An amicable compromise was taken & the original shop charged me a fraction of the hours they had spent on the thing.

If it comes to it & the engine needs a rebuild, I'll use it as an opportunity to get something more potent in there.

Update as of now? 1st shop were happy to let me take the car to another shop. 2nd shop have the car & will begin the slow painful process of determining the fault.

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Ok, engine dead.

Thinking about breaking the car for parts.

Will make a new post in the relevant forum if I go that route but for now, pm me any parts requests with a ball park price you'd pay for it.

Thanks.

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what was the final diagnosis / cause of failure?

Unknown until we split the case, but judging by the amount of metal in the oil filter, she's a gonner.

Slipped/stretched chain more probable than IMS, but could be a snapped con rod. That's based on there usually being oil loss at the bearing when IMS fails.

Anyway, it's a gonner :(

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have you consider getting a used 3.4 for $6-8k..?

if your 05 in great condition could be a great opportunity, and you will Love the bigger engine..!

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My 05 needs brakes & tires and a few other maintenance things on top of a good working engine.

I'm looking around to see what engines are out there right now or maybe park it up for the winter & take my time either finding a good unit or breaking the car into parts.

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If the car is good aside from the engine and normal wear items, I'd work on locating a replacement engine instead of parting it out. That's just me, however.