kconklin33 wrote:
Yupp. That's me. Suzuki was claimed that the engine malfunction was due to an issue during the reassemble of the cooling system and not a faulty engine. Body shop claimed they had done everything correctly and that it was because of a faulty engine. Nevertheless, Suzuki is preparing to settle for the damages. I have 1/2" of cylinder wall that cracked off and fell into the block. I'll try to dig up some pics.
I am nearly certain it's the shop's fault and not Suzuki. Just about every time I've seen my car or someone else's come out of a body shop, there is something missing, misplaced, or forgotten about. There is a huge difference in the workmanship between mechanics and body work guys in my experience. I recently had a coworker call me for advice when her car overheated shortly after some bodywork was done at a shop. I told her to stop driving and have it towed to a mechanic she trusted. The next day, the mechanic told her that the body shop had forgotten to reconnect her fan harness when they made the repairs which caused the overheating.
I'm sure your engine had a similar mishap due to the lack of care from the "pros" at the body shop. Also, if it really was a Suzuki engine issue, you'd see more faulty J24B engines but you just don't. Also, isn't this the shop that did a piss-poor paint job of your front bumper that now flakes off? If so, it screams volumes about who is likely at fault for this engine issue. Glad to hear Suzuki is helping you out though.
Suzuki would need to prove 100% that the body shop's work caused the failure. I bet this would be downright impossible to do without spending lots of time and $.
I disagree. Taking the vehicle to an independent master technician to determine the cause of the engine failure immediately after it happened would have likely determined what caused the failure in an unbiased manner. Also keep in mind that kconklin33 alluded that the body shop guys touched the engine's cooling components as part of the body repair. Now I could be wrong, but I'm going to assume (from my experience with their work quality) that many body shop workers aren't ASE-certified trained mechanics. Hence, the probability that guys with little to no formal training on powertrain or vehicle control components were reassembling/refilling the cooling components improperly is very high compared to a rather abrupt and inexplicable engine failure on the part of Suzuki's engineering.
I'm sorry, but I trust the engineers at Suzuki a hell of a lot more than some auto body workers who couldn't even paint a bumper well. I have no doubt these idiots f*cked up that engine when they attempted to reassemble the cooling components in their repair. It should also be quite obvious when the engine failure came about following the repair in which these guys touched critical engine components.
Put a thousand miles on the new tranny this weekend. Not necessarily easy ones either. Traveled from SE Virginia to Pittsburgh and then had to take some mountain roads to get to the wedding venue. Quiet as can be. No hiccups. Please so far but I have not had a chance to open the hood or look underneath to check on the reassembly details. Does anyone know if you have to pull the engine to replace the CVT?
KuroNekko wrote:
I am nearly certain it's the shop's fault and not Suzuki. Just about every time I've seen my car or someone else's come out of a body shop, there is something missing, misplaced, or forgotten about. There is a huge difference in the workmanship between mechanics and body work guys in my experience. I recently had a coworker call me for advice when her car overheated shortly after some bodywork was done at a shop. I told her to stop driving and have it towed to a mechanic she trusted. The next day, the mechanic told her that the body shop had forgotten to reconnect her fan harness when they made the repairs which caused the overheating.
I'm sure your engine had a similar mishap due to the lack of care from the "pros" at the body shop. Also, if it really was a Suzuki engine issue, you'd see more faulty J24B engines but you just don't. Also, isn't this the shop that did a piss-poor paint job of your front bumper that now flakes off? If so, it screams volumes about who is likely at fault for this engine issue. Glad to hear Suzuki is helping you out though.
Suzuki would need to prove 100% that the body shop's work caused the failure. I bet this would be downright impossible to do without spending lots of time and $.
I disagree. Taking the vehicle to an independent master technician to determine the cause of the engine failure immediately after it happened would have likely determined what caused the failure in an unbiased manner. Also keep in mind that kconklin33 alluded that the body shop guys touched the engine's cooling components as part of the body repair. Now I could be wrong, but I'm going to assume (from my experience with their work quality) that many body shop workers aren't ASE-certified trained mechanics. Hence, the probability that guys with little to no formal training on powertrain or vehicle control components were reassembling/refilling the cooling components improperly is very high compared to a rather abrupt and inexplicable engine failure on the part of Suzuki's engineering.
I'm sorry, but I trust the engineers at Suzuki a hell of a lot more than some auto body workers who couldn't even paint a bumper well. I have no doubt these idiots f*cked up that engine when they attempted to reassemble the cooling components in their repair. It should also be quite obvious when the engine failure came about following the repair in which these guys touched critical engine components.
Not saying I disagree, but for Suzuki to come out and deny a failure and say it was due to a previous bodyshop repair, they better be prepared to prove it. That is all. It falls into the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
I believe that it's innocent until proven guilty when it come to warranty repairs. Suzuki has to prove it. Not sayin' it wasn't the shop, but the onus lies on Suzuki to prove it was the shop and not the consumer to prove it wasn't.
Sorry for a late response lol. Glad to hear your tranny is holding up well! In the end nobody is claiming fault and both are stating that indeed, I would need to prove with 100% certainty that it was one or the other. However I have no doubts that it was in fact the body shop. Simply based on the fact that THE CAR RAN FINE before entering the shop. And yes they are the same idiots who put the shotty paint on my car. However, after contacting an engine shop we've come to an almost concrete theory as to what happened. As mentioned, there is a chunk missing from my cylinder wall, which doesn't quite add up. Not melted but a clean break. That said, either A there was a malfunction in the engine or B the engine over heated because of an issue in the cooling system (cough cough body shop) the engine over heated and blew up (Although the temp gauge never read hot) but still the hot temps don't explain the clean break in the cylinder wall but then what does... A screwdriver?? The engine shop seems to believe since it's nearly impossible for the cylinder wall to break off like it did an outside force had to cause this. He firmly believes that during the "preliminary tear down ($1000 out of pocket)" from the Suzuki dealer which I purchased the car, tried breaking free the head from the block by wedging a screwdriver between the 2 to do so.
