Well im in the process of going through the ropes of sueing my warranty company... But here are some pictures of my motor and various parts...

10MB worth of pics so it might take a while to load.
http://adrian.whoopdee.com/motor

So what is your lawyer saying. and what is the company saying and the dealer

lawyer is optomistic, dealer is on our side, lawyer wants me to get a statement from a muffler shop saying their professional opinion on how likely cutouts will cause connecting rod failure. the warranty company is just being little douche bags, they will probably settle once they see the lawyer's letter head.

There is no way your exhaust caused that. Period. HOWEVER! There very will could be a clause in your warranty that voids it if something like that is modded. In that case, you're dead in the water...whether it caused it or not. The fine print will kill you.

There is no way your exhaust caused that. Period. HOWEVER! There very will could be a clause in your warranty that voids it if something like that is modded. In that case, you're dead in the water...whether it caused it or not. The fine print will kill you.
i dont think so and neither do my lawyer. My lawyer was telling me that the law superceeds fine print. And the saw is they have to prove if the modification caused the malfunction...

I was on jag forums and im hearing that the 3.9l motor has really weak internals and leaky oil problems.

Anyways I payed $6500 down for the motor.
Lawyer asked for $2500 to take the case.
I will owe about $2500 more when my car is finished.
Hopefully I win the case and get $ back.

The car is in cerritos. There is a motor in San Diego just sitting around ::shrugs:: Its 2 days delivery, they said that the isntallation takes about a week. Hopefully i get my car back at the end of the month.

OMG you can see thru it!!!! crazy I hope you win too........good luck

i dont think so and neither do my lawyer. My lawyer was telling me that the law superceeds fine print. And the saw is they have to prove if the modification caused the malfunction...

I was on jag forums and im hearing that the 3.9l motor has really weak internals and leaky oil problems.

Anyways I payed $6500 down for the motor.
Lawyer asked for $2500 to take the case.
I will owe about $2500 more when my car is finished.
Hopefully I win the case and get $ back.

The car is in cerritos. There is a motor in San Diego just sitting around ::shrugs:: Its 2 days delivery, they said that the isntallation takes about a week. Hopefully i get my car back at the end of the month.


Those Jag guys are all wet. Their coated cylinder wall blocks might have an issue, but our cast iron lined cylinder blocks are pretty stout. The rods are actually quite stout for stock rods. They are cast as one piece, then broken to form the cap. Each cap is unique to the rest of the rod. They aren't interchangable. The only oil leak issue has been confined to the cam cover gaskets. And that problem has been resolved with revised gaskets.

HOLY Sh!t!! thats what I call a major blow out. Good luck with the lawsuit.

-Scott-

i dont think so and neither do my lawyer. My lawyer was telling me that the law superceeds fine print. And the saw is they have to prove if the modification caused the malfunction...

I was on jag forums and im hearing that the 3.9l motor has really weak internals and leaky oil problems.

Anyways I payed $6500 down for the motor.
Lawyer asked for $2500 to take the case.
I will owe about $2500 more when my car is finished.
Hopefully I win the case and get $ back.

The car is in cerritos. There is a motor in San Diego just sitting around ::shrugs:: Its 2 days delivery, they said that the isntallation takes about a week. Hopefully i get my car back at the end of the month.

I hope your attorney is right. I really do. These aftermarket warranty companies are always trying to get out of legitimate claims. But let me give you an example of where you're attorney may be wrong....the 03/04 Cobra boys have been through this extensively with the factory warranty. If you mod the engine, you will be denied warranty by Ford and will have your drivetrain warranty voided. This has happened A LOT!!! Ford has lost exactly one case. One. And in this case, the owner proved beyond a doubt that Ford had left a bolt out of the engine from SVT. That is the only case in which the arbitrator sided with the owner...and he was an attorney who had the time and resources to pursue it. And by the way, his warranty was voided immediately and that did stick.

Yeah but im not sueing ford. Im sueing the aftermarket warranty company.

You missed the point. The point is whether or not they can void a warranty due to mods. Ford has won this argument many, many times. It will be interesting to see how your aftermarket suit goes. I'm hoping for the best for you. I really am. But I've seen this in action...and we usually come out on the short end of the stick. But then again, most don't actually follow through with it like you have. It could very well be cheaper for them to pay it than defend it.

You missed the point. The point is whether or not they can void a warranty due to mods. Ford has won this argument many, many times. It will be interesting to see how your aftermarket suit goes. I'm hoping for the best for you. I really am. But I've seen this in action...and we usually come out on the short end of the stick. But then again, most don't actually follow through with it like you have. It could very well be cheaper for them to pay it than defend it.

Maybe if my mods were

Looks like partial starvation. It takes a long time (minutes to hours) to turn a crank black like that. Whether you had an oil passage plugged or not, the engine failure was probably oil related. The way it looks you probably experienced a power loss of getting slowly worse before it failed, and possibly burnt oil smell, but not always.

There can be a few things leading to this:

Wrong oil type.
Plugged oil passages.
Debris introduced during an oil change.
Use of excessive silicone when servicing engine parts.
Extended service intervals.

By the looks of that connecting rod end, it was extremely hot before it failed.

When engines are used in performance applications, service intervals will drop significantly. Service intervals are recommended based on driving conditions. 5,000 miles would be typical driving. Severe service is 3,000. High performance operation is less than severe service.

