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Andrewthornton.nz

I own a 2002 Ford Explorer 4.6l V8. I have recently been having issues with the oil pressure gauge losing pressure and reading no pressure. This continued to jump between pressure and no pressure whilst driving down the road to work and back each day.

I took the vehicle to the Ford dealership last week (Tue) to get a service and to have the oil pressure gauge issue sorted. When I uplifted the vehicle, I noted on the invoice that the mechanic had diagnosed the oil fault with his computer, reset the fault code, and test driven the vehicle. No further fault was noted during this test drive and therefore no further investigation was required.

Today (seven days later) whilst driving to work, the oil pressure gauge did not move from the ‘no pressure’ reading, even with the engine running for 2-3 mins. I continued to drive to work (with the intention of dropping the vehicle back at lunch time to the garage). I had turned onto the motorway in the right hand lane and driven about 2 km before I came to the first set of traffic lights. As I began to slow for the traffic lights, the check engine light came on, and as the vehicle came to a halt, the engine died. The vehicle would not start or turn over, leaving me stuck in the right lane on the motorway. Thankfully a random guy stopped behind me to give me a tow out of the right hand lane into the side street at the lights before any accidents were caused.

After calling out the AA roadside chap, he noted that the engine had most likely seized and noted that he could smell burnt oil. I had the vehicle towed back to the Ford dealership.

After an initial assessment, the Ford dealership tell me that the has engine seized and they believe this is due to the lack of oil pressure, but were not able to specify what exactly caused the low oil pressure without pulling it apart (at my cost). I have been quoted about $7000 for a replacement engine including labour.

What legal standing do I have in pursuing a negligence case with the dealership for failing to properly fix a presented issue that subsequently resulted in catastrophic engine failure? Any advice would be great before I start forking out thousands.

ABayliss

This is a difficult situation all round.
If there was a fault code present when the dealer scanned the system, this would normally indicate an electrical problem, therefore I can understand why the dealer would reset the fault code, road test the vehicle and if the fault didn't reappear and the gauge began reading the correct pressure, make the assumption that it was merely an electrical problem. Although, without being able to determine exactly what had caused the gauge to display fluctuating readings, perhaps it would have been prudent for the dealer to advise you to monitor the gauge and stop the vehicle if pressure dropped.
That's not to say that the mechanic would have known that a potential major mechanical problem was imminent, as this couldn't be determined without dismantling the engine.
Having said that, the fact that you continued to drive the vehicle when the gauge was reading no pressure is really what has caused the failure, and it's possible that some internal engine damage had been caused prior to the service, as the gauge had been fluctuating for a while.
So, it's not really clear who is culpable. Clearly the engine had a pre-existing condition prior to the service so the dealer didn't cause the problem, but perhaps some better advice to you could have at least reduced the severity of the situation, if not completely saved the engine from failure.
I suspect the dealer is taking the position that they are not culpable. Therefore, you could choose to take the matter to the Disputes Tribunal to have the matter heard by an independant arbitrator. Whether or not you would win is debatable, and depending on numerous other factors (ie; previous service history, mileage the vehicle has travelled etc) it may be difficult to pin the blame on the dealer.