Lemon Law - Head Gasket Leak

DryBones · **Posted:** Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:37 pm

i was wondering the same thing about the lieftime powertrain on new vehicles. Employee plan doesn't include that?

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:58 pm

DryBones wrote:

i was wondering the same thing about the lieftime powertrain on new vehicles. Employee plan doesn't include that?

I bought it a few months before they came out with the lifetime warranty, so I only have 3/36. I just typed up a letter to give to the owner. He left me a msg a few weeks ago saying if I needed anything to contact him, so we'll see how that goes.

If he can get me a lifetime warranty I'll be done with it, otherwise I'll bug somebody else. It's his dealership's incompetence that resulted in my driving for 6,000 miles with a head gasket leak, so he should do something to make it right.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:06 pm

JohnnyCash wrote:

DryBones wrote:

i was wondering the same thing about the lieftime powertrain on new vehicles. Employee plan doesn't include that?

I bought it a few months before they came out with the lifetime warranty, so I only have 3/36. I just typed up a letter to give to the owner. He left me a msg a few weeks ago saying if I needed anything to contact him, so we'll see how that goes.

If he can get me a lifetime warranty I'll be done with it, otherwise I'll bug somebody else. It's his dealership's incompetence that resulted in my driving for 6,000 miles with a head gasket leak, so he should do something to make it right.

Sorry to say your going to be on the losing end on this one,you'll never get the lifetime warrenty,plus the crap you got to do to keep that warrenty in effect is,well your pocket book isn't going to like it since all work must be done by the dealership by a certian schedule.A head gasket going out,even if driven for awhile, from like you stated will not harm your engine in the long run since you were just puuting combustion air in the cooling system and coolant was not getting into the engine(where the damaging effects occur,your bearing do not like coolant) so you are good to go and the dealer knows it so they will not give you anything,sorry but it's life,complain all you want.

Quote:

sleeve84028

I don't mean to contact a laywer to sue. I mean to get some professional advice about having Chrysler buy the vehicle back from you or at least having Chrysler give you some sort of warranty on the engine. (Lifetime Powertrain was the thing last year... Where'd that go?)

I'm sure the engine will be fine, but that risk should have some insurance against it.

There's no case,now if it blew 3 headgaskets in the first 12,000miles then there a case but not in his case,Chrysler will not buy it back.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:16 pm

Quote:

A head gasket going out,even if driven for awhile, from like you stated will not harm your engine in the long run since you were just puuting combustion air in the cooling system and coolant was not getting into the engine(where the damaging effects occur,your bearing do not like coolant) so you are good to go and the dealer knows it so they will not give you anything,sorry but it's life,complain all you want.

Would you ask for anything if you were me, or would you just ignore it? They misdiagnosed the problem 4 times in a row. If a radiator is leaking and the pressure test shows no problem they should have known to at least test for a head gasket leak. Just curious if you would ask for anything.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:22 pm

JohnnyCash wrote:

Quote:

A head gasket going out,even if driven for awhile, from like you stated will not harm your engine in the long run since you were just puuting combustion air in the cooling system and coolant was not getting into the engine(where the damaging effects occur,your bearing do not like coolant) so you are good to go and the dealer knows it so they will not give you anything,sorry but it's life,complain all you want.

Would you ask for anything if you were me, or would you just ignore it? They misdiagnosed the problem 4 times in a row. If a radiator is leaking and the pressure test shows no problem they should have known to at least test for a head gasket leak. Just curious if you would ask for anything.

Your type of head gasket leak is the toughest to diagnos,most of the time the type of problem you had will not show-up in a pressure test unless the engine is at operating temps which 99% of the time it will not be since even us techs don't want to mess with hot coolant spraying in our eyes removing the radiator cap to do a hot pressure test,very unsafe as well.

Like I said since you were not leaking coolant into the engine you are fine,no coolant to damage the engine bearings.You just over-pressurized the cooling system which caused your coolant leak.I would be just thankful it was covered under warranty and no I would not expect anything more since being a tech for 12+ years I know s$%t happens at anytime.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:46 pm

Quote:

Your type of head gasket leak is the toughest to diagnos,most of the time the type of problem you had will not show-up in a pressure test unless the engine is at operating temps which 99% of the time it will not be since even us techs don't want to mess with hot coolant spraying in our eyes removing the radiator cap to do a hot pressure test,very unsafe as well.

Like I said since you were not leaking coolant into the engine you are fine,no coolant to damage the engine bearings.You just over-pressurized the cooling system which caused your coolant leak.I would be just thankful it was covered under warranty and no I would not expect anything more since being a tech for 12+ years I know s$%t happens at anytime.

