Why does a new engine part break right after expensive dealership repairs?
Major engine repairs can leave underlying issues undetected, leading to secondary component failures shortly after pickup. Dealerships often treat these breakdowns as separate problems and quote additional thousands, leaving car owners stuck paying for cascading failures or fighting to prove shop negligence.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1taking the vehicle elsewhere
- 2paying the dealer's labor rate
- 3pressing them on whether pulling the head disturbed oil or coolant lines
- 4swapping camshaft position sensors
- 5tightening oil galley plugs
- 6performing a cam relearn
- 7planning to swap VVT phaser actuators
- 8Attaching a heavy-duty magnet to the bottom of the oil pan
- 9Using a magnetic drain plug
- 10Relying on standard oil filters to trap metal flakes
- 11Getting in touch with another HVAC contractor for a second opinion
- 12Calling the company every few weeks asking for help
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So I've got a 5.7 Hemi with danger glitter but I can't get it in just yet.”source ↗
“My oil analysis was coming through clean, I only know it's coming because I cut my last filter apart and it had dead engine dandruff.”source ↗
“So I got this ingenious idea to buy a 150lb magnet and slap it to the bottom of the oil pan to keep the fine stuff from circulating.”source ↗
“Still getting the P0017.”source ↗
“Runs and idles fine, but starts to struggle when going uphill or under extra load.”source ↗
“I struggled with this on my 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee a few years back”source ↗
“Got head replaced by Honda Dealer charger like $3k, one week later the turbo charger goes out and they are trying to charge another $4k. Anything I can say to them to lower the price or get it free? I am thinking negligence that they did not see this while working on the head for 2 weeks?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 4Why does my car still leak oil after replacing the seal?