Catostrophic gasket failure after transmission rebuild

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So say you have a vehicle that is running fine that you checked the oil on frequently and there are no signs of coolant in the crankcase. Then you bring it into a mechanic for a transmission rebuild. On the drive home after that repair, it starts overheating and you pull over to see what things look like under the hood and discover that the oil looks milky.

Then it goes back to the mechanic and he takes no responsibility for the issue that appears to have become a problem with the vehicle in his possession. His advice is that the engine is dirty from stop leak and the thing to do is install a new engine.

Is it reasonable for the customer to suspect that something shady may have happened?
 

studigggs

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I would definitely be upset, but how do you prove the alleged negligence? He had to test drive after the tyranny swap, and I'm sure he floored it a few times to test his work. I guess if he would have been upfront and told you "the engine started making noise during my test drive" it would have been one thing, but if he just let you head down the road and pretended all was good that is another. That's a tough one.
 
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I would definitely be upset, but how do you prove the alleged negligence? He had to test drive after the tyranny swap, and I'm sure he floored it a few times to test his work. I guess if he would have been upfront and told you "the engine started making noise during my test drive" it would have been one thing, but if he just let you head down the road and pretended all was good that is another. That's a tough one.

I would assume it would have to have been test driven. Thing of it is, I didn't even hear much noise. It felt like it wasn't running quite right, so I looked down at the temperature gauge and noticed that it was heating up above a normal amount.

At the very least, I am going to be as big of a pain in the ass as I can possibly be. Lucky me being laid off. Got tons of expendable free time
 

Knuckle Dragger

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I wish I had a dollar for everything the customer thought was my fault. Got blamed for the radio blowing a fuse 6 months after I did rear brakes once.

No, you're not being reasonable. If it broke when he was driving it it would have broke when you were driving it. It likely was broke when you took it in but you didn't notice it because you were focused on the trans issue.
 
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i think , and its just my opinion , that with information you gave, knuckle dragger was right , if it broke while mech had it , it was just a coincidence. after all he was working on transmission , not engine
 

RichLo

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How long before this visit was the last time you checked or changed oil?

And do you have oil cooler lines going into the radiator? or just trans cooler lines?

He may have accidentally unhooked the oil cooler lines thinking they were the trans cooler lines and cracked the internal coil allowing oil and coolant to mix.

Thats my best guess otherwise its either a coincidence or he tests his transmissions on a chassis dyno with WOT bursts for an hour
 

CHEVYS4ME

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NO, NO, and NO......And I am a Plumber. Got to ask though, how would transmission work result in engine oil milky.
It wouldn't. I'm a retired Auto tech. I don't trust ANY mechanics. I have seen stuff you would not believe! Not at shop level, but dealership level.

Yes, they WILL lie if something happened in their possession, period! I'm not saying all, but more than half are corrupt from my experiences. Unfortunately, there is nothing you will be able to do about it except not go there ever again.

I can't even take my vehicles for an oil change. I have seen so many things, I have no faith in any shop.
 

Schurkey

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Coolant in the engine oil after transmission work? Tough call.

Coolant in the transmission I could believe. Failed trans cooler, leaking after getting flushed. Excess pressure used to flush cooler, pressure spikes, or the only think keeping the cooler from leaking was the crap he dislodged when he flushed it.

WHY is there coolant in the oil? Intake manifold failure? Probably not the Trans Guy's fault.

FIND THE LEAK, you'll have a better idea if the trans service is a factor.
 
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I wish I had a dollar for everything the customer thought was my fault. Got blamed for the radio blowing a fuse 6 months after I did rear brakes once.

No, you're not being reasonable. If it broke when he was driving it it would have broke when you were driving it. It likely was broke when you took it in but you didn't notice it because you were focused on the trans issue.

Although I understand what you are saying, I border on OCD with frequently checking oil. Pretty much every recent day that I drove it leading up to the day that it was brought into the shop for the transmission, I checked it before driving it and it looked like oil, not coolant mixed with oil. Had multiple trips beforehand that included multiple hour drives with no problems other than the transmission not shifting right.

It showed signs of trouble probably less than 10 minutes into the drive home from picking it up.

He had mentioned something about seeing a loose radiator hose and topping off the coolant and that it should be okay.

In terms of everything that I have been taught in life by the military and growing up, is that you have have to take a little bit of ownership in a situation if you miss something or **** up. It's a system he said he touched, so if there was an issue beforehand, he failed to diagnose it. Or maybe he caused an issue.
 
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