Hey all,

First off, I apologize if I don't use the right terms as I don't have a great understanding of all this stuff...


A few months back my 2003 TL's motor seized up - not due to lack of oil changes, but rather a valve apparently was stuck open and burned all my oil off. I had the engine replaced and some other work on the car (new tires, new balancing, etc).

When I got it back, I was just happy to drive again! However, the car was a lot noisier than before I had the problems; it was quite LOUD! Mechanic told me the noise is normal and it'll get quieter after I drive it around a bit.

It never did get quieter - it got noisier. I brought it back later for an oil change and they said they test drove the car and everything is looking good with it... but that didn't seem to be the case. I finally noticed that my engine seemed to perform fine when I was going around left bend, so it seemed like the mechanic was wrong.

Due to the increasing noise and a warranty recall notice, I took the car into the dealership. They found that I needed to have the front control arms replaced, and also replaced a ball joint and front bearing.

I can't help think that this is all related to the motor replacement, as this sound/vibration didn't exist prior, but showed up immediately after the engine was replaced.

So, I am wondering if the shop who replaced the motor messed up with the control arms, etc when doing all that work.

 

as these cars are Front Wheel Drive, the suspension takes a beating!!!

I dont believe the engine replacement was the cause of this.
But you did say he messed with the tires.


How many miles were on the original engine!?

 

Hey Laxster, was the original motor well over 100k when the valve stuck ?
How many miles did the replacement donor motor have on it ? How much did the repair shop hit you up for replacing the motor ? Other than the tires, was any other repair work done at the time of the motor work by the shop ?

What sort of warranty recall notice are you referring to anyways ? It sounds like you ended up taking the car into a dealership, instead of the original repair shop that did your motor work. If a shop had replaced the motor, I'd think that they would be more accomodating with diagnosing the miscellaneous front suspension problems.

Seems a bit strange ? So, your car is all good now then, huh ? Did the dealership lead you to believe that the previous shop had caused the damage ? I'm confused !

 

Replacing engine is pretty much unrelated to your problems.

Except the lower ball joints. Pretty much no way to replace engine without damaging old rusted in ball joints.

 

wanna bet the stuck valve was really the PCV valve= positive crankcase ventilation
gummed up--wouldnt allow internal pressures to escape to TB hose
so they find the next easy way out--right past the rear main seal of the crankcase! taking engine oil with the escaping pressure

everyone should be inspecting and clean/lube, or just spend the 10 bucks for a new PCV at any parts store
CRITICAL does not describe the operation of this device
a ball inside moves to open and close the vent as needed- ie: engine running
if it doesnt- the pressures are not allowed out and bad news follows

some ziners have fixed rear main seal leaks by replacing PCV!

 

It was about 115,000 miles when that happened. The repair shop cost me about $3800 in total, this included the engine (had similar mileage), and 2 new tires.

I was told to expect the car to be loud for at first but it would improve. But it seemed like it was slowly getting louder. I can't stress enough that my car was running smoothly prior to this happening!

As it went on, it seemed the alignment was off so when I got something in the mail about an airbag check/recall I took the car in to the dealership to have them take care of the recall and do the alignment.. they called me back and found a number of things loose .. sway bar broken, ball bearing and joint in need of replacement, and control arms broken. At that point I wanted the job done and done right, which is why I didn't go back to the repair shop.

 

So, if mechanic broke the windshield, windows, puchtured the tires, created dents, scratches it has nothing to do with the engine replacement, right?

How about doing monkey business in the backseat.... that has nothing to do with engine replacement....maybe the owner did that before he dropped off the car.

 

Why the snarky reply?

I didn't realize it was somehow unreasonable to ask the likelihood if work done caused something else to break that had previously been fine...

 

I didnt understand why he replied like that either.

 

I am Sorry, I didn't mean that to the OP. I meant the mechanic could break anything and refuse responsibility eventhough what he worked on has nothing to do with what is broken.

Sorry for the misunderstanding and confusion.

Be aware of monkey shops. They fix something, something else is broken.