original engine

[sentrex]

Hi

I am looking into a 1997 1/2 h1,

It has the original engine with 60k on it,from what ive read so far these engines should of been replaced under warranty.

would it be a good choice to buy it with the original engine and expect problems in the near future

Thanks

Alain

[dwaxman1]

well you will have to double check with Phil aka Humtek, or Kevin aka Polar Bear but there was an issue with the Number 8 cylinder having issues...but not everyone experienced it.. maybe talk to them to see..

[3dinnovations]

[quote name='Alain' timestamp='1314920251' post='29926']

Hi

I am looking into a 1997 1/2 h1,

It has the original engine with 60k on it,from what ive read so far these engines should of been replaced under warranty.

would it be a good choice to buy it with the original engine and expect problems in the near future

Thanks

Alain

[/quote]



I would also recommend looking further into this! I bough mine in May of this year, got home and rode it for 3 hours and blew the head gasket on it! Cost me $6500 with new radiator and all. Imagine what it would cost for new motor replacement.



BTW, mine is a 1999 and had the #8 cyl. problem, but last owner had replaced the motor on it with a 2001. You'll need to look at the part# on the motor to see if it's a block that has the #8 cyl. issue. Check the internet for what to look for.

[mhr900ss]

Hi Alain:



Motors were only replaced under warranty if they failed under the warranty period; there was no factory call-back. Any 97 through 2000 H1 is a time bomb. My 98 was babied and well-maintained but cracked at #8 at 55k km. A new motor installed was around $10k. I would avoid any H1s of this era that have not had replacement motors.

[sentrex]

good to know i wont touch that h1 then

[GreenMeanie]

Im driving a 97 with the original block H296 and im at 111,000 miles and all is well so far. The great thing about the cracked block issue is it provides a barganing chip for the buyer. If the truck has an at risk motor it can be got for much cheaper. I would not have any problem with buying an at risk truck if the rest of the truck is in good shape. It might blow It might not. There are a few decent options for engine replacement if you do blow up the at risk one. I have been trying but mine just won't give it up and still runs excellent. Its only around 5k for a new longblock and you just move the parts over. I have seen complete take outs for 1200 bucks. Most guys want a Cummins or a Dmax and will pay big for it and dump the 6.5 for a song so in that regard i don't see the cracked block as a huge issue at all. There is a lot of good trucks out there that get bypassed because of this issue and a lot of people miss out on some really nice trucks otherwise.

[mhr900ss]

If you can do a motor job yourself Greenmeanie is right; a truck in great shape with a time-bomb motor may be worth the risk. I would have loved do do my motor swap but the truck blew quite violently and I was working away from home (garage and tools and time) so had to pay to get the motor done; about $800 to tell me that it was not a head gasket and about $3k do do the swap. My P400 longblock was $7400 plus a new water pump $100ish plus all new coolant system hoses. Adding it all up it was more like $11 to 12k.

[Indy]

This doesn't apply to the 97 1/2, but here's useful info from the Flash Hummer Forum regarding 2000 "Z" engines (old block) which should already have the cylinder issue resolved. This could potentially be good info for some 2000 H1 owners.

Perhaps this has already been posted here...if not, here it is:

Some say every truck with a "Z" vin is at risk....which I have come to find out is Incorrect.



I attended the Rausch Creek HUMMER Club event last month and had a long talk with both HUMMER techs from AMG (both have been working on HUMMERs since 1992). There is a vin number that anything after is "safe".



It turns out that the concern ends in 2000. Any Vin Numbers after this number are NOT at Risk. It starts with late 1996 models.



VIN # 137ZA9037YE188469



Look at the last 6 of your Vin...Mine is YE190042 which was a late 2000 build. My truck is not at "risk" .



Anyone with a 2000 Check your Vin!

"They say" anything after E188469 is safe.

Hope this helps <img src='http://www.canadianhummerclub.com/forum ... n_cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[mhr900ss]

This is a confusing issue. I guess it depends on what you read. see this from the Flash Forum:

http://www.flashoffroad.com/Diesel/No8C ... dBlock.htm You will see that even AMG formally acknowledge the problem stating that 96 through 98 were the worst affected.



If you search "cracked block" or "#8" on the Humveenetwork you will see quite a wide range of years that suffered from cracked blocks including 96, 97, 97.5 and of course mine a 98.

[ROADBLOK]

Would the rear head cooling kit help in protecting the cracking of cylinder 8 at all? It should help the coolant move around the block better. No?