MisTiming causes engine to blow up

[A1-2-A3]

oldjetta
Glow Plug


Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 10
Location: Central Florida
Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:39 am Post subject: engine blew up

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I had an engine blow up due to collision of pistons and valves going at 65mph last week. It was only 800 miles and 12 days out of the garage after they installed a rebuilt injection pump. They say it was not their fault because the crank gear was bad BEFORE they replaced the pump and a NEW timing gear:

"WE DID NOT PUT THE CRANK GEAR ON THE ENGINE THE FIRST TIME, IT CAME WITH IT .
THE ENGINE SHOP TQ WRENCH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN CALIBRATED OR A GOOD ONE...THE REASONABLE EXPLANATION FOR YOUR
PROBLEM IS THE USE OF A (BAD CRANK GEAR THE FIRST TIME........)THE CRANK GEAR WAS WALKING ON THE CRANK WHEN IT CAME IN FOR THE PUMP."

The engine, rebuilt by Jack Ewald, was installed a year ago and ran fine for over 20,000 miles.

For the life of me I can not understand their argument that this was my fault....Anyone out there that can help me???

*****above script taken form another thread.*****


If this is true then it can not be thier fault? Did they put the crank gear on in the first place that was wobbling like a dick in a top hat? If not then its not there fault. If the engine came into the shop damaged and then crank gear replaced and later the valves let go there likely was previous engine damage.
I think a person has to use something called logic in this one. Its very simple to see, just don't really know the truth,
Peace out..

[klincoln]

Oh and one more thing,

Judges love to rule in favor of the wronged customer against the Unsrupulous, unprofessional, crooked mechanic shop because they drive cars too and have certainly had some seemingly unpleasant experience with some shop somewhere.

Do this and you'll win in court....

1. State you didn't feel comfortable taking your car back to them because they mess something up every time and then mention breifly some of the problems you had after engine install, then mention the fuel leak that happened after this repair and how dangerous that could have been.

2. Get some professional looking mechanic to testify on your behalf after he looks at the car and determines that deisel specialists caused the problem. Make sure he shaves, dresses nicely and has all his teeth, with some ASE certifications he can mention, some years of experience he can brag about, and have him throw around some technical sounding terms to impress the judge.
Have him state that Diesel Specialists directly caused the problem. Also as professionals Diesel Specialists should have identifed the problem that caused the failure and should have recommended a repair to prevent it. Plus they shouldn't give you a car that isn't safe and reliable. This would be a good time to mention the fuel leak again and talk about cars burning due to fuel leaks. (the judge wont know that diesel isn't extremely flammable like gasoline.)

Diesel specialist will present thier defence as thier own expert witness, which will be negated by your expert witness (especially if he talks like he types here on this forum or if he's missing teeth )

Judge Judy will then base her decision on the fact that they worked on it and either caused the failure or as professionals should have known it was going to fail and should have recommended steps to avoid that failure from happening.

Note: I'm only suggesting this route if and only if the failure was caused by their shoddy workmanship.

Also what amount is the judge going to award you? You need a written estimate for engine replacement that the judge can use as a basis for the settlement amount.

O THE FUEL LEAK! TOOK SOME HEAT TO SHOW ITSELF. WRONG TQ ON HIGH PRESSURE FITTING ON HYDRAULIC HEAD & ROTOR ASSEMBLY.SHODDY PUMP WORK.LAST POST FROM ME TILL JUDGE JUDY HAS HER DECISION. LOOKS GOOD FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GOOD LUCK!

[3Bunnys]

Libbybapa wrote

I thought blond was spelled blondE.

After Dan QuaylE (Quail) got yelled at for spelling potatoE the blond decided to drop the E
Is that reasonable... well like I said,,, she's blond,,,, and you will go insane arguing with a blond because ,, well, they are blond!!!!!

Richard

ps... KLincoln.... this is not a contest,,, you've lost a valued customer and suffered some bad press... if you're lucky you won't have to spend valuable time in court defending yourself... the only winners I see here are the Lawyers... and I don't have anything against Lawyers.. they are business people providing a service... and some are better at it than others... just like mechanics and doctors!!!!

From A1-2-A3

Some of the best Techs I have worked with had terrible grammer so I would not judge his mechanical skills on his writing.

True but good communication skills would probably have made a lot of difference here.... he could have pointed out that the timing is still dead on,,, no belt slippage or breakage,, whatever the case might be.....

[finnbulli]

A very interesting andâ€

[libbybapa]

Nope, it's still all on klincoln. There's no way the sprocket was walking 20° (that's lie #1). The engine would have never made it to his shop to begin with. IF the crank sprocket was walking on the crank then he did an abysmal and highly negligent job of dealing with the mechanical issue. What, no leakdown or compression check? He sent the car off with his good blessing (that's lie #2). If he had issues with any damage that might have happened from the initial sprocket, the time to have voiced those and diagnosed further was prior to letting the vehicle leave the shop. Additionally, HE installed the engine originally. I'm curious, how did it arrive? With injection pump and timing belt already installed and timed?

Some of the best Techs I have worked with had terrible grammer so I would not judge his mechanical skills on his writing.

Actually I don't give a hoot whether or not an individual has good grammar and spelling, but rather whether or not they can present a reasonable amount of logic in their communication. This fellow can't. He's all over the place, and a jerk to boot.

