Catastrophic Engine Failure Opinions

[illflem]

I sent out a '94 Jimmy at work for an engine rebuild in Aug, 6k on a 30k warranty when it threw a rod and seized. Engine rebuilder will not honor the warranty because the engine was run without oil. The oil level has always been right on and was checked the day before. When the oil light came on and the engine started knocking badly the guy driving drove 8 miles to a phone. I think this is pure BS, the rebuilder should be responsible for the loss of oil even though driving it destroyed the engine. Just wondering what you guys would do. Pissed in Montana, Bill

 

[Power Wagon]

So, if there was no oil in the engine, where did it go?



If it burned it, the builder is at fault.



I don't see how if anything else happened to it... ???

 

[maint.man]

Judge Judy ?

I'm thinkin' if it threw a rod then that probobly left a hole where , you guessed , all the oil ran out All BS. aside I would deffinitly be makin' him replace it, just remind him that a happy customer may only tell 3 people about the service , but a unhappy customer usually tells everyone. Just my . 02

 

[Chad Sheets]

Ahh, engine forensics. Who says the loss of oil is what caused it to go boom. Who says it lost oil?



Oil doesnt just disapear. If the engine lost it, there will be a visible leak path on the outside with accumulated dirt. If it was burning it, then the exhaust valves will be severely carboned up, especialy visible on a "new" motor. Could there have been a broke oil ring? Maybe the piston seized in the bore, or maybe the piston and the wrist pin seized? What do the bearings look like? Even if you did loose a cylinder or two, the other bearings will show evidence of being ran without oil. Alot of things can go wrong with an engine. Did the rod bolts have the correct torque? Is there bearing material in the oil pump screen? Give that engine a quality look over. If you can start finding things wrong, you might be able to build a case on showing there was a pattern to their neglect. Find out all the torque specs and shop proceedures and see if everything is on the level.

 

[Champane Flight]

Park it

I don't know Bill,but I think if the guy would have pulled over and left it when it started knocking you would have a better case.

 

[mikel]

You must find out what happened to the oil. If the oil leaked out due to something that the rebuilder did then they should be held responsible for their work. If the oil leaked out due to some other circumstance then it may not be right to hold the rebuilder responsible. For example, it's hardly the rebuilder's fault if the vehicle was driven over something that poked a hole in the oil pan and afterwards was driven 8 miles w/o any oil, leading to a ruined engine.



If it is determined that the rebuilder led to the demise of this engine I would give serious thought to whether or not I wanted them doing any work on any of my vehicles in the future. It would have needed to be a pretty big leak to empty the oil pan so fast that nobody had time to notice a leak or puddle of oil underneath when it was parked.





Please let us know what is determined to be the cause of the loss of oil and the final resolution to this.





Good luck,

Mike

 

[DaveN]

Those @$%@#%$@ jack#$%#@%

My experience is that these guys do anything possible to not honor their warranties. I understand that I'm making generalizations, but anyone I've ever dealt with assumes that you know nothing about vehicles and tries to feed you a line of bull. That's why my wife doesn't deal with vehicle repairs anymore, because every shop she goes into gives her the runaround and tries to sell her everything under the sun. She went in to an oil change place 3000 miles after I changed the air filter and they told her that her filter was "shot. " She called me to check, I told her to tell them that the oil change was free that day. It was.



I would definitely initially give them the benefit of the doubt, but if it was the builders fault give them the screws.



It's legal to picket, it would be worth a hour of your time to stand out on his front lawn with a "I got screwed by XYZ business" sign. Or you could put an "I love Osama bin Laden" bumper sticker on his car.

 

[Doc Tinker]

Your driver should have stopped when the light came on. Isn't that what you would have done? You don't keep driving when you know something is wrong.



Now, for the flip side. . I'd say something let loose, like a rod cap bolt broke or came loose. That's why it started knocking first, then lost oil pressure. That's would be the builder's fault. I don't believe the engine was low on oil, because if it were, all the rods and main bearings would seize before it could throw the rod and that punky six wouldn't be able to keep turning.



You're driver complicated the situation by driving it. He rendered a repairable block into a piece of junk.



Sorry I don't sound very possitive about it.



By the way, that engine is famous for broken cranks.



Doc