1999 Ford Escort "blown engine"

I take really good care of my Escort, oil changes, etc. I do have 150,000 miles on it. It wouldn't start and I was told by Ford I needed an alternator ($400), so I did it. I got the car home and the next day it wouldn't start again. I was told it needed a battery, which I got. This was approximately 2 weeks ago. Last week I bought tires and had a tune-up. Exactly 2 days later the car wouldn't start and made a noise. Ford told me I had a "blown engine." It supposedly has to do with "something falling." What I want to know is both times I had the car in they did a diagnostic and shouldn't they have picked that up. This is not the first time I have been "screwed" by a Ford dealership and this is the last time.

Reply to
lswafford
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If I break my arm tomorrow, should my doctor have told me about it today ????

Reply to
johanb

You info is a wee bit sketchy.... Let's start at the end and work backwards.... "something" failed.... what something would that be? How did it fail?.... The root cause should be easy to identify. I can't recount how many times I've heard "I take really good care of..." a car that is 3000 miles overdue for an oil change.

I can understand your frustration... at the same time, I can only look at so many things.... Uf you come in for a tune up, I get paid for a finite number of operations... Often, there are things I would like to look closer at... I don't look at those because they aren't "in my mandate".... I wont get paid for it without prior approval. More often than not, I can't get prior approval because the customer can't be contacted.... The SA phones the customer and I can tell... the cell phone on the front seat starts ringing....

We can only see those problems that are evident... we aren't mind-readers. We can only do what we are authorized to do... anything else will alter our paycheque.

I often run into customers that firmly believe they know more about auto repair than I do... even though, after nearly 40 years of doing this, I can say I haven't seen everything yet.... I often run into customers that become belligerant when I point out conditions that need addressing ( "Your brake pads are getting thin... plan on a brake job in the near future." - "What are you trying to pull???? My brakes were OK this morning!!!").

Without more info, I can only give a really good shrug...

BTW... if you really do want help.... drop the attitude.

Sign me - "Ford Master Tech - Diesel Certified..."

Reply to
Jim Warman

I take my car in every 3,000 miles. I never run it if there is a light stating needs service without getting it in right away. If I am told I needs brakes, I get them. I can't afford to have my car fail. Why I am so frustrated is I have to trust the mechanic telling me what is wrong. I could show you every piece of paper that shows what I have done to my car. So I have a car that I had to have towed back to my house since I don't have $3700 to fix it and don't know what to do with it. I had all of this work done and it was for nothing. I had to go back on chemotherapy this Friday (yesterday) and I have no car and am left with taking the bus. I know this isn't anyone's fault but mine but that is why I take such good care of my car. When I talked to them at the Ford dealership I asked them what was wrong. They first told me the cost and I said I couldn't afford it and then "blown engine." I said what do you mean by "blown engine." I was then told "seals have fallen in the engine, whatever that means. If I seem like I have an attitude, I'm sorry. I even talked with the manager and they just blew me off and said I could charge it to a credit card. Except I am over $30,000 in debt due to doctor bills and can't afford to continue charging them up. Again, I realize this is my problem but please understand why I am so upset. I understood that whenever they do a diagnostic $85.00 that they could find a problem. Well I have had two in less than three weeks and when I asked them about it they said "it just happens." No red warning light came on or anything. Anyway, if you have a suggestion as to what I can do with my car please let me know. I can't afford to have it fixed at this time. Thanks.

Reply to
lswafford

That is entirely different and you know it. I expect them to talk with me. I had to keep calling back to find out what was wrong with my car. Once I found out the reason I knew why. Because they knew I couldn't afford to fix it. If you'll notice I haven't said which Ford dealership, instead am trying to get help and understand what happened.

Reply to
lswafford

I don't know if this applies to you, but it may. People buy a car and all they think about is changing the oil every so often. To them, they have maintained the vehicle well. Meanwhile they drive happily on enjoying their maintenance-free automobile. They never go looking for problems even though they are developing on several fronts. They wait until the battery goes dead to replace it. The weak battery kills the alternator. The unmaintained cooling system takes out the engine or at least the cooler core and radiator. Perhaps they don't change the timing belt on schedule and drop or bent valves when it breaks. At some point they start pouring more money into the car than it's worth, more than paying back for all the deferred maintenance they neglected. The man who tries to save the most spends the most in the end.

Reply to
Al Bundy

Hear you and feel your pain, ..

Wish there was something I could offer. But I suppose you have to grit to survive all this.

Best of FUTURE luck!

"lswafford" wrote:

Reply to
Backyard Mechanic

Every 3000 miles is a joke!!! My dad bought a'79 Bobcat brand new and changed the oil every 6000 miles. By the time he traded the car in, it had

225,000 miles on it and still ran like a top. Also, an engine that is about to "blow" will give you warning--ever hear of a compression test? Mechanics do this to test the quality of the motor.

