New Motor?

[rivman]

So this has turned into somwhat of a mess. I hit a parked car several weeks ago and took the LS the local Ford dealer to be fixed. A lot of damage to the passenger side but nothing really deep. I went to pick it up last Friday and when I went to start, it cranked a little and then I heard this clunking noise. First they thought it was the battery and the battery did need to be replaced. Replaced the battery and then it would just click not even crank. Then they thought it was the starter. Jacked it up and knocked on the starter w/ the hammer and still nothing. The guy underneath indicated that the starter was "smoking" so it must be fried! Another guy agreed. This was late Friday so I had to wait until this week for them to get the starter. Around Cincinnati what was left of IKE come through and knock out a ton power so they were closed Monday. I called Tues morning and they told me they would get to look at it soon. I did not hear anything back until I had to call at 2:30 this afternoon to find out the status. At that point he says that it is the motor. I became sick to my stomach. He says something broke off and the #2 cylinder is locked up. This is a 2000 LS V8 w/ 130K on it. Ran fine when I took it in! Sorry this post is so long....any thoughts from anyone? I just don't think this should happen. Could there be any foul play invloved? Or do I just have really bad luck?

 

[02LincLS]

sounds extremely odd to me. isn't there some way to pull data off the computer? Perhaps see how high the motor reved in its last minutes of life.
i usualy note my milage when I drop the car off somewhere too.
my only other thought was if it pulled in water from the storm but it sounds like it was broken before hand.

 

[BatMobile]

Sounds fishy to me. I feel for you, I know that same feeling. But, when I was told that I already knew how and why the motor got that way.

 

[rivman]

sounds extremely odd to me. isn't there some way to pull data off the computer? Perhaps see how high the motor reved in its last minutes of life.
i usualy note my milage when I drop the car off somewhere too.
my only other thought was if it pulled in water from the storm but it sounds like it was broken before hand.

That is a good point about the computer. We only had the wind in Cincinnati. Enough to knock out 90% of the power customers on Sunday.

 

[NateRW21]

hmmm... hard to say.

I'll tell you this, anyone that knows anything about mechanics and late model autos knows that because the magnets in a starter are now ceramic magnets... not natural magnets. You can't "thump" on the starter with a hammer. Destroys the magnets. And if it were smoking, why hit it? Obviously there is a short already.

I don't know what to tell you about the engine situation, but it sounds like the mechanics at this shop aren't worth a damn.

 

[rivman]

hmmm... hard to say.

I'll tell you this, anyone that knows anything about mechanics and late model autos knows that because the magnets in a starter are now ceramic magnets... not natural magnets. You can't "thump" on the starter with a hammer. Destroys the magnets. And if it were smoking, why hit it? Obviously there is a short already.

I don't know what to tell you about the engine situation, but it sounds like the mechanics at this shop aren't worth a damn.

I really don't undertand a lot of the in and outs of an engine. I do know it started and ran fine when I took it in. I'm thinking about having it towed somwhere else and get a second thought on it. 130K in my is too young for an engine to blow!

 

[lincoln00]

no a engine with 130k miles can blow... car manufacters only make the cars last past warrenty... they could care less if they last past 100k miles

 

[tireman]

Sounds funny to me too.

So it ran when you brought it in right. They fixed it and drove it to the parking area for you to pick it up? So it may have been running for them. Maybe the timing belt had broken and a piston jambed against the valve breaking it and jambing the piston stroke. happened to me on another car.

 

[NYC LS8]

I agree about it being fishy.

How did they determine that it was something that broke off in the #2 cylinder? Did they take the oil pan off? Pull a head? If they did that and found that "something", did they show it to you?