u/Aimer1980

Caught a firefighter climbing Vortex before the fireworks last night. The things you see when you take a minute to look around

Caught a firefighter walking up Vortex to the top of the mountain last night before the fireworks. When you stop to look around, you realize just how many people it takes to run the place!

I have a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander, front wheel drive, 4 cylinder with roughly 180,000km (112,000 miles).

One of the cylinders will not hold compression. Dealership said it needs a new engine, and the vehicle is not worth it to get them to do that work (way too expensive, not worth a new engine).

We took it to a private mechanic. He determined a part at the top of the cylinder broke but it would be too finicky to try to repair that little part because of the way it is built. It was either a valve lifter or something similar to a valve lifter. He told us the fastest, easiest way to get the vehicle back on the road was to swap out the engine head, so he bought a used engine head for us.

AND THEN... we got months and months of excuses, and now it's a year later and it's still not done.

Apparently, it is a pain in the ass to swap the engine head, because the timing assembly runs through it (?). My husband now thinks we should buy a whole engine (used) and swap the whole engine. He thinks it might be easier than just the head alone.

At bare minimum, this vehicle also needs a new battery and a full brake job, and the exhaust is starting to rattle. It's worth noting that the constant variable transmission was replaced under warranty at 90,000km, and I don't really trust the longevity of the new one!

Advice?

Is this a vehicle you would fix or scrap?

Which is easier to swap: a full engine, or a head?

Is this a $2000 repair or a $5000 repair?