[NoVa-Corvairs] client car issue

[ALBERT BIRKS]

Daniel: The mechanic can't be an idiot. He is probably very busy and would have assumed that almost everyone changes their oil, so why pull the pan unnecessarily?  Also you said that the soldier had the truck towed in to get the oil & water changed. If this happened the mechanic would have noted the sludge build up in the oil and at least new oil replaced the sludged-up oil. Was the  oil and filter changed?

The wife notes the low oil pressure which was probably caused by a dirt-filled oil pick-up in the oil pan. I can't believe the oil pressure light didn't come on before the engine was ruined. (Do 97 Fords have idiot lights?)

The fact that the mechanic had to "machine" the heads initially shows the engine was sucking water into the oil pan. Oil plus water plus sitting still for several YEARS will not only cause sludge, but also huge flakes of rust that the mechanic would have seen when he finally pulled the oil pan.  This mess was caused prior to the mechanic doing any work on the vehicle, so why blame him - he got the engine running well, as requested.

ASB
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Daniel Goldberg<mailto:goldie at danielgoldberg.net> 
  To: novacc-list at corvair.org<mailto:novacc-list at corvair.org> 
  Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 9:27 PM
  Subject: [NoVa-Corvairs] client car issue


  In 2002, my client puts his 1997 Ford F-150 (70k) into "storage".  He goes to 
  Germany and the middle east.

  In March he returns to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

  He says he has the F-150 towed to a local shop for fluids and filters, and 
  that he did not try to start it.  The shop says he did try to start it.

  (I believe the shop and not my client.)

  Mechanic attempts to determine why the F-150 won't start.  He runs a 
  compression test and finds low compression on three cylinders. He determines 
  that the camshaft has destroyed the valves -- he theorizes that the valves 
  were stuck open and the lobes sheared them off because no oil was getting to 
  the top end.

  The mechanic had the heads machined and repaired.  He reinstalled them.  The 
  F-150 is running well.

  Soldier pays $2,700 and receives back the F-150.

  His wife is driving it and it shows low oil pressure.  Naturally, she 
  continues to drive it.

  Heads are redestroyed, F-150 is towed back to mechanic.  Mechanic removes the 
  oil pan and finds that all this crap circulated through the engine, clogged 
  the passages and oil pump, which most likely rewrecked the heads.

  Mechanic will charge clients $1,200 to repair new damage.

  My client was beligerent and not open to discussion or compromise.  The fact 
  that his wife and young child were in my office also put me on edge.  I spoke 
  with the mechanic who was quite calm and reasonable.  The meeting deteriorated.

  Non-gearheads expect mechanics to be perfect.  We know better.  My client is 
  an asshole and I'd prefer not to deal with him again, but I can't shake the 
  feeling that the mechanic should have determined *why* the heads were 
  destroyed the first time.  If the mechanic pulled the heads, should he not 
  also have pulled the pan?  There was probably so much crud in the engine due 
  to infrequent oil changes -- I'm guessing.  And certainly the wife should not have 
  continued to drive the vehicle.  Again, though, the mechanic repaired the 
  vehicle without fully diagnosing the problem.

  Thoughts?

  I'm so happy that I'm getting kicked upstairs to the prosecutor's office in 
  two weeks.

  daniel

  _______________________________________________
  Novacc-list mailing list
  Novacc-list at corvair.org<mailto:Novacc-list at corvair.org>
  http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/listinfo/novacc-list<http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/listinfo/novacc-list>