The Shop OVERHEATED my engine!
 

Call a lawyer?

Took my car into the shop for the suspension work to be done since I hit a curb. Its been sitting for a month while parts arrived.

Spoke to the shop today, they told me they let let car run in the parking lot for 15 mins after starting it to allow it to recharge the batter:uhh: He said it ran a "little hot" and they had to shut it down

So I explained this is not a piston engine and a "little hot" is "a little rebuild"

I called back and asked for details on "a little hot", they told me the stock gauge was close to the red zone but not in it!.....I have a Defi Water gauge and they didn't even look at it...

the problem here is i had my fan fuse pulled because I was working out issues with the relays the 60amp fuse was sitting on the box but not plugged in..but that doesnt give them a reason to neglect the car and let it overheat

They said it runs fine pulling into the shop but hell I wont know for another 15k miles when my coolant seals go out?? Now what? how dangerous is right below red...ive NEVER seen it rise EVER....call a lawyer...make them sign something? Do a hydrocarbon test?

you pulled the fuse to the one device that would keep your engine from overheating, not their fault.

when you have an rx man, you always have to make sure to take your shit to a legit shop that knows its stuff.

but since it was all suspension work im sure you assumed you wouldn't have to worry about the engine, i'd think the same if it was me.

i overheated a while back, kinda bad, the cap on my ast was bent up, and my car would start overheating because it wouldn't fit tight, temp got up to 250 i think, shut it off as soon as i saw it rise though.

i think 250 degrees would be right before the red.. somewhere around there maybe 260 or so.

i think you're fine but you gotta worry about if the shop is telling the truth, because if he let it overheat for a while without noticing that would suck, and i'm sure he wouldn't tell you if he did in fact leave it.

so its a toss up.

but even without the fan what made your car heatup, do you have all stock cooling components? shit with a radiator and intake and some other stuff, my car rarely ever gets hot enough to turn on the fans and i live in FL.

I wouldn't blame them though...

If you did not specify to the shop not to let the car run, you pulled the fuse, then they are not at fault.

Anthony

I have to agree with the others. Your fault for not warning them about the fans not working.

i told them to call me before they worked on it...i have koyo radiator all new hoses and thermostat aluminum ast its never overheated ever...the car should not sit ina parking lot by itself for 20 mins...

what if a HOSE has snapped during the wreck??? and they let it run and overheat?

BTW 50/50 antifreeze....below red is 250F, 246 is boiling point on pure water so it probably didnt boil over plus it was at idle? What are my chances of coolant seal failure? Hydrocarbon testing going to tell me anything or is this only going to show up down the road

they did everything they would normally do to a car in that situation. If your car cant sit idling for 15 mins without overheating and you didnt tell them before hand the procedures needed for a rotary then it doesnt look good unfortunately.

Zack What shop did this? and what did you do to your car?

There is something wrong with a car that can't idle for 15 minutes without overheating.

Unfortunately, I think you are completely at fault here.

If you didn't tell them not to run your car it's your fault.

i wont disclose the name of the shop but hes a very good honest guy...just suprised that he didnt pay attention to the car

i normally drive barefoot (flip flops) was wearing some large dress shoes too big for me and slipped the rear a little out of a parking lot onto a main road tried to bring it back by controlling the gas but hit the brake at the same time nad SNAP over steered into a curb so fast i couldnt blink broke my gram light and tie rods not too bad but the overheating issue

can anyone answer the question about 250 degrees? bad?

Agree with others. I would have not only told them about it but put a big note on the steering wheel about it just incase there was no communication at the shop. You are lucky they caught it at all.

250F is borderline overheat. I suggest you perform the coolant system test after the shop is done with your car. In the meantime install all of the vehicles hardware in order for it to run properly. What would you expect them to do if the shop caught fire while working on someone elses car ? If you defeat a system and turn the car over to someone else to perform work you invite disasterous results.

Good luck


later

Yeah if they didn't know the fuse was pulled it's definately your fault

i just took mine to a body shop and i had them sign a tach reading. i went over every overheating and fuel issue. i even made sure they waited 2 min before they moved it 10 ft from the parking lot to the shop. i took no chances!

250F = about 121C

That's getting up there, its about the time i'd really start to flip out and shut the car off.

man you guys are crazy. If it's not on the track, I'd shut my car down by 105C

Everyone else is right dude. You're basically fucked.

Its not the shop's fault, unless you tell them otherwise about your fuse pulled and your fans are not working.

Since they were doing "suspension" work, they assume the car is in perfectly working order, it is not their job nor their problem to inspect any other issues your car may have or had during the time its there, again unless you said otherwise.

You're lucky they even told you it overheated. They can be like "o shit, let it cool down and dont say shit to that customer". And you will be screwed a little later in the future wondering what the hell went wrong with the car.

Translation: Eat this screwup. It sucks we know but its your fault.

250 degrees is VERY hot, the point that aluminum housings can start to warp. Boiling point last time I checked for pure water under atom pressure is 212 degrees, or 100c. Anything over 105C is very bad in my opinon, but alot of guys say its not. 86-94C is where we like all of our engine setups to stay at. If it goes over 100c it will be shut down or cooled down at once. But I also agree, with others that it is not the shops fault, but could have been avoided.

These days I have serious reservations about taking any of my cars to a shop for work... Whether its quarters used to seal unneeded holes, or leaving the keys to a customers car at their front door while they were on vacation (with the car in the driveway, no less).


I would be seriously pissed to learn that someone left my car running unattended in their parking lot. Someone could have easily made off with your FD. Your car overheating is an entirely different matter though, and I know you don't want to hear it, but it's your fault. I doubt you would get anything from them if you pressed the issue....

Just my .02

to pull your fan fuse and drop your car off at a shop is way more negligent then letting a car idle for 15 mins. how dumb can someone be?

Thats a whole different ballgame.

Shop owners/employees know its their FULL responsibility to make sure nothing happens to a customers car while its on their property/in their possession during test drives or moving it across the street etc etc.

Im sure when they say they left it running in the parking lot for 15 min, doesnt necessarily mean literally LEFT it in the parking lot. That person who idled the car could have gone to a car a couple spaces from it and attended that, or could have watched the car from afar.

This goes on all day everyday from shops all over the world and honestly, when is the last time you have heard someone's car getting stolen out of a person's shop WHILE the shop was open?

I won't comment on whose fault this was, but there is hope in the fact that it only "almost overheated" (it didn't lose water, if I understood this correctly) while idling. In that case, the temperature extremes between the various parts of the engine are minimized, and the peak temperatures may not have gotten above what the engine internals and water would see after shutting the car off normally after a drive on a hot day.

You may have gotten away without any permanent damage. However, only time will tell.

Good luck.

DaveW

Do you work with an formula 1 team or something?:worship: