My engine blew while mechanic was test driving!
 

Ok, tell me what you think about this...

I noticed that my FD was not boosting to the full 10psi. After an inspection, I found a small split in the y-pipe coupler and replaced it with the Efini y-pipe (also put on a DP because it was easy to get to with the y-pipe out). I took it out for a drive, and it was still leaking somewhere. I looked at all the other intercooler couplings - nothing looked bad. I checked the BOV and CRV - they seemed fine, and I couldn't find any vacuum lines that looked like they were leaking.

So I got so frustrated that I took it to a mechanic (who has a good reputation from the rotary crowd) who I will not name at this time. They called me up and said that they found a leak in one of the intercooler couplers and I authorized them to fix it.

I got a call about an hour or so later and they said that I had full boost restored, but the engined popped as they were idling in the turn lane to return to the shop. When they checked the compression, the rear rotor had "none". They said that there appeared to be nothing wrong until the pop. My car has 50K on it and has run perfectly until now, so this sounded a little fishy.

After a discussion with the shop manager this is what they offered. If I supply them with a motor, they will install it free of labor charge. They said that it was unfortunate for both of us and wanted to work with me to fix it. Should I take this deal and consider myself lucky that it blew while they had it or are they legally responsible for the total repair? Anyone with a similar experience? I don't believe in frivolous lawsuits and that BS. If it was not their fault, then their offer is more than fair. If they screwed something up or were joyriding (which I doubt) they deserve to pay for it.

I think I'll just cut my losses, spend the 3k for a street ported pineapple racing motor with the oil mods, and have them install it. At least I'll be starting fresh with a good quality engine (plus 5-yr warranty). If I fight them, they will almost certainly withdraw the offer for a free install and I could be left with nothing as I have no proof that it was their fault (if it even was).

I welcome any suggestions...

Thanks,
Dan

Being a small shop owner myself, I say that they are being very generous to you. Anyone who knows rotaries, and FDs especially, can tell you that regardless of mileage, age, or compression, the thing can let go on any given test drive for no apparent reason. You have an FD with 50k miles, and these cars are known for letting go anywhere from 20-70k miles.

Basically, I think you got real lucky that it happened on them. For one, theyre taking partial responsibility for it, even though more than likely (Im talking 95% likely here) they did nothing wrong. IF you stand back and look at it, more than likely they were at best gonna make a hundred or 2 bucks off of you for the minor repair. They are now offering to GIVE you several hundred or a thousand dollars worth of installation work.

Hats off to the mechanic, whoever they are. Personally, if in the same situation, I would probably make a similar offer, but not many others would.

:noyes: I agree!! Also as a small shop owner , I would feel somewhat responsible. But if I know I didn't do anything wrong to cause the damage, all I can do is offer the most reasonable compensation I can think of. Also FWIW( my girlfriend is a lawyer),,, If it goes to trial you'll be looking at anywhere up to 10 k for a long trial!!!I think buying the new engine is the easier/cheaper way. Plus you'll still have a shop that you know is honest and willing to help you out!! Good luck!! Aloha Dave

I don't know man, it sounds fishy to me unless you're heavily modded. Did they say they got "full boost" as in 10psi or 20psi? Did they test drive it for an hour? If you just have a couple safe mods then I think they did something wrong.

well for any test drive to test boost and boost leak. You need to do WOT.
If the boost goes too high, then too bad.
What make matter worse he put in downpipe before the boost problem solved, it creates much more flow, and the boost posibly going over 10psi on WOT test.....

You are very lucky that it popped on their hand.
Take their offer fast, before they change their minds.
The labor for motor are not cheap, at least 1-2K right?

GsrSol....So when your engine pops for no reason we can blame you rite!!? Things happen!

I cant understand why Mazda made these engines so fragile in the first place, and yet so many are modifing the shitz out of them to just kill them faster?

They werent MADE fragile, its just how they are. Heat+boost+rotary = bad

a NA goes for a LONG time

I am sure Mazda knows better than anyone turbo rotary heat= bad, they still delievered a fragile motor anyhow still no excuse.

will thats da usuall time the 3rd gen goes before it needs rebuilt, the longest 3rd gen i ever seen before rebuilt was 78,000 orginal miles. twin turbo on da x7 are not reliable, all daym lines n hose make it complicated, one lil shit pops off n ur basically naturall aspirated buddy.i think its all da better, it juss gives u excuse for an upgrade, like port n polish 3mm apex seals
stuff like dat. go single turbo while u at it...cuts down on da heat temperature which i think kill ur motor...n im sure da mechs got too happy joyriding on ur car,they done ragg dat shit out...i don't blame daym, da X-7 is a badddddddddd as car ALMOST LIKE RIDING A MOTORCYCLE:dragster: :dragster:

As a guy that works on FDs a lot, your lucky and the shop is being MORE than generous. Let's say they were out driving the hell out if it. It still shouldn't have blown. I've auto-x and drag raced my FD for 5 yrs. I'm sure I've driven my car harder for longer than they drove your car.

