2000 Sport 212K knocking motor - $1000

[twinbopilot]

Looked at a 2000 LS Sport this afternoon. Guy's asking $1000 OBO. Car has 212K. Motor has a bad timing chain that has caused it to jump the sprocket. In other words, the motor runs, but poorly because its not in time. There is a knocking from the passenger rear side of the engine. It does not knock all the time, only at 2000+ rpm, and even then inconsistently. Makes me think a valve is hitting a piston.

Interior is clean, body is straight, needs some clear coat re-shot and has a tiny bit of rust (car came from Ohio). From 50 feet the car looks great. Siting inside it looks great. Its burgundy with black leather, sunroof, heated seats, 6-disc cd in the glove box, new tires on the front. In many ways its in better shape than my my Sport with 132K miles.

I bought a 2001 Sport that had jumped time, and all I had to do was replace the secondary timing chain and tensioner on the driver side, and 20K miles later its still running strong. It did not have the knocking sound though, and it had only jumped one notch on the sprocket. I'm guessing this one has jumped two or more notches.

So what do you guys think think the car is worth?

Is the knocking a sure-fire sign that the engine is toast?

Anybody with experience installing (or having installed) a used engine?

Is it worth buying to part out?

I appreciate yall's thoughts on this. I'll try to post some pics I took if anyone is interested.

 

[Right on the Mark]

Thats the rough price area for those years with dead engines.

 

[marcredd]

$500 would be a fair offer. To me, here is your leverage. The oil pump used in 2000 was only used til early 2001. NO ONE makes aftermarket versions for the 3.9 so you are in a lurch from the jump if the part fails and u "say" that you want it and plan to rebuild the engine. One place online has the Jag version of the oil pump to the tune of $447(my pockets learned the hard way during my build).

The engine could be shot but it is hard to say for sure. How heavy is the knock? Able to have a reputable mechanic come listen to it? Leverage the heck out of the deal but then part the damn thing out and make some money.