Threw a rod need advice Please

MR_SRL

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I have an 04' with about 23k miles. My local mechanic sent the car to Roanoke Dodge in Illinois. They say a cylinder let go do to low oil, they say only 5 quarts was in the car. The car was still under the 7 years 70k factory warranty, but they are refusing to rebuild because of the lack of Oil. I have changed the oil my self for the past year, and showed proof of purchasing 10 quarts several times, but they don't care about that. The car was obviously burning oil, and never gave any indication of being low. Any advice would be appreciated, and if I have to come out of pocket for the rebuild, does anyone know how much this will be?
 

eucharistos

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and never gave any indication of being low.

move up the chain of command until you find someone who has the authority to say yes, refuse to take no for an answer if you are not at fault
 

plumcrazy

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call chuck tator and see how he would handle that. he would know. he USED to own a dodge dealership and still might do warranty work for them
 

Fatboy 18

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So did your local mechanic change the oil prior to sending the car to Roanoke? Did he send the whole car or just the engine?

Sounds expensive :(
 

Flexx91

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The spark plug(s) would be pretty fouled up if the car had burned that much oil. Your "saving grace" in this situation would be to hopefully find a leak. If no leak is found, they are going to probably stick with blaming you (if you in fact did the last oil change yourself) for underfilling. Check for leaks and if you don't find one, contact the regional service rep. Call Arrow for an estimate on an engine rebuild.
 

SquadX

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Engine build will run about 5k. If you have to go this route might as well do head and cam for a little extra. Hope things work out best for you.
So the dashlight never came on? In my old gts the low oil light would pop up for a split sec if I floored it from very low speeds even though the oil level was good.
I'd check for leaks as well. Check the valve seals also. They leak.

Best of luck to you. Also Confirm what ur tech did before sending the car/motor off. Might have drained some oil by mistake.
 

Tom Sessions

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You said threw a rod. Did it knock a hole in the block or just spin a bearing and start knocking?If it knocked a hole in the block then they cant confirm how much oil was in the engine at time of failure. If it just spun a bearing then thats different.
 

slysnake

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My local mechanic sent the car to Roanoke Dodge in Illinois.
At least they were smart enough to send it to people that know what their doing.
 
OP
OP
M

MR_SRL

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You guys are being very helpful. Dodge customer care got back to me, and they Illinois District Manager is who turned down the claim, and that he was there boss, and they could not over rule his decision. So the fight continues
 

gilly6993

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Engine build will run about 5k. If you have to go this route might as well do head and cam for a little extra. Hope things work out best for you.
So the dashlight never came on? In my old gts the low oil light would pop up for a split sec if I floored it from very low speeds even though the oil level was good.
I'd check for leaks as well. Check the valve seals also. They leak.

Best of luck to you. Also Confirm what ur tech did before sending the car/motor off. Might have drained some oil by mistake.

Arrow just rebuilt my engine and my delaer told me it was close to a $20K price tag with the rebuild, pulling and placing the engine, and crating it back and forth....
 

Flexx91

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I hate to say it but you're basically "SOL" unless you can determine and prove you have a leak. You should focus your energy on that instead of fighting with the dealership (for now).

So once again I have to ask, what caused your car to lose 5 quarts?
 
V

Venomiss

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A little background on the vehicle.
Are you the first owner?
Is the Viper stock and has it always been? Did you track the car?
 

TAXIMAN1

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wow. this is a HUGE issue. Id say what? 50% of all Viper owners change their own oil?

I check my oil almost every drive, and if its so much as 1/2qt. low (which it never is), I would top it off. But that aside... This seems like an easy out, for Dodge, for many different type's of failure.....

Service Mgr: Oh, you mean work on your own car? Sorry, no coverage...

Wow, Id like to see how this turns out...
 

Flexx91

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wow. this is a HUGE issue. Id say what? 50% of all Viper owners change their own oil?

I check my oil almost every drive, and if its so much as 1/2qt. low (which it never is), I would top it off. But that aside... This seems like an easy out, for Dodge, for many different type's of failure.....

Service Mgr: Oh, you mean work on your own car? Sorry, no coverage...

Wow, Id like to see how this turns out...

I wouldn't say it's an easy out for Dodge. If someone brought in a vehicle for warranty work and discovered the most likely cause was due to a lack of lubrication (extremely low oil level) then the owner admits to performing his own oil change, there's 99.99% chance the claim will be rejected.

An approximate $20k hit to Dodge for a new/rebuilt engine far exceeds Dodge covering this repair as a simple gesture of good faith.
 
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