I sent my escalade to a mechanic to address lifter failure on cylinder 4. He suggested a dod delete kit… long story short, I took his advice and went that route. He replaced the entire top end! Cam, heads, everything. When he reassemble everything, he immediate had trouble tuningm misfires, broken pug, nonstart, etc… then suddemly, said a rod blew out and the engine is now cooked.
Should I be liable to pay him for any of that past work? Should I ask him to reapir the new damages? Or just take the vehicle elaewhere? He spent 3 days trying to tune the vehicle before the failure!
That’s considered emissions tampering.
And if you wanted, you could get his ass in big trouble if you reported him to the EPA.
Tester
Wow. I wasnt aware of that. I was just under the impression that with these particular GM engines, the DOD system was nothing but trouble and he explained that I would be better off deleting the system rather than replacing the damaged lifter.
He screwed it up, I think you should suggest he should fix it or you will report him to the EPA
Thanks mustangman. I never even thought altering the DOd could be against any sort of epa regulation. I figured it was just a common fix for a common issue
Maybe the easiest and fastest thing would be for that mechanic to simply drop in a good, used and unmodified engine, get it running correctly . . . and then the two of you part ways forever
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If your lifter(s) failed you could replace lifters and cam. You do not need to replace heads. Which adds $1000 to job. Your motor may have bearing issues with debris in oil. Without a full tear down to clean motor you are only doing 1/2 of a repair. At least motor would have run “ok”. As in still having DOD system.
Did you mean cam/lifters and not cam/heads?
I believe op said a rod blew out
I say scrap that entire engine and drop in a good used STOCK engine and then part ways
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Yes. The mechanic blew a rod trying to tune the dod delete.
Would you pay him for any of that previous work or parts? That was around 5k, with 2k being parts. Im struggling wanting to pay for what bow seems to be wasted parts and service…
Would you expect him to replace the engine for free? Or, at some sort of expense still?
Yes, the mechanic should replace the engine at HIS cost
Small shops perform emissions related modifications all the time before getting caught, diesel performance modifications are an example. If you report your mechanic to the EPA, it could take 5 years of investigations to determine how many vehicles he modified, collect evidence and decide if it is worth pursuing. That won’t help you with your failed engine.
Due to the cam and lifter failure, your engine had metal debris throughout the engine, connecting rod/bearing failure was likely to occur. After tear-down and inspection of the engine, he probably should have chosen not to replace the camshaft and to offer to replace the engine.
Negotiate with the shop. Your alternative will be to have the engine replaced by a different shop and starting a small claims suit against your mechanic, that could take a long while.
It may take a while for the EPA to respond to your complaint, but the EPA will contact the state in which you live in to determine if any laws were violated.
Depending on the state and laws, they can respond in shorter period of time. And in some cases revoke the business license and incur fines for violating the law.
Tester
Thank you for the detailed reaponse.
The mechanic told me that my vehicles origional cam was actually in pristine condition. The lifter failure, more of a tick really, was a fairly new symptom. But I stopped driving the vehicle and even towed it to his shop, 77 miles from my home, to prevent any further damage. He assured me the lower end was sound when he recommended so many adjustments to the top end.
Thats why I agreed to replace the heads, springs, upgrade to a better cam, etc… he convinced me that should ensure another 200k miles of use.
After replacing everything, he was apparently unfaliliar with tuning it properly. His experience was with the gen 4 chevy motors apparently. Specifically, the 5.3L and not the 6.2L direct injection set up.. He didnt realize they were configured differently until he began the process.
He struggled tuning for 3 days. He kept gettting misfire codes he couldnt figure out. An entire day he couldnt get it to run at all, then couldn’t keep it running, a day where he broke 2 plugs while trying to drive it. Then the engine finally siezed and left him stranded apparently? It was a train wreck.
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Hence, why I am so anxious for others knowledge here. I feel he should have stopped prior to engine failure and gotten help tunning or diagnosing the issue. It seems fairly irresponsible to experiemnt on my dime and someone else property like that.
Idk should I even keep giving him a chance?
At the end of the day, if he does fix, what would I even owe him $ for? Should this all be on him or his insurance at this point? or should I still be liable to pay something? I am a fair man and never expect something for nothing. But I also dont like to pay something and get nothing in return…
If i just tell him stop all work, and find someone else to fix it, do I owe him for any of this mess? This is a tough one… but the origional job would have been around 5k. I just cant justify giving him 5k for this… even if he does.try spinning it like it wasnt his neglegence that caused engine failure. Especially after asking him to be sure these repairs had no risk of anything like this before he proceeded.
Thanks again for all advice
All help and advice is greatly appreciated.
It might take a VERY long time, due to large reductions in staff at that agency…
Why do think I typed this?
Tester
I guess it’s a case of individual perceptions. To me, “a while” is not as long a wait as “a VERY long time”, but that’s just me.
Or, to try to keep this in automotive territory… YMMV
Just wondering why you would send a vehicle that far for work . Also if he has the vehicle he can put a lien on it and hold it for payment of work done . Best to ask him what options you have explain that you feel like you should not have to pay the full price because your vehicle is worse now.
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Mechanic said motor was solid. And tick was “slight”. But he twisted ur arm to modify it and bears no responsibility in blowing motor? That’s weak.
I sent it that far because it was actually difficult to find a shop near me that wanted to take the job.
A lot of local garages either needed several weeks to address it, or didnt feel confident touching that motor at all.
I have AAA, so 7 miles or 77 miles, it was free anyway… this guy sounded extrmely knowledgeable and confident. He even sent me a video of a truck he owned that he had done the delete kit on, and he convinced me that this would be the best way to ensure a long running vehicle. Thats why I even replaced the heads, though i only had 100k miles on my vehicle. He made me feel this trucl.would be better than new! I had no idea it may not even be legal tho.
Unfortunatley his experience dpimg these DOD delete kits were always with the 5.3L gen 4 motor specifically.
My Escalade ESV is the gen 5, 6.2L with direct injection. His 1st… which didnt really worry me until he told me he had issues tuning it. Now im hearing the inexperienced tuning led to detonation…
Idk that he twisted my arm to modify it…
He just made it sound like the best/smartest option for longevity. He said that dod system was basically crap… and that motor is amazimg wothout it. Naturally, I wanted amazing.
I let him go ahead and replace the entire top end as well becasue he assured me that the few extra $ today would be like a brand new motor.