I have a 2001 Bonnie Supercharged SSEi with 109K miles. The check engine light came on last week. Then the engine died. It would start for a few second then die, multiple times. I had the car towed to the nearest repair shop. They replaced the Mass air flow sensor and charged $300. Drove the car for a day and it was sluggish and the check engine light came on again. Back to the repair shop and they replaced the spark plugs, ignition wires and did a fuel induction service for $325.
Drove the car for another day and then the service engine light came on again and the engine was running very rough with little power. Drove the car to the dealer where I purchased it new. The dealer said the right bank of spark plugs were only hand tightened which caused the plugs to over heat and completely incinerated the tips of 3 plugs and melted 2 ignition wires. Also said the #5 cylinder has no compression and the exhaust values are damaged. They also indicated that they would have to remove the engine head to determine the exact extent of damage to the engine to determine the complete cost to repair the engine.
Questions since money is tight right now. I live in the southeastern part of New York state.
Would it make sense to repair the engine damage or just replace it with a rebuilt engine?
What would be the approximate cost to repair the engine?
What would be the approximate cost to install a rebuilt engine?
What can I expect as a reasonable settlement from the repair shop?
Thanks for any advise you can offer.

Anytime the check engine light is on, there are codes stored. You have the codes read to determine the problem.

Sounds like you blew a hole in your #5 piston. Where you running premium fuel? It is required on a supercharged engine.

A rebuild is going to be way more expensive than a used replacement. You should be able to find a good low mileage engine for $600-800, plus installation.

I wouldn't expect anything from the first repair shop. They are obviously clueless to the problem and were just throwing parts at it.

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 57k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 115k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 280k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Yep, the fuel induction (err.. injection?) service gives it away that the first shop is a rip-off joint. I wouldn't expect anything from them unless you get an attorney involved and file a lawsuit... And then you'd need a statement from the dealer indicating that the spark plugs were the cause of the damage (this could be hard to prove).

As mentioned, a used engine is your cheapest option.

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Inferno Red 2009 Dodge Caliber SRT-4 125k