literally... I just got my engine rebuilt. I drove from Arizona to california and my car over heated and the engine blew. So i get my engine rebuilt maybe a week ago it's a 3.2 intrepid. Today im on my way to get everything I need for it insurance, emissions, and plates. It was running fine, and i felt a little stutter in the car I call the mechanic to let him know. He says do your emissions before the check engine turns on and when it turns on call me. So im driving I get to the insurance place site down, within 5-10 minutes a guy runs in and yells for everyone to get out because a car is up in flames and might blow up so I run out of the building and what do I see? MY CAR is in flames... what happened? I don't know? I don't know much about cars but the mechanic was the last to touch my car and he rebuilt the whole engine... I call my mechanic and i'm pretty upset and he says it wasn't his fault... he hadn't even checked the car... he gave me a receipt with a year or 12k miles warranty on the engine. What should my next step be? I don't know if it's his fault or not but I need either money to buy a new car or for this not to have happened... should I take the guy to court? is it his fault? what could have caused this? any feedback would be really helpful at this point.

Thanks Guys!

 

Was it an engine swap then? Maybe check the warranty to see if it covers damages from defective workmanship. IMO, its either the mechanics, or the engine rebuilder's fault. Somebody did something wrong, becuase anything under the hood that can catch the engine on fire probably should have been replaced, checked, or reconditioned.

 

Why don't you just get the fire marshall to investigate where the fire started?

 

I would do the same thing get the marshal to look at it, but the damage as to where the flames are more heavy, I would say there was a leak in your fuel system it's one of the only lines that run on the driver side next to the brake lines, but he wouldn't of had to touch them. If he didn't tighten down the fuel line, or one of the injectors was loose that would start a fire with no issue. Since you didn't drive the vehicle far after getting it rebuild the mechanic IS liable for the damage to the vehicle. As long as the Fire Marshal, says it was Fuel, Oil, Antifreeze (had that one happen to me on my fathers car, sprung a small leak in the upper radiator hose and it hit the manifold and the engine had a slight fire. Explain to the marshal or whoever you have inspect it that you just had the engine rebuilt, and as long as he said it was something mechanical your not responsible.