Now I'm not saying you abuse your car, but to a warranty company you have these strikes:

Broken engine mount - Indicates customer abuse.
Exhaust cutouts - Indicates you race the vehicle, which in the contract voids all responsibility to the warranty company.

Typically warranty companies do not care about mufflers.

Other things that will void specific parts of your warranty.

Oversized wheels and tires WILL void any warranty pertaining to your suspension. Since an adjuster inspected your car, suspension warranty was probably voided. I have seen this many times on Super duty trucks.

All that said, I don't know if they have substantial grounds to decline your engine repair. But do remember you signed the paper that described what is and is not covered, you should find that and see if any of your habits are under the not covered category.

Good luck.

-Pat

:(

That's some severe suckage, man. When my dad and I were building a street rod out of a '37 Ford pickup, we acquired a '76 Mustang hatchback with a blown motor to use for parts. The motor had actually just been rebuilt, but they didn't torque the bolts on one con rod, so its cap came loose and the crank started slapping the rod. Broke the hell out of the con rod, and turned the piston into a ball.

But it still looked nothing like that. :( Almost had to wipe a tear away, particularly when looking at that sad, sad, empty LS engine bay...

Give 'em hell, Adrian. They deserve it.

Looks like partial starvation. It takes a long time (minutes to hours) to turn a crank black like that. Whether you had an oil passage plugged or not, the engine failure was probably oil related. The way it looks you probably experienced a power loss of getting slowly worse before it failed, and possibly burnt oil smell, but not always.

There can be a few things leading to this:

Wrong oil type.
Plugged oil passages.
Debris introduced during an oil change.
Use of excessive silicone when servicing engine parts.
Extended service intervals.

By the looks of that connecting rod end, it was extremely hot before it failed.

When engines are used in performance applications, service intervals will drop significantly. Service intervals are recommended based on driving conditions. 5,000 miles would be typical driving. Severe service is 3,000. High performance operation is less than severe service.

Now I'm not saying you abuse your car, but to a warranty company you have these strikes:

Broken engine mount - Indicates customer abuse.
Exhaust cutouts - Indicates you race the vehicle, which in the contract voids all responsibility to the warranty company.

Typically warranty companies do not care about mufflers.

Other things that will void specific parts of your warranty.

Oversized wheels and tires WILL void any warranty pertaining to your suspension. Since an adjuster inspected your car, suspension warranty was probably voided. I have seen this many times on Super duty trucks.

All that said, I don't know if they have substantial grounds to decline your engine repair. But do remember you signed the paper that described what is and is not covered, you should find that and see if any of your habits are under the not covered category.

Good luck.

-Pat

Exactly what I was trying to say. But I do disagree with the amount of time it takes to make a crank fail from oil starvation. That can happen (and turn blue) in a matter of seconds if you're running the car out the back door....

Exactly what I was trying to say. But I do disagree with the amount of time it takes to make a crank fail from oil starvation. That can happen (and turn blue) in a matter of seconds if you're running the car out the back door....

I was thinking the same thing. Im hoping you can show proof of regular oil changes. BTW I see some people on here saying they change filter and not oil and oil and not filter. I never separate the two. They both get changed together. BTW even a failed 3.9 motor looks but I think the block looks relatively weak. Adrian I dont remember the original post but exactly what or how were you driving when it failed?

BTW even a failed 3.9 motor looks but I think the block looks relatively weak. Adrian I dont remember the original post but exactly what or how were you driving when it failed?
What do you mean when you say "looks weak"? The places where it failed shouldn't be carrying a whole lot of stress, and they're certainly not supposed to be resisting forces perpendicular to the surface. Whether that's cast iron or cast aluminum, when the crank starts punching it with a busted con rod, it's going to fail...

IIRC, Adrian was accelerating on a freeway on-ramp when it happened.

Man, good luck with the lawsuit. I think you are right...after the receive the letter from your lawyer I doubt they will put up too much of a fight. These aftermarket warranty companies are a pain in the ass on purpose. They know most people will just accecpt it and not go through all the trouble of hiring a lawyer.

What warranty company are you dealing with? I also have an aftermarket warranty and so far (knock on wood) they have fixed all my issues without any problems. Now that I know how these companies operate, I don't think I will ever purchase anything but a factory extended warranty. Good luck and keep us posted.

What do you mean when you say "looks weak"? The places where it failed shouldn't be carrying a whole lot of stress, and they're certainly not supposed to be resisting forces perpendicular to the surface. Whether that's cast iron or cast aluminum, when the crank starts punching it with a busted con rod, it's going to fail...

IIRC, Adrian was accelerating on a freeway on-ramp when it happened.

Thanks for the info Sooner. I just meant the block doesnt look that sturdy. Didnt take into consideration where it failed. Im used to dealing with 302's and 429/460's.

Thanks for the info Sooner. I just meant the block doesnt look that sturdy. Didnt take into consideration where it failed. Im used to dealing with 302's and 429/460's.
Yeah, I'll agree with you that it doesn't look that strong when compared to those old Windsors and big-blocks. I'm used to Windsors and FEs, myself. Hell, I'll bet the intake on my 390 weighs as much as the 3.9's block. :D

Just thought Id update a year and a half old topic. COURT DATE STILL PENDING.

Heres a link to Part 1.
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=16113