Engine Seized. need advice/info

ultrabaka · April 30, 2009, 01:39:02 PM

Hey all, 2 days ago my 06 GS500's engine seized due to lack of oil right before I was going to sell it. I was quoted $2k to rebuild the engine or $500-600 without parts to install a new engine. First, does this sound about right? If so, then I will most likely sell the bike the way it is now (maybe get $1000 or so for it?) or find a cheap used engine and then sell it. Obviously the most direct swap would be finding another 06 engine, but what other alternatives do I have? Are there any other engines from other bikes that have been proven to work well in the GS500 chassis? Obviously it might cost a bit more since there may be some bracket fabrication involved, but it sounds like a viable alternative since the GS500 engine is such a dog anyways.

Since I may end up selling it the way it sits, is there any interest in a rolling chassis in CT?

The Buddha · April 30, 2009, 02:13:21 PM

Toss in a new motor and sell it. Rebuilding is $$$$$$$$$$$$. This from a guy who's done 1/2 that job ...
Cool.
Buddha.

jakers · April 30, 2009, 02:14:35 PM

i just had mine rebuilt for the same problem.

and since i dont have the place, nor the know how to fix it myself...i had to take it to a shop. it's costing me about $2000. too much i know...but the quotes started a bit lower and they found more problems after they took it all apart(OF COURSE!) and would have been very difficult to get rid of the bike all taken apart. plus i still dont know what everything's worth so it would have been a hassle to part it out. (i'm still learnin, extreme n00b here) if i had to do it all over again, i probably would've sold it (someone offered me like 600 bucks for it before i knew what all was wrong) this turned into a pretty long post, but i'd say please learn from my experience. it'll be quite pricey to fix it if you don't do it yourself. so weigh your options carefully.

-jake

ultrabaka · April 30, 2009, 06:24:36 PM

Quote from: jakers on April 30, 2009, 02:14:35 PM
i just had mine rebuilt for the same problem. and since i dont have the place, nor the know how to fix it myself...i had to take it to a shop. it's costing me about $2000. too much i know...but the quotes started a bit lower and they found more problems after they took it all apart(OF COURSE!) and would have been very difficult to get rid of the bike all taken apart. plus i still dont know what everything's worth so it would have been a hassle to part it out. (i'm still learnin, extreme n00b here) if i had to do it all over again, i probably would've sold it (someone offered me like 600 bucks for it before i knew what all was wrong) this turned into a pretty long post, but i'd say please learn from my experience. it'll be quite pricey to fix it if you don't do it yourself. so weigh your options carefully.

-jake

Thanks for the heads up, but did you get your engine rebuilt or buy a "new" one? If you had it rebuilt, could all those problems possibly have been avoided if you bought a new engine?

edit: I reread your post and it seems like you rebuilt yours which is the $2k I was quoted, but you were misinformed and quoted lower it seems? So it sounds like you could've saved a $1000 or so if you got another engine?

jp · April 30, 2009, 07:23:37 PM

I bought an engine on eBay two years ago to put it my bike. The engine was $400, out of a wrecked bike. I would guess $400-600 for a used engine. As long as it's running, has good compression, and doesn't leak oil, used is the way to go. You can use an engine out of pretty much any GS500, no matter what the year. I'm not sure if the newer ones with the oil cooler uses an existing fitting to plumb the oil cooler. If they do, you have all the parts you need on your old engine to hook up the oil cooler to it. If one of the castings on the engine was changed to add the cooler, you'll need a 2004 or newer engine, or skip the oil cooler.

Big Shot · May 01, 2009, 12:00:33 AM

For 2k, you could buy a whole new bike. Used of course... But then you'd have plenty of spare parts?

Food for thought - Bob!

jakers · May 01, 2009, 05:39:20 AM

yeah, i could have gotten a used engine and it would have been much cheaper. i looked into that, but i wouldn't know how the good the engine was. and i'm not much of a mechanic so i wouldnt really know what to look for. and like i said...if i had to do it all over again, i would have sold it. however, someone knowing a little bit more about motors could probably pick out one that would work just fine for much, much cheaper than i paid to have mine rebuilt. but it's too late now, and i still have my bike

joshr08 · May 01, 2009, 05:45:08 AM

if you get a used motor from a GOOD scraper they will have all the info on the motor as far as mileage on the motor and they will even prolly fire it up for you. Motor swaps really arent that hard to do. If you go this route just make sure you start checking your oil. it take 10 secs to check it and a quart of oil is alot cheaper then a motor.

DoD#i · May 01, 2009, 05:51:13 AM

Look online, or better yet, go to a bike junkyard.

Look for a GS500 with massive frame damage and no engine damage. buy it, or at least the motor out of it.

Put in your bike.

Done.

...or sell as is. taking it halfway apart considerably reduces the value to a wise buyer.

The Buddha · May 02, 2009, 05:50:17 PM

Actually I dont care if a GS has a motor or not ... I ahve 3 GR motors looking for places to hide in and wreak havoc ...
So lets start a dutch auction ...

BTW I am in charlotte NC, it has to have a legit title, near by - under couple 100 miles ... I prefer naked, cos the damn GR could cook in the fairinged engine bay ... cosmetics are near about irrelevant, and so is frame rust. Cos I am hacking and welding ... it will look like a POS when I finish, a paint job is pretty much a must for me. But I would like the guages and tank and carbs too.

Cool.
Buddha.

ultrabaka · May 03, 2009, 11:15:24 PM

I live in Connecticut but I would be willing to ship at buyer's expense. Chances are I'm going to try posting a craiglist ad, an ad in the gstwins classifieds, and call around local salvage yards asking if they want to buy it outright. If it doesn't sell in a week or two then I'll just buy an engine. That is unless I can find a decently priced engine and get it fixed for a $1000 total or so, then sell it for $2k or so. I've contacted a couple members with engines for sale and we'll see how it goes. The thing I'm afraid of is running into issues or needing a lot of extra parts during the install by the shop I choose.

What's this GR swap all about anyways? Would a shop have any experience with such a swap I wonder?

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Engine Seized. need advice/info