Actually, mechanical work is highly sensitive, extremely logical and sometimes involves a wisp or two of intuition. I have never known anyone to personify those qualities who didn't also have the ability to comprise and present clearly a logical and sensible argument. Never. Quite the reverse. I have found that those who could not clearly present a logical and well-thought out argument could also be counted on to severely screw up an engine.

Andrew

[A1-2-A3]

Yeah Andy, this diesel shop guy really does not make much sense. Very hard for me to understand what really happened here.
Oldjetta has a grasp on the English language so that will be a plus in court.
What a waste of time. I hope I didn't offend anyone.
As for saying its Jacks fault on the problem with the crank. Why didn't oldjetta the owner of the car talk to Jack when the crank gear was gone bad. Getting a third party involved and once someone else screws with it then it goes back to the owners expense. For you to say its your fault oldjetta of course it is not your fault. Chit happens! I am very sure if it was Jack's problem he would right it without batting a eye, I have dealt with him a couple of times and he was very responsive and quick to help resolve any problems.
All in all the whole thing is very unprofessional, right from the get go by the owner of the shop.

[CoolAirVw]

O THE FUEL LEAK! TOOK SOME HEAT TO SHOW ITSELF. WRONG TQ ON HIGH PRESSURE FITTING ON HYDRAULIC HEAD & ROTOR ASSEMBLY.SHODDY PUMP WORK.LAST POST FROM ME TILL JUDGE JUDY HAS HER DECISION. LOOKS GOOD FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GOOD LUCK!

Kurt (klincoln), listen please, fatmobile, myself and others have been sympethetic your your position (not taking sides of course)

Your explanations seem reasonable (I'm not saying your not at fault, because obviously I dont know)

No one here knows the truth till its reported by a qualified source. I have a question for you Kurt. What caused the failure? Did the pistons hit the valves. OldJetta said the piston broke the block. Does anyone else think that seems beyond the norm for a piston hitting the valves??????? Does that happen after a runaway?

I have to say I agree with libbybapa in that it wouldn't have driven to your shop or lasted after your work if the crank pulley was walking on the crank 20 degrees (before your work).

I have another question for you Kurt. What was the damage to the crank gear that made you want to replace it? I'm looking for a visual description not just "walking on the crank"

Kurt was the crank bolt a 12 point stretch bolt? Did you replace it? If it wasn't the 12 point stretch bolt did you upgrade it to the better 12 point stretch bolt?

I wish I was in florida, I'd be running over there to inspect.

[oldjetta]

The car is being moved to a shop with experience in tracing failures like this. They have performed similar post mortems for customers going to small claims court.

When the case (already set for next month) is heard, I will be armed with top expert support. Quite coincidently, when I described what happened to Mr. Expert Mechanic, he said he'd seen it many times before and walked me through, from engine blow, back to probable original cause. The curious thing, to me at least, was he said EXACTLY the same things you kind folks have said here on this wonderful forum.

Moreover, when comparing expert reputations, I think my guy will far overshadow that of Diesel Specialists.

If I had only known, I would have taken my Jetta to the expert shop in the beginning...but I didn't know his shop had this kind of experience with VW diesels. Seems that VW diesel, and all mecahnical, expertise is very, very hard to find around here.

What a great learning experience this has been. Well worth the effort regardless of the final court outcome. My new 2006 TDI will no doubt live longer and better because of this.

I promise to provide more feedback as this situation unfolds.

Thanks again.

[woodrat]

Any new news on this front?

[nicknack2]

I wonder what was the out come of this soap opera... the court date was happening last december...

[hagar]

" SMALL- claims Court " , is a good place if you know what you are doing.

All you guys who are headed that way ----rent steal borrow a movie called "My cousin Vinny" ---and pay attention , before you go.

hagar.

[klincoln]

sorry oldjetta!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! looks like we was in the right when your good your good!! O jack look out he might be coming for you now?

[woodrat]

klincoln;

Even if you won your case, as your gloating post seems to imply, your total lack of professionalism is more than obvious to everyone who has read what little you've posted here. If I was in your neighborhood, I would stay far, far away from you regardless of whether this particular claim against you was won or lost.

Generally speaking, when these kinds of things end up in court, it represents a failure of communication and customer service on the shop's part, even if they were not necessarily found to be mechanically at fault.

Your gloating at the loss of a customer and a piece of your reputation doesn't make you look that "good".

[oldjetta]

This is an update and closure of this topic following the court trial on 12 FEB 08.

The court ruled for Diesel Specialists, saying that I failed to provide expert testimony.

We did call Jack Ewald to testify by phone but the judge denied his testimony because we could not independently verify his identity and swear him in.

Also, I was cross examined by both sides but was not permitted to provide a free flow testimony as was permitted for Diesel Specialists

How is it that everything that Diesel Specialists had to say was acceptable but what I had to say was not?

Justice was not done.

Thanks for all your interest and advice.

-Oldjetta

[bscutt]

The primary result of the legal system is to make lawyers richer. Sorry you were not more successful. This is why no matter how painful it is, I do all my own work on my older cars. It is very difficult to find competent help at a reasonable rate and there are too many opportunities for problems. I have only one or two places that I trust to do work for me and stand behind it.

At least if I do it and screw it up I have no one else to blame.