Ehmark

Buy a new shortblock and put it together yourself its more fun that way anyway.Make sure you do NOT reuse the oil pump after a bottom end failure.

Subotai_95

I would have to agree with the guys that are saying you probably should've had the shop check the tune before you left OP. I'd also have to agree with 2000GT in that there is very little risk in running boost on a stock block, IF it's set up right and tuned correctly. Granted I have a 4V block with a forged crank, but my rods and hyper-eutectics are still the crap cast, and I'm running a ProCharger kit @ 8-PSI plus bolt-ons, pushing out a little over 500 to the crank and a hair under 450 to the wheels. Two days after I got the car out of the shop I drove it 1,600+ miles from VA Beach to Ft. Worth and even ran a few people along the way and never had a problem one with it. It's all in the tune you have brudda.

As for trying to remedy your situation, I'm certainly no lawyer, but the guy that suggested small claims court was probably closest, as the BBB won't be able to get your money back, though they can investigate the claim. Vortech wouldn't be able to do anything about it because they didn't do the work to the vehicle. I just think it was a combination of things. Yeah you did screw up a little by not requesting that they check the tune before you left the shop with it, but then the shop was d!cked up in that they probably told you the tuned it when all they did was put in a crap mail-order tune without checking the A/F ratios.

Kind of a hard position to be in, but I'd probably take nanaki's suggestion and use it as an excuse to either buy, or save up to buy a forged block broham.

mustang_pa

Just go talk to a lawyer. Let a judge tell you who's at fault.

Cornbread01

either get a lawyer and get some money from someone and then get you a nice built mmr900 longblock.

boostanggt

Personally,I work at a shop and when ever we have a customer bring in a car to get work done, tune etc. they sign a waiver for stuff just like this.There are too many variables to point the finger. Hopefully the shop will help you out with the new motor but personally I think it's just bad luck.

nanaki

the shop i go to i don't ever sign a waiver saying if it breaks, it's my responsibility. unless it was something really small like gears. i know they can't guarantee nothing will go wrong. sometimes chit just happens. when i took my car there when i still had the stock 3650, i just kept waiting for the day. my car held 550RWHP on the stocker and it took 600 to kill it. i got the call and torey was like "dave, i got some bad news for ya", i just replied right back with "so how much is a new tranny going to cost me and when can i get it?". he just started laughing cause he's used to dealing with guys that think the shop is responsible no matter what. they got me a killer deal on a brand new tko 600 with bell housing for like 2 grand INSTALLED. they had it back on the road in just a week.

2000GT4.6

Yeah, honestly i don't see either vortech or the shop paying for this, unless they did something like leave the oil out etc.

Unless something like that happened, you simply had to get into boost, and when you did that the stock vortech "get you to the shop" tune was not right, and the car blew up.

I have seen people do it, but once again I must say I would never make major changes to a stock 2v motor + boost and not have a dyno redone.

highroller02

check the plugs for detonation. interestedto see what happend. sorry to hear that, look at it as an easy way to get a better engine

RuffCat

This is a tough one to prove now! If the rod didn't break the block, then I would say it is possible, but I bet there's oil all over unde there. This would make alot of sense actually because if the bearings siezed up from extreme heat, the rod has all the pressure on it when the piston fires. I check my oil EVERY time before I leave my house. I drive my car maybe twice a week only when it's nice out though. Even on my DD car I check it atleast onmce a week. I checked my oil before and right after the dyno session. It's a real good habit to get into!
Also, I was at the dyno shop last week and a guy had an 03 cobra with a 15# puley on it. He had a diablo canned tune in there. He was running a whopping 50:1 a/f above 5krpms. Just goes to show how sh*tty those canned tunes really are.

undecided.steve

Yea I guess it would be a little difficult to prove at this point

+1 on canned tunes in general because every one of these cars is different, even in stock form.
Changes were made to the factory ECM along the way and while subtle, sometimes just a canned tune that is off a little is enough to make *some cars* operate too close to lean for comfort.

The Vortech tune is very well done however and very conservative so unless he was beating the heck out of the thing and something just didn't match up in the tune I wouldn't think that would be the problem.

Many people use the tune all the time with no problems.
This is IMHO completely different than the canned tunes that come with the typical Diablo/SCT etc which are dodgy in my experience.
Personally there is nothing that can replace a dyno tune with A/F measurements and at the very least even an A/F guage should have been tossed on the car after the install just to check.

My guess is either oil was not put back in the car, or the oil tube to the Vortech sprang a leak or there was an inherent defect in the motor to begin with and installing the blower caused enough stress on the motor to make it surface.

Either way it's going to be a tough one to prove.
My advice would be to bring the car to another mechanic and have it looked at to see if any negligence can be found and then pursue it in small claims court yourself because the cost of an attorney can easily add up to more than the motor is worth.