In April 02, I brought my 1996 Ford Taurus to station to have it serviced. The heater was blowing cold air and the turn signals wouldn't flash. The mechanic said I needed a tune up and the cooling system and transmission needed to be serviced. The car had a complete tune-up and hoses and gasket replaced. I paid $568.74 for the repairs, parts and labor. The car had 66,509 miles on the odometer.
In May, I was traveling on the Freeway, when I heard a bubbling noise from behind the dashboard. Water and steam exploded from the radiator and the car stalled. The mechanic had not tightened the hoses. It appeared that the cooling system was empty.
The car was towed and "repaired" and I was not charged. I did not receive an invoice.
However, the check engine light was still flashing. I called the station and was told it was nothing, but I could bring it in when I had the time. The mechanic gave no indication whatsoever that this could be a serious problem, so I had it repaired in August.
In December, my car stalled, lost all power and had to be towed to my home. I had the car looked at and was shown a hole in the block. I was informed that this would mean a new engine. From what I understand, the coolant system failure resulted in a warped head and blown head gasket which caused major damage to the block. There is coolant in my motor oil, there is no coolant or water in the radiator. The car has
71,112 miles on the odometer.It has been approximately nine months and less than 5,000 miles since I had the initial "complete tune-up". I had to have a new engine installed for 4 thousand dollars.
Can it have been caused by the repair in April or rather can it take that long for an engine to blow or is it unrelated.