hardly anything as satisfying as seeing that empty shell brought back to life and made even better than before with a quality engine replacement. The price of replacing an engine will vary depending on your vehicle’s type, brand, and other factors we’ll cover below.
Signs Your Car Engine Is Failing
There is a fine line when it comes to cost when an engine rebuild isn’t the best repair plan for your vehicle. Engine replacement is many times a less costly option than completely rebuilding a heavily damaged engine. Here are 3 blow engine signs to help you make a decision or trust the advice of your repair mechanic.
Catastrophic Engine Failure
Clearly this is one of the easiest signs that your engine is blown. If there’s a massive puddle of your engine’s oil with chunks of your engine in it, you’ve got a problem. If your vehicle stopped suddenly and there’s pieces of your engine in a pool of oil on the road, you’re going to need to replace your engine.
Engine Stops Suddenly & Loudly
If you hear a loud noise and your engine suddenly stops you have likely seized it. This happens if the oil has ran out or you have likely overheated. Excessive heat can melt your cylinder walls and pistons which can fuse them together. Once the engine fuses together replacement is the only option.
Neglecting Engine Maintenance & Repairs
Some engine problems are ones that drivers choose to ignore. If you’re check engine light has been on for months or even years or you’ve been ignoring a rough running engine damage has probably progressed. If the damage is severe enough an engine rebuild may be more costly than simply replacing the engine.
Engine Replacement Cost
Replacing a Short Block Engine: $4,000 to $8,000.
Replacing a Long Block Engine: $3,000 to $7,000.
Complete engines usually come with everything needed to run, and sometimes even all the sensors, electronics, and accessories. These full replacements are uncommon unless they’re covered by a warranty. Long block engines are essentially the whole engine but without the electrical components, manifolds, and accessories. Typically, engine replacements will just involve the long block. A short block is a long block minus the cylinder heads.
After 2014, a typical American or Japanese V-6 or 4-cylinder long block from a good manufacturer usually costs around $4000 to $8000. A short block typically goes for $3000 to $7000, and complete engines ready to be bolted in will cost about twice as much as a long block. You can expect European engines to cost roughly double that, especially if they’re designed for performance.
New Car Engine Cost Factors
Figuring out how much it costs to swap out your car’s engine involves a few key considerations. First off, you’ve got to decide what kind of engine you actually need – is it just a part of it, like a long or short block, or the whole thing? Then, you need to identify the make and model of the engine you’re dealing with and figure out where you’ll get the replacement. A brand-new engine straight from the manufacturer will definitely set you back more than a used one from a salvage yard or a rebuilt four-cylinder.
The age of the car also plays a role. Generally, replacing engines in newer Japanese and American cars tends to be pricier. This is because newer engines are inherently more expensive to begin with, and they can be trickier to find if you’re looking for a used one. Finally, you’ll want to consider who’s going to do the work and how urgently you need it done.
Cost of Replacing Luxury, Performance, and Diesel Engines
Replacing a diesel engine typically ranges from $7,000 to $13,000.
To give you an idea of the extremes, a 16.4-liter long block for a Bugatti Veyron could run you about $360,000, and a Ferrari Enzo long block is in a similar ballpark. Those prices don’t even include shipping, though they do come with a 30-day warranty. On the more affordable side for high-performance vehicles, a complete LS7 crate engine from GM for a Corvette Z06 is around $15,000. For a 6.3-liter LS3 crate engine for a newer Chevrolet Camaro SS, you’re looking at about $6,500, which is pretty typical for many domestic V-8 cars.
You can find rebuilt diesel engines for between $7,000 and $13,000, and a Ford long block might cost between $3,000 and $4,500. A V-8 long block for an older Rolls Royce could cost around $8,500, but expect to pay over $45,000 for a more recent Rolls Royce engine.
Engine Replacement Labor Costs
- Engine Replacement Labor Cost: $125 to $150 an hour
Labor may easily cost you just as much as purchasing an engine especially if you go to a specialist or dealer. A basic garage may cost you between $125 to $150 per hour, while a specialist or dealer can cost you between $250 or more. A normal engine replacement for an older car such as one from the 1980s could be about 10 hours of work, although it may be more like 15. You should expect between 15 to 25 hours of labor for an average engine replacement on a new vehicle.
A big part of that will come down to just how much work that the shop will have to do to put old engine parts on the new block, which is where you could end up losing money by purchasing a long block or short block. It actually pays to spend some money upfront, especially if the time of the mechanic is going to cost you. These are the factors that you will have to think about. You may end up spending around a minimum of $1500 for labor for the replacement of a complete engine by a local garage to more than $5000 if you pay a specialist to take apart your old engine and assemble the new engine from a short block and then install it in your car.
Total Engine Replacement Cost
- Used Engine Replacement: $2500 – $7500
- New Engine Replacement (Dealership): $12000 – $15000
- New Engine Replacement (Auto Repair Shop): $8000 to $12000
After everything above, it is clear just how huge of a gap in price that the replacement can be, even on the same car. Doing a DIY replacement of a 1998 Camaro Engine may cost you less than $950, if you purchased a remanufactured short block and do all the work on your own. Or it could cost around $7500 if you purchase a complete crate engine and pay a dealer to install it. That is a big gap in price just with one car with a common engine.
The average engine replacement – corner garage, average, long block, 10-year-old car should cost between $3000 to $4000. You should expect to spend extra 50% to almost double for a luxury or European car. You should keep in mind that the rarer that the engine and car are, the more expensive a replacement will cost. A fully loaded Porsche Cayenne and Cadillac Escalade are not that far apart when it comes to price when it is new, but the LS engine for the Escalade is very common in the U.S. The engine for the Porsche is not that common, but you have to remember a bolt is a bolt and an engine is just an engine.
At your local garage it may be around $125 per hour and they should not have a hard time replacing the engine for the Porsche as they would with a Cadillac. Be sure to shop around for labor rates and the guarantees before you decide to pay a specialist.
Professional Engine Replacement Services in Scottsdale/Phoenix, Arizona
If you need engine replacement in Scottsdale/Phoenix, Bridwell Automotive Center can help! Bridwell can help with engine repair, engine replacement, rebuilt engines and more. Our ASE Certified Technicians are trained, qualified, and well equipped to perform engine replacements on virtually any type of vehicle. Bring it to Bridwell to get affordable, reliable, and timely engine replacement in Scottsdale, Arizona.
