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"line engineering fix" or BS. you tell me.

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Posted by: gadget73

So I lost the engine in my 86 Town Car. I told the last owner this (he's a friend of mine) and he told me that the oil leak I fixed just 2 days before was something called a "line engineering fix" and that my fixing it caused the engine to fail.
Background: teusday (1/4) I replaced the intake gaskets and valve cover gaskets. The rear cork seal on the intake was halfway inside the lifter galley causing an annoying leak. I was told it had leaked like that since brand new, and by the condition of the cork gasket (very hard and brittle) i believe it could have been improperly installed from the factory. Thursday on the way home from work I was sitting in a drive-thru and the oil idiot light popped on. Saturday I installed a guage, read 0 psi oil pressure at hot idle and watched it stay that way for my drive home. It now has a rod knock when hot and a rattle starting up till it builds a bit of pressure.
I personally call

on the fix causing the failure, unless I knocked some junk loose and it plugged the oil sump, but I can't possibly see how replacing an intake gasket would cause the engine to fail outside of my plugging the sump. The car was not well maintained at all before I owned it. The oil was seldom changed, and came out pitch black when I changed it just after purchase. (I paid $100 for it, so I didn't get ripped off or anything). I would imagine that would be more related to the failure than my actions. Thoughts anyone?

Posted by: Pepsi2185

If you didnt knock anything in the motor, I dont think the pcv would cause any of it, and as long as you didnt clog any of the holes that move the oil, i say the damage was already there and you happened to catch it at the right time.

Posted by: dertyclown

i RECITLEY MOVED and began working at a new shop. were we do oil changes. you would not belive ho many people come in and say " my oil light came on so can I get an oil change." What do you say to that? so my first reachon ot this AAAA ok let me take a look at it. so I go outside, pop the hood and check the oil. Its bone dry so I tell the costomer no way Ill sell you some oil, but im not tuching the car. Well my boss had a problem with that. He thinks we should do the work, so I give, give not sell him, yes it was a man some oil and tell him to go get it checked out. then I pay for the oil. my boss is still pissed off. I told him exatley how F- ing stupid he is and now onely work 11 houres a week. what do y'll thin my falt or not. this is not a full servis shop. 3 of 4 macanics there cant do a waterpump on any thing.

Posted by: gadget73

If by catching it at the right time you mean it didn't throw a rod and leave me sitting alongside the road, then yes. But if you mean leaving it in fixable condition, thats iffy. It loses pressure when warm, and develops a knock once the pressure goes away. I've made up my mind to repower with an HO engine as soon as I locate one at a reasonable price. So far the best deal I've found comes complete with a drivable car, but I really don't have room for all that. One place quoted me $650 for a 1990 Mustang engine with a 90 day guarantee, another $850 for an unknown year / unknown source engine, but it had been steam cleaned. Whoopee doo da. My boss told me yesterday that my car would never run again. I personally see that as a challenge, so by hook or by crook, it WILL run again! Maybe this weekend I'll try the old mechanic's trick of flushing it with a few quarts of kersosene to see if its just a plugged oil sump. If it works, great, but if not, I'm not losing anything. Maybe I'll rebuild what I pull from the car and make it a real powerhouse. I've never worked with Ford mills before, so this is a learning experience.

Dertyclown: I work at a marina, and whenever something like this happens, we make the customer sign a waiver removing liability from the business for any damage that might exist already. Boat engines are really bad for small things leading to huge problems. People fail to do regular maintainence and cost themselves a lot by trying to save a little. p This year I had to replace an engine that a simple $100 water pump job would have prevented from failing. A reman longblock plus install is about $5000. Best thing you can do is smile and nod, then make them sign on the dotted line before touching it with a ten foot pole.

Posted by: purelux

Yeah my buddys said one of the pizza delivery drivers he works with had the oil light come on so he just got his oil changed on the clock while doing deliveries. Neavermind that it porbably has a leak and just needed oil added. Yeah at my work we have had people get a simple thing like a radio or cd changer so they can get electrical problems not related to it fixed for free by yelling. We even had a dealer try and blame a computer failure on a cadi on a remote strt put in 2 years earlier. The car has 2 computers the failed one was not the engine ecm it was ac, & interior lighting and something else. So the manager of the car audio went to the dealer and proved them wrong, as it is common practice that if given a problem a dealer will blame anything added to the car with causing the problem. So while some people may just be getting oil changed if the car was allowed to go that dry they probably know there is a problem and want someone to blame. My fav was though a guy with a h1 wanted lcd's installed by us rather than him "so if someone is seriously hurt crippled or killed because the rest breaks from the mounting you guys assume the liability" We said are you serious, he was we said absolutely not. He ended up doing it himself he said, he was a contractor, complete with nextel phone. It was obvious his occupation as everytime I see him he's trying to bargin the price.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dertyclown

i RECITLEY MOVED and began working at a new shop. were we do oil changes. you would not belive ho many people come in and say " my oil light came on so can I get an oil change." What do you say to that? so my first reachon ot this AAAA ok let me take a look at it. so I go outside, pop the hood and check the oil. Its bone dry so I tell the costomer no way Ill sell you some oil, but im not tuching the car. Well my boss had a problem with that. He thinks we should do the work, so I give, give not sell him, yes it was a man some oil and tell him to go get it checked out. then I pay for the oil. my boss is still pissed off. I told him exatley how F- ing stupid he is and now onely work 11 houres a week. what do y'll thin my falt or not. this is not a full servis shop. 3 of 4 macanics there cant do a waterpump on any thing.

Posted by: gadget73

We have one person at the marina who constantly does that. I've been doing my best to convince my boss to get rid of him, but to no avail thus far. Every repair on his boat causes his to accuse us of breaking or damaging something unrelated. I just hope that he'll either get mad and leave on his own, or my boss will give him the boot.

Posted by: kleetus

Good lord be careful with the Kerosene... You knock more crap out of the motor, you'll plug the pickup screen on the oil pump. I had an 86 Grand Marquis, with 212k miles on it. She was getting tired, but had no lack of heart. You should be able to rebuild the engine yourself for about $850 or so... Getting a takeout GT motor is a good way to go too. Just make sure you turn the upper intake around, and make all the wiring match. Also, be aware the firing order is different. It is the same as the 351 on the HO 302s... If you really want to get silly, you could go 351, and have some real fun. That's what I stuffed into my 81 Mercury Capri when I got board with the 4 banger...

Posted by: crazyman

If the motor's knocking, you aren't going to fix that with kerosene, the damage is done.You'll never get it back. On the topic of damage, loss of oil pressure, etc. It's probably not your fault.If an engine runs with oil leaks, sooner or later, its going to go too low on oil. An owner gets to know his car, and thinks he's got the timing down where he needs to dump a quart in, but it only takes driving a few minutes with too low oil to destroy a bearing.If you bought a running car for $100.00, and the oil was that bad,and it had alot of oil leaks, I'd say it was doomed from the start.I've started work on a few cheap cars, with the intention of making them good cars, only to have the motors take a dump shortly after.The fact is, a poorly maintained motor is a poorly maintained motor.Usually, the only option is...another motor.

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