What's up with the oil mods on FD motors. FD motors don't die due to oil failures. Coolant o-rings and broken apex seals are the most popular failures.

I'd check your fuel filter and fuel pressure or have the shop do it when installing the motor. Since you'd had a boost leak for a while fixing the boost problem may have let a low fuel pressure problem appear. Maybe during tear down they could check the usually suspects. I've heard of FPR hoses being split at or near the nipple on the FPR itself. This will cause the fuel pressure to be low which then will make the motor run lean.

Thanks for all of the replies. I also think the offer was very generous. I did not even have to make a fuss or argue to get the offer - it was just offered as soon as I walked in the door. I agree that having a trustworthy shop is a big benefit. As I stated above I don't believe in trying to get something for nothing on technicalities. I have just never quite had an experience like that and I thought I'd pose the question / share the experience. I pretty much had my mind made up before even posting.

Thanks for the advice Turbojeff. Anybody else have more adivce while replacing the engine?

I have one more question - will a mild street ported engine work with the stock ECU? This new engine will suck up most of my bank account and I will probably not be able to afford another 1K for ECU right now. But now is the best time for a port job.

What are your other mods? You added a downpipe and efini y-pipe. If you have a catback and/or intake, you could have easily been pushing 14 psi on what I am guessing is the stock ECU. That may be why your engine "popped".

its all G double O, D good den. get da infos n go wit ur instinct.....o yea once u get da shit fix......check out
IMPORTFAN.COM for dat tite as wide body kit for ur FD
i especially like da BN SPORTS wide body kit...i think its da most affordable wide body kit out there rite now
$2,000:rock: :dragster:

No other mods (other than guages / reliability mods). I would normally never mod an engine with a problem, but when I saw the cracked coupler - I thought replacing it with the efini would solve it. The DP was added because of easy access with the y-pipe out and it is a great reliability / performance mod. I carefully monitored boost so I didn't overboost (but couldn't even get 10 psi). The mechanic said he saw exactly 10psi when he test drove it (after the IC coupler was fixed). So overboosting is unlikely.

I think I should make a public note that people from TN do NOT talk like that guy...hez off da hizzle fo shizzle mah nizzle...

:withstupi

You can blame me for whatever the hell you want. If that was my car with only dp, ypipe, and the mechanic saw a stock 10psi, that shop is paying for everything! That motor should not have gone unless he was "testing" it for a while and got the intake temps up.

:scratch: WTF was that? That is by far the worst post I have EVER tried to read. If he was being serious, I want to cry....badly.

lol, by the time you paid for a lawsuit, you would have spent more money than just getting the engine.

I agree with the others; it's a generous offer so get a motor and take them up on it.

It sucks, but in this day it's not what they did to the car, but what you can prove they did. It obvious that there is no way to prove that they did anything maliciously to kill the car, expecially without knowing the compression before the car entered the shop, condition of the fuel system, etc.

novadan67, make sure to have everything checked out to find out why the seal went so it doesn't happen to the new motor. Just dropping a new motor with the same conditions could have the same result.

hard to say
 

I wonder if the engine would have let go under booost right after you picked up the car if they wouldn't have popped it first.

take the deal

The question I'd be asking myself is:
I took my car to get repaired for something simple and the engine blew. Now do I want to spend 3k+ for a motor and let them install it?Hum

I'm assuming you've already checked the shop out, you seem like a pretty logical guy.

Make sure you look at the car yourself. Check some thing out like the map sensor, you can make the car seem like it's popped.

What kind of compression tester are they using?

Get something in writing before the install with a time frame. They might be offering now but after the install they might not. Document everything, you just might end up in court after all and that's what wins cases.

The lawsuit should be expensive, depending on the laws in your state I thinking small claims court which in GA is $78.

Don't trust anybody...........

I've been in this situation, hell I'm still there right now.

Take the deal, you'll have a hard time proving they did anything wrong.

With the mods you did and no boost control, you were asking for trouble. It was just a matter of time and you were actually lucky that it happened in their custody.
Their offer is worth $1,000 in labor.

Take the deal, but make sure you get it IN WRITING, and make sure they don't try to nickle and dime you to death with other stuff when they do the install.

You might want to consider waiting a while until your bank account is healthier since you want to completely rebuild the cooling system while you are at it - like radiator, hoses, water pump, thermostat, Miata thermoswitch, etc. This stuff adds up fast! Oh, yeah, get some method of boost control or you'll be looking at another engine in the near future.

I would never think of installing a new/rebuilt engine without a full cooling system rebuild as well....