Had to choose between a cheap fix or a full engine rebuild on my 2002 Civic

Last month my 2002 Civic started knocking real bad and I had to pick between swapping in a used engine for $900 or trying a $50 can of engine restore. I went with the cheap fix cause I'm broke and honestly it did quiet it down for like a week. Now the knocking is back louder than before and I'm kicking myself for not just doing the swap. My buddy said the restore stuff just masks the problem and now I'm stuck saving up again. Has anyone else gambled on a quick fix and regretted it later?

3 comments

3 Comments

nina_taylor9d ago

Hey man, I gotta disagree with you here. The cheap fix wasn't the gamble, the used engine swap was. For a 22 year old Civic, dropping $900 on a motor with unknown miles is a bigger risk than $50 can of snake oil. Your buddy is right that the restore stuff is temporary, but that's all you needed it to be. You got a week of quiet driving for fifty bucks, that's not bad. The real problem is you didn't use that week to save up or make a plan. Now you're back where you started but with less money and more noise.

emma_garcia9d ago

Isn't it funny how we always put off the hard stuff until the easy fix runs out?

wood.uma9d ago

That 900 bucks woulda bought a whole other Civic around here.