Reply to
guess who

Let me ask a few questions. Did the car run when you parked it? Did it make any odd noises when you last shut it off? Has it been running differently than it used to? When it was running, has it been making a different sound than it used to? What kind of noise did it make when you tried to start it?

Let me use an analogy. You are evidentially very familiar with medicine and medical concerns. A person usually has to help a doctor determine what is wrong with them. For example, you go to the doctor, and you tell them what your symptoms are. From there the doctor can analyze your symptoms, do some tests, and develop a diagnosis. Even then, and especially when working with multiple doctors, the patient must stay abreast of his medical treatment and participate in it if he wants good results.

I've found the same to be true with cars. You need to have an idea about what's going on with your car instead of tossing the keys to the mechanic and asking him to fix it.

Listening to your first post. It almost appears that the mechanic didn't do the proper tests to determine if the cause of the original complaint was due to the battery or the alternator. It is possible that the two failed in that order, but I kinda doubt it. At this point, no one really knows, nor will we ever know.

I must then ask, why did you get a tune up? Was the car running poorly? If that's the case, it may not have needed the tune up at all. It may have had internal mechanical damage already. However, if you go to the mechanic and say, give me a tune up (which is probably just replacing the plugs and wires), that's what they're going to do. If, instead, you tell them that the car is running poorly and you want them to diagnose it, they'll do that.

Lastly, do you know what tests were performed to determine that your engine was "blown"? Do you know what parts have failed?

Knowing that will help you determine a course of action.

CJB

Reply to
CJB

You learn your car and if it isn't acting right you question it. That is what I have always done. I knew when it needed to be aligned. Well I would go in and tell the mechanic the noise or whatever it was making and they would just look at me like I was stupid. BUT later on it would get worse and then they heard it--by then it usually cost a lost more to fix. I followed the instructions about when to do what, timing belt, etc. Thank you anyway for writing. I appreciate it.

Reply to
lswafford

I drove to the drug store, went inside and when I came out it wouldn't start. I tried starting it and it made weird noise so I turned it off and called AAA to have me towed. The tow person said it sounded like the engine was messed up. It had been hesitating even after the alternator was put in but I was told it probably needed a battery. I am not that stupid but I tried everything they stated. I do work for a doctor and totally understand--they also make mistakes and they end up dead on the road so to speak also. I think most of the time it's because I am not a man and they think I don't know how my car is doing. I've even recorded the noises before and they just laugh.

Reply to
lswafford

Can you describe the noise? (knock, tick, grind, squeal.....?)Did it make the noise after it started, then you shut if off, then it would not start again? Does it crank (starter turns engine) but it wont run? Does it make any noise when you turn the key if it doesn't crank? Click, clunk, anything?.....A car should start and run even if it has major mechanical damage(there are exceptions).

Reply to
Shoe Salesman

To answer your immediate question now that you gave some background, don't even think of repairing this vehicle further. Buy alternate transportation to get you by temporarily during your health emergency. Perhaps you could find an Escort that needed a battery and tires. My classified always has a bunch of vehicles in the under $2,000 range. With the Internet you can search right in your immediate area. And of course you have figured out that you could always take a cab if you had to. Good luck.

Reply to
Al Bundy

Regardless of what happened to that engine and whether it was avoidable or not, I think that maintaining an inexpensive older vehicle at a dealership is a bad idea. The dealership's (high) hourly labor rate stays the same, whether it's a 7 year old Escort or a brand new Town Car. They are also restricted to selling only Ford-supplied parts, and unless you develop some special relationship, will do so at the ridiculously high MSRP. Your $400 expenditure on an alternator is a good illustration. Even if it needed replacement (of which I am not convinced), an independent mechanic would have installed an aftermarket remanufactured unit and the total cost would probably not exceed $200.

The other problem with dealerships is that you are dealing with a 'service writer'. You are not only paying his salary; you are also isolated by this front person from even seeing the mechanic who works on the car. These people are hired for their selling and sweet-talking skills, not automotive prudence. Even if he wants to help you, he often simply does not know what's really going on.

Reply to
Happy Traveler

I can appreciate your frustration.. especially if the dealer couldn't spend the time to explain things a little better.... Sadly, we're still at the point where it is hard to make an informed suggestion. You might consider a second opinion if there is a decent independent shop in your area. At the dealership, you only get to talk to the "little" guys... even with the service manager. With an independent shop, you usually get to deal with the man that makes the decisions.

While this doesn't guaranty that there is a reasonably priced repair in your future, it is about the only way to be sure you're not being taken advantage of.

If you opt for the second opinion route, avoid mentioning the first shops estimate...

I wish you the best in your time of trouble...

Reply to
Jim Warman

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