So brought my car into the dealer yesterday to have them check out a no start problem on my car. Friday night i was driving and literaly as i was turning onto my street my engine shuts off. Tried starting it and checked battery and fuses etc....

Today the dealer called me and said that the engine seized up due to too much oil in the engine. After pulling the oil plug they found the 80% of the "oil" that was in there was actually engine coolant.

Has anyone else ran into this....or any insight on it. My car is still underwarranty, but they want me to pay 465$ out of pocket so they can tear the engine apart and have the adjusters come in and see if it was a "user" error.

Thoughts?

 

Blown head gasket. Not sure how you could do that other than a bad overheat.

 

The car overheat recently? The temp gauge pegged any indication?

 

Im no expert but if your under warranty then you shouldnt be paying anything if this was strictly a mechanical error

 

Did you buy the car new/used?
If used, how many miles when you bought it?
Current miles on car?
Do you have any engine/exhaust mods?
When was the last time you changed the oil?
Have you ever had an overheat?
Have you ever had to add coolant?

Well, if you have coolant in the oil, then it's highly likely you blew a head gasket.

If that's the case, then it will all depend of what caused the head gasket to blow. If you let the car run low on fluid and the car overheated to the point of blowing a head gasket, then you're at fault. If this happened and the ECM logs the overheat info, then they'll know. They'll also check for overspeeds or how many times you've hit the rev limiter for signs of abuse. This is all logged in the car's computer.

If you haven't been low on fluid, have had no overheat indications, and haven't abused the engine, then you should be fine and it should all be covered under warranty with absolutely no cost to you. Keep us updated.

 

The car was purchased used around 40k and has just under 80k. I've been in for oil changes just about every 3 months/ 4k miles. Never had to add coolant, no engine or exhaust mods. And i've never had the car overheat, or seen the temp gauge increase.

 

80K? So you have an extended warranty? From what company?

 

i think it's 1st extended

 

Then you need to read the fine print or call them to determine if you're covered. I wouldn't let the dealership perform any procedure that involves $$$ until you confirm your coverage.

 

Sorry for the lack of update....just got done moving to a new location.

So this is what they have to say....Engine is toast, piston has disingrated causing the valves to be smashed. They say that this is caused by excessive reving or over heating of the engine. Now I don't know much about this but it seems to make sense in my head. Now the only problem with that is I do not drive my car like a race car nor do i rev it unnecissarly for any reason.

The warranty company said that this is good reason not to cover it or be liable. Well I went in today and talked to one of the service assistants whos been dealing with my car. He basically told me the exact same thing, but he also mentioned that the Warranty company was scared off by the fact that my ECU had no information on it, as if it was all wiped off. In the same breath he looked at me and says, "well I don't know how much you know about this stuff..." hinting to the idea that I deleted it. I have no idea, nor the tools to do something like this.

But if I have a fualty ECU that wasn't recording problems or letting me know that my car was having problems or overheating, that would be a warranty problem, correct?

 

without ecu information to back up their denial- you can take it to small claims court and win
You have receipts for oil changes more often than required- that shows you took care of the car and it was supposedly ckd over each time
For it to suddenly blow a head gasket is really odd- often something in an oveheat full pegged redline event- that damages the parts and later the gasket lets go

I love that- your engine failed from too much oil-you must have overfilled it -
that writer doesnt know anything about cars!!
You didnt notice any white smoke from exhaust recently, or poor running? harder starting? before the final time

I wonder if the temp guage wasnt working- it read just under half like it always does- or was it higher than half at any time

A wierd problem can be when the coolant res bottle is opened to add or ck level- the hose attached to the inside of cap can come off- then no transfer of coolant happens, you will lose coolant and air bubble in system will trick thermostat

Was the driver side fan working normally?- should come on sitting at a light for a few minutes- if not, thats a contributor

the main point is they are claiming `user abuse` without any mechanical ecu data as proof - in court they lose!!

Just filing the claim and letting them know will often spur a payment for repairs.
Those warranty guys are worse than health insurance adjusters- their whole job is to deny payment--you dont really need a new heart...

a private tech should be able to give you a better reason for what happened- why no prior indication of trouble...as you are the type that goes directly to the dealer at any sign of trouble
No warning lights, never hit rev limiter- use 91 octane as required?

 

is that a 6 speed or auto trans
auto trans cannot be overrevved- computer control prevents up or downshifts that endanger the engine

If a 6 speed- have you ever missed a shift and found 2nd gear by mistake
that will shoot revs well past redline and cause engine damage-
Anyone else drive the car even once---

auto recycler yards (junkyards) have good used TL engines for pretty cheap.
throw a timing belt 105 service kit on it and enjoy your car again

maybe the service person was saying- I dont know if you know how this insurance warranty thing works--but with that data missing these warranty guys are full of (#$^( to blame you

To small claims you go- after reading all the fine print on the contract

 

QUOTE=01tl4tl;12030607]without ecu information to back up their denial- you can take it to small claims court and win
You have receipts for oil changes more often than required- that shows you took care of the car and it was supposedly ckd over each time
For it to suddenly blow a head gasket is really odd- often something in an oveheat full pegged redline event- that damages the parts and later the gasket lets go
love that- your engine failed from too much oil-you must have overfilled it -
that writer doesnt know anything about cars!!
You didnt notice any white smoke from exhaust recently, or poor running? harder starting? before the final timeNever smoked and always started like new, ran just as good.

I wonder if the temp guage wasnt working- it read just under half like it always does- or was it higher than half at any time Always right under halfway

A wierd problem can be when the coolant res bottle is opened to add or ck level- the hose attached to the inside of cap can come off- then no transfer of coolant happens, you will lose coolant and air bubble in system will trick thermostat

Was the driver side fan working normally?- should come on sitting at a light for a few minutes- if not, thats a contributor working

the main point is they are claiming `user abuse` without any mechanical ecu data as proof - in court they lose!!

Just filing the claim and letting them know will often spur a payment for repairs.
Those warranty guys are worse than health insurance adjusters- their whole job is to deny payment--you dont really need a new heart...

a private tech should be able to give you a better reason for what happened- why no prior indication of trouble...as you are the type that goes directly to the dealer at any sign of trouble
No warning lights, never hit rev limiter- use 91 octane as required?[/QUOTE]

I appreciate all the input and views. This will be helpful when going elsewhere.

So the journy continues!