This morning my engine started knocking, so I had it towed to my mechanic and he's said a big end bearing has gone and it's fucked. He's recommended putting another engine in so that's what we're doing.
I've had this car for under a year so it's a pretty disappointing expense. I don't drive it hard when it's cold and I've been good with keeping oil topped up and getting it serviced, but obviously I have no idea what its previous life was like. It also hadn't been tuned.. that was next on my list of things to do, but it seems to be fucking expensive here in Auckland.
My question is - what can be done to ensure a decent lifespan of the "new" engine? I'll have about a grand (NZ) left after the engine swap to do some preventative stuff. Is a tune the most important step other than very regular maintenance? It's got a 5EAT and the only engine related mods done is a dump pipe.
The one that blew up had done 139,000 kms for anyone interested.