suspicious top engine knock sound

[newworld2004]

hello

so I went to dealer to see 06 Limited with 100K miles on it, looks nice inside and outside from pictures, so I drove to lots to see truck, once I start it up I heared knock coming from engine, but I am not sure what is it. they are asking for 7k for this. according to one of the salesman the sound is external and not internal , but I don't see why could be external to engine to make that kind of sound is , I believe they don't want to hear bad news.

should I run away or buy it at let's say 6K and put new engine in worst case, and how much is new engine?

thx

 

[Inyo_man]

I'd think hard about buying a rig that likely needs work...other than normal maintenance.
Good Luck

 

[Offroadmuch]

And he needs to tell you exactly what he thinks is wrong for that price. If he does not have records of maintentance then you can try to drive down the price by arguing it needs a timing belt and anything else that may be due.

 

[newworld2004]

And he needs to tell you exactly what he thinks is wrong for that price. If he does not have records of maintentance then you can try to drive down the price by arguing it needs a timing belt and anything else that may be due.

No , Maintenance record , 3 previous owner, no accident according to Carfax. I will try to go there tomorrow and get video from engine if time permits.

 

[Tundraguy81]

Maybe ask if you were to put a refundable down payment on it that they fix the issue and you buy it pending the repair. If not get your deposit back.

 

[Offroadmuch]

Maybe ask if you were to put a refundable down payment on it that they fix the issue and you buy it pending the repair. If not get your deposit back.

Great idea. Also maybe they could throw in a warranty for a period time...

 

[Swank Force One]

Most likely has bad tensioner on timing belt due to way overdue 60k service, or a bad serpentine idler or 3.

Either way, sounds like a $4k truck at best.

 

[KyleT]

If it's super clean offer 5k




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[vanatee2000]

I'd think timing belt tensioner without any further info

 

[coffeegoat]

When I picked up mine (2001 Lmd with 96k miles), they asked something high like 7.5k for it. I looked it over, pretty mechanically sounds but needed maintenance, brakes, timing belt, tires, etc, it wasn't perfect cosmetically either(bad paint). I ended up offering 3.75k and they took it. Depending on the dealer they may/may not know what to do with a montero, particularly one with a funny noise, which means if they got it in on trade it'll probably end up going to auction, and they'll get pennies for it. So, If nothing else, I wouldn't feel bad low balling them, in my case I'm sure I paid them more for it than they would have gotten out of it at auction, and if they had done a more thorough inspection they wouldn't have sold it from their lot (they were a nice kia dealer in Boulder). That way you save a bit of cash you'll need to do the maintenance.

You may be able to check the timing belt "loose-ness" by pulling the little inspection plates and feeling for slop, it's very snug if everything is working correctly, if the tension is bad you may be able to tell.