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The beast has blown

12K views 74 replies 27 participants last post by  SFVetteman 
#1 ·
Well my ATS took a shit Monday morning and blew up after getting the oil changed. As some of you may know I had reached the 455rwhp area and was very content with it. OK anyways back to the story...... Pulling out of neighborhood and made a u turn and got on it to make this really long stop light. Turbo spooled great and blown off valve made a little more noise than normal than BOOM!!! Sounded like I was dragging engine and exhaust and it totally locked up. They are saying they are not covering it because of the mods but the filled the oil about 2 inches over full line which can cause lock ups and total deviststion. iHuntV78 would you post the tsb info and other info for these awesome people. In the meantime at least I still have my V which is about to get a big upgrade

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#3 · (Edited)
Who/Whom did the oil change?

I hate to say this but... I wouldn't honor the warranty either considering the mods and how it is driven. This engine was never designed to produce that much HP for any length of time and I would venture to say there are no forged parts in the engine.

I have a 2010 Dodge Cahllenger that has lots of mods... but, none to the engine as I have a Lifetime Power Train warranty. Also, the 5.7 Hemi does NOT have any forged internals. Even with forged internals on the 6.1' and 6.4's there are lots of blown engines after adding boost.
 
#8 ·
Bud you are in for a big pissing contest.... Mods or Dealer error? Yes, the Magnuson Moss Act basically says they need to prove your mods caused the failure.... You on the other hand have to prove the over filled crank case was done at the dealer and it caused the failure. You will also have to defend your mods and prove that they DIDN'T cause the failure. Yea, gulity until proven innocent... the bottomline is get a good lawyer.
 
#15 ·
I would start the conversation with the service manager about it. 8.5 QTS is a lot of oil. They warrantied DB outlaw when he was modded since the piston problem was a known defect. That much oil is a defect. Maybe you can to get a deal where they cover the labor and you the parts as a settlement if they wont fully fess up.
 
#37 ·
They also gave the new owner a new engine as another idle issue arose with the a/c on. They knew it was modded but I guess didn't feel a need to dick the next guy for an error. The SM said they didn't even break the engine open to troubleshoot; just ordered a new engine. SM thinks he dropped another piston and said that it wasn't the first engine replacement she's heard of for ATSes.

To the OP, sorry for your loss but at least the V is there to console you. As far as getting a lawyer, I've never had the displeasure of being in that situation but I'd tend to agree Cadillac has deeper pockets. W/e you choose to do, keep your cool when speaking with any Caddy rep.

I actually like the idea of trying to settle this out of court, first with the service dealership. Does your receipt show a charge/service for 8quarts? If it doesn't, it's going to be a he-said, she-said match and I'd tend to think any jury would side with the dealership once they were informed of all your mods. Good luck!
 
#19 ·
no water in the oil? the extra on the dipstick isnt coolant that got in the oil from a cracked block when broke.

we just did almost same exact thing for a kid. we procharged his '13 1500 6.2L. he had his oil changed.(quick lube place) later that day , boom. now he told the oil change place they over filled the oil and blew his motor. he claimed they didnt drain the old oil just added more. he showed them dipstick was way above level. it was like a gallon of water in the oil. well they gave him money for motor and labor. we built him a 418 stroker. swapped motors and tore down blown motor. that thing came apart at 6000+ rpm. preachers son though he wouldnt lie right? he did end up with a 800hp pickup though.

now normally i would ask why the hell you let the dealer and their flock or teenage retards change the oil, but i know 400hpats is recovering from back surgery and certainly not in shape to be changing oil. i do have to say he is prob screwed though and will be fixing it on his own dollar. or atleast it would be cheaper to just repair it yourself then try to battle caddy to have them warranty it.
 
G
#21 ·
I don't know if there are oil baffles in the pan but with 8.5 QTS oil could have hit a piston during the U-turn. It depends on the your speed during the turn. Adding a little oil for track days may be ok but overfilling this much? They have some level of blame in my opinion. Bert
 
#22 ·
I would say the overfill of oil is your only chance and I would have it drained out and measured by an independent company or at the very least be present when it is drained. If they drain the oil when you are present and don't keep track of it and this information will be lost forever and to their benefit.

I think them "proving" the engine wasn't designed for 455 whp would be extremely simple and almost everyone involved would go along with it. A simple letter from their Engineering department and most reasonable people are going to agree.
 
#23 · (Edited)
We are saying 455 whp, but what hardware was actually added to the car. Simple bolt on ' s or are we talking totally different turbo running alot more boost. Someone's else's warranty claim was denied because a dp, intake, and tune which is nowhere near 455 whp. So maybe it ain't the hp or torque that killed it, as this is a new engine design from the last 2.0t maybe these engines are just not reliable past the stock setup. Sure they may last a few thousand miles after mods, but some of these engines that have crapped out may be a result defective internals I.e piston issues, and these minor mods accelerate the failure.
Not saying 400hpATS mods were minor, but others have had minor mods that may have resulted in failure. Unless their aftermarket tunes were that aggressive which caused the engine to run way too lean. I just can't see the minor bolt on ' s causing failure unless something internal was not up to par.
 
#25 ·
Well I am having the car taken to a independent speed shop I do alot of work out and it is being drained and ripped apart there and everything is being documented to prove mods played no role in the lockup. Yes I was running a much larger turbo and water/meth along with E85 but everything was tuned perfectly and all fuel trims sat at 0 and was properly cooled do to aftermarket intercooler and piping. Once it's all ripped down I will post photos however I can't do anything like stated earlier I am recovering from a full lower back fusion.

On the other hand....how many of you have had the chance to see a 700-800hp ats? Well there will be one on the street of Houston in about 8 weeks as there is alot of fab and building going on now including heads, cams, header, intake, arp rods and rockers and nice big custom built 72mm compressor courtesy of precision turbo. Keep the eyes peeled for more info as this progresses as there will also be parts for sale i am sure I am getting a much larger cai and downpipe.
 
#27 ·
I am sure it's either a dropped rod or spun bearing. Either way there will be a new monster being built and the V isn't gonna be able to compete even though it's fixing to get a 2.8l magnusson supercharger put on it upping the HP on it to around 850
 
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