How much should rebuilding a 2000 Honda accord bottom end engine cost?

I purchased a vehicle with over 200, 000 miles on it for 2900. I don't know what I was thinking. Now the engine is burning oil, but according to the seller he rebuilt the top end and in order for it not to burn oil I need to have the bottom end rebuilt. How much does a job like this cost? I don't know much about vehicles, besides the research I've done. Any advice would really help.

First: I don't know the answer to that.

Second: If the guy sold you junk then what makes you think his advice is anything but junk? There are two reasons why a car burns oil. Either it's going down the valve guides OR it's getting passed the rings. If the top end was rebuilt - I can't imagine why he wouldn't have done the bottom end at that same time. Just makes more sense - not all the disassembly. So I'm suspicious that while he was into the top end he discovered a problem with the bottom half and decided just to sell the car and let someone else have the headache.

I'm not guaranteeing this is what he's done - just saying I'm suspicious of it.

Here's what I think I might do in your situation: I think I'd buy a 90 day guaranteed engine from a junk yard - a complete engine and install it. That might cost you around a grand - but again, I don't know that for sure. You'll have to call around and see. A friend years ago - her son blew out the engine street racing. She bought a junk motor and installed it. Don't remember what she paid but it solved her problem.

Before you buy a junk yard engine do your research. Make sure the engine you are getting is of value. That may mean before installing it you pull the oil pan and inspect the engine's internal parts. Look for excessive wear, look for evidence of cracking and look for evidence of metal in the oil pan. A magnet will pull any steel fragments that are laying in the oil pan. Unfortunately you'll have to strain the oil to find any aluminum fragments.

The alternative is paying someone to pull the heads and rebuild the short block (lower half). And again, I have no idea how much that will cost. I'd suspect around $1500.

Hope this helps.

I'm with Tony, I don't think this guy did anything to the upper end. And I suspect this car was run hard and put away wet. Since your stuck with the repair I'd suggest you go for a rebuilt engine from a place like Jasper Engines. That way you know what your getting, junk yards only guarantee the engine not the cost of installing it. So do it once and forget it. The costs could be $3000.00, you'll have to call a authorized Jasper installed to get an exact cost.

Depending on how much oil the thing is burning, on a $2900 car with 200K miles on it I don't know that I'd even bother spending what it will take to fix or replace the engine. You're looking at getting into the thousands of dollars range easy just to put a junkyard engine in it or rebuild the existing one.

Even if you have to put a quart of oil in it every 300 miles, you can pour a quart of cheap motor oil in the engine every time you fill the gas tank at an additional cost of just $80-$100 a year, drive the thing as-is (assuming it runs/drives otherwise) and scrap it (or even re-sell it) in 2 years having put $0 into rebuilding/replacing the engine and only $160-$200 in additional oil into it to keep the oil level up.

Given that you probably know little to nothing about the condition of the rest of the car if you just bought it, I'd hate to see you dump $1000+ into the engine and then find out soon thereafter that the transmission also has major needs or that it needs a bunch of other problems addressed to stay roadworthy, which is entirely possible in any car with 200+K miles on it, regardless of who built it.