problems with engine replacement

[mudcrabz]

Hi. Going insane here. Had the motor of my Dec '95 (1996) Pathfinder replaced with a (pre-loved with very low km's )2000 motor after a right royal stuff up with the cooling system. When took delivery, mechanic said could not figure out why engine light stayed on, but not to worry about it as was not important.

First noticed that not changing gears properly. Would change around 30kmph, then around 70kmph, then around 110kmph and into top gear at usually over 130kmph. After doing around 200km, most on highway as live out of city area, gears changing around 30, 60-65, then again around 70 and once or twice would change at around 90, but usually still only when doing 130kmph or more. Cops don't like me going 30-40kmph over the speed limit! Getting about 5km per litre of fuel. My tacho has not worked for some time, but I can hear and feel that the car is way over-revving.

Had the car back just over a week. Got harder to start each time. Couple of days ago I FINALLY managed to get it started and saw a huge cloud of smoke (blue and black) coming from exhaust, as well as a heap of water (collected about half a cup). Can no longer start my car.

Any ideas please? Am on disability and have just put myself in the major 'proverbial creek' with my mortgage to get my beloved car fixed! Can't afford to be running off to different mechanics and the one I used has intimated that I will have to pay for any further 'work'! Many thanks.

Also, if anyone has any ideas, could you email me directly please and I am not too good with computors (female in 60's) and tend to lose places like this when trying to get back to them. mudcrabbyz@gmail.com

 

Thankyou all.

Edited October 5, 2012 by mudcrabz

[Slartibartfast]

First off, this mechanic sounds sketchy. Anybody who'd deliver a car that's shifting wrong and showing a CEL isn't much of a mechanic. I don't know what the consumer protections are in Queensland, but if he's not standing behind his work, you might want to look into your legal options.

 

Water out the exhaust in that quantity says head gasket... loss of compression from said gasket could be why it won't start. The shifting problem... sounds like the trans computer isn't getting an RPM reading, possibly due to a damaged or unplugged sensor. This would probably explain the CEL as well. I can see how the sensor could've gotten unplugged, but there's no reason the head gasket on a low-miles motor should blow unless it's been overheated or driven into a lake.

 

Edit: I know she said to email, but given that I'm not sure of any of this, I figured it'd be better to hash it out here first.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Slartibartfast