I recently had an engine replacement and moved across the country. It turned out that the used engine replacement is burning and leaking oil. The replacement is under warranty, so I could get another replacement, however I’m far very away from the mechanic now in a different state.
I was thinking of having the car transported back to where the work was done for approx $1,000-1,200. Once the car is ready, I’d take a flight there and drive back to my new state.
Do you think its worth it? Or should I just buy another used car?
Is there any possibility they’d let the warranty go towards repair costs at a shop where you are now? Probably not, but if they’d pay any amount at all it might be better than having to pay the transport costs, flight, etc.
I had a rear axle rebuilt in a city 1100 miles away. It failed after driving it home. The shop that did the work reimbursed me what I paid the the repair. THAT was fair, NOT shipping the car at my expense (or even at their expense) 1100 miles back to that city to be repaired under warranty. AND THEN driving it back home after the repair.
Being expected to do that is totally unreasonable.
Ask for your money back, use that to repair your car OR buy a new one.
I had my oil changed qnd then immediately drove 1,200 miles to my new state. Shoetly after, the dip stick was completely dry. I had to put in 2.5 quarts of oil.
are you positive of an oil leak/burning? Is it possible that the engine was not properly filled at the oil change place and you didn’t notice until you got to your new state?
A new-to-you used engine ought to have its oil level checked before any driving, and often afterwards. Until you know what to expect, every couple hundred miles is not too often.
Review your warranty information. The salvage yard will not provide a replacement engine because of oil leaks, the seals and gaskets should have been replaced at the time of installation of the engine.
You will need to repair the leaks before an oil consumption test can be performed and they probably won’t care how much oil the engine consumes, if the engine runs and doesn’t smoke, it is an acceptable engine.
There is a possibility the installed made an error that caused the leak, you should identify the problem before shipping the vehicle.
It is possible that the oil wasnt properly filled because I didnt check the oil. There is definitely an oil leak though. The oil leak is about one drop per night
I didn’t check the oil like I should have after the work was done, but I have a P0420 code that came up. This is the reason why the mechanic here said the engine is most likely burning oil. My cat only has 20k miles on it.
That is nothing . This is a 17 year old vehicle . Take the 1200.00 shipping and plane ticket price ( frankly flying right now just seems to unpleasant to even do ) and replace this vehicle . I can see the vehicle shipped back to the shop and them saying they are not going to do anything to it.
I wouldn’t worry to much about the leak if that is indeed all it is leaking. I’d want to visually inspect the underside of the engine, though. My truck leaks about one drop per night from either the oil pan or the rear main seal. I don’t plan on repairing it - too much work for 1 drip per night. However, I’d want to see where yours is leaking from. Might be something easier repaired like a valve cover gasket or something. Kind of a moot point I guess if you determine it’s burning excessive amounts of oil.
If the oil filter is loose or the front/rear crankshaft seal is leaking it could be leaking one drop every 10 feet while driving. This should be inspected.
The engine was damaged in a flash flood and thats why i had to replace it. I replaced the cat much earlier at 53k miles because the CEL turned on for it.