Advice Needed
 

I have a 2002 XLT 4x4 4.0 with around 110k miles. Never had any major problems with the truck until now. Was sitting in the truck yesterday (parked, waiting on class to start) when it started shaking and idling rough. After class, attempted to clean MAF and IAC but didn’t help. Yes it had oil in it. No check engine light. I noticed it wasn’t as rough when the rpm’s went up so I decided to drive it home and thought I would look at it later or take it somewhere later (not extremely knowledgeable about vehicles). Drove it slow, but 30 min down the road, a knocking noise started so I pulled over and got a tow to the shop. When I was driving it, any time I was stopped I smelled a bad sulfur smell coming from the truck. Fast forward to today...talked to the shop a little while ago and they said they found metal in the oil pan and need to look into the engine. I’m preparing for the worst and assuming my engine is shot. So, what’s the best option for a broke 23 year old college student in this situation? New engine? New truck? I’ve never had any problems at all with this truck and didn’t expect something like this to happen at 110k miles. I’m pretty frustrated right now, so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Re: Advice Needed
 

No holes in the block or head.. rebuildable. More work than it sounds, we all know but cost factors are weighed against dropping $2k +$800 for parts and R&R work.. Could be south of that, I may be a bit high.

But a good machine shop, some tools bought, borrowed, or loaned and some time you could do it yourself with some help here and there from different sources. or get a CL engine off a wrecked truck and save have the effort and time just doing a cheap swap and rebuild the original when you have the time and learning experiences.

However, this may not apply if your need of a vehicle is rather sooner than later. At the same time, you could push the truck in the drive/garage for a later tasking and buy a $500-1k beater to get you around and spend your time and money doing some upgrades.

Lots of thoughts to consider but your wallet, time, patience, and effort are all on tap for considerations.

Fairly large and knowledgeable group of guys here that can help too..