Well if the dealership would actually explain things like this it would help a lot. I actually had a radiator shop test for a head gasket leak after my 3rd visit with my dealer, and like you said it did not show up. How do you know coolant did not leak into the engine? I'm not a car expert, so I don't know too much about these things. I wish the dlrship would take the time to explain these things. They never have any answers when I talk to them. Thanks for the advice.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:14 pm

Quote:

How do you know coolant did not leak into the engine? I'm not a car expert, so I don't know too much about these things.

Well they would have pulled your oil dipstick making sure you were not overfilled,one idication of coolant in the oil,and to see if it was a milky looking(grayish) which would be the second indiaction of coolant in the oil.The 3rd way is overheating and the 4th is a coolant smell coming from the exhaust(burning coolant in the combustion chamber).

If you had none of those then the coolant never entered the engine,only exhaust gases entered the cooling system.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:18 pm

Holy Cow !!!!!
It's starting to leak AGAIN !
It's just starting to dribble out from the pressure cap again......the same way it always starts.

Now I will definitely be contacting a lawyer. I don't see how I can't win something.............either monetary or a replacement vehicle under the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. They've tried to fix it 4 or 5 times now.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:01 am

This is probably the most horrible vehicle experience I've heard about with the 3.7L motors.

Good luck and keep us informed.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:38 pm

It's been like a whole day.. what's the update?

L.O. · **Posted:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:10 am

JohnnyCash wrote:

Holy Cow !!!!!
It's starting to leak AGAIN !
It's just starting to dribble out from the pressure cap again......the same way it always starts.

Now I will definitely be contacting a lawyer. I don't see how I can't win something.............either monetary or a replacement vehicle under the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. They've tried to fix it 4 or 5 times now.

That's grim. For an attorney, talk with a mid-sized local law firm. These guys that advertise nationally as "lemon law" lawyers will only farm the case out locally anyway. You may have issues depending on what you agreed to at purchase, but the important thing is to have the case evaluated by an attorney familiar with your state law as well as Federal.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:23 am

L.O. wrote:

JohnnyCash wrote:

Holy Cow !!!!!
It's starting to leak AGAIN !
It's just starting to dribble out from the pressure cap again......the same way it always starts.

Now I will definitely be contacting a lawyer. I don't see how I can't win something.............either monetary or a replacement vehicle under the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. They've tried to fix it 4 or 5 times now.

That's grim. For an attorney, talk with a mid-sized local law firm. These guys that advertise nationally as "lemon law" lawyers will only farm the case out locally anyway. You may have issues depending on what you agreed to at purchase, but the important thing is to have the case evaluated by an attorney familiar with your state law as well as Federal.

I already contacted one of those lemon law lawyers, and they did say that an attorney in my area would be handling it. They said probably all I could do was get some money, maybe between $2,000 and $4,000. I have not taken the vehicle back in yet for the 5th attempt. It's leaking less than before, but there is still a leak. Fluid just seeps out of the pressure cap, but I think it will only do it on longer trips now. Just driving back & forth to work it doesn't seem to leak. So they made it better, but it's still not completely fixed.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:58 pm

Uh-oh

I think they really screwed it up now.
I just drove around town, and I popped my hood to check things, which I do all the time now, and the coolant in my reservoir tank is no longer at the "full" mark like it always has been.

It's almost even with the "add" mark. I've never seen it there before. It's disappearing, and it's not coming out of the pressure cap anymore, so it must be leaking into the engine.

I could smell antifreeze on the way to work this morning also. Had to roll my windows down. I don't smell it anymore, but something is wrong

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:36 pm

Has the laywer informed the dealership yet? You shouldn't be using the Jeep if it's eating coolant.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:22 pm

sleeve84028 wrote:

Has the laywer informed the dealership yet? You shouldn't be using the Jeep if it's eating coolant.

I think the lawyer only contacts Chrysler. They aren't suing the dealership, so they don't involve them.

I just dropped it off again tonight. I got there and parked it, and after a few minutes there was about an 8-inch puddle of antifreeze on their nice clean floor. So at least I know I'm not crazy. I don't know where the leak is coming from. I don't see anything from the top, and the pool formed way back like underneath the passenger seat.

What a nightmare

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:29 pm

The dealer said the hoses to the heater core weren't clamped correctly, so that's where the leak was coming from.

So today it no longer leaks from there. After driving around today there is now a small dribble from the pressure cap once again which means there is still a small combustion leak in the engine somewhere.

So I'll probably be going back again for about the 6th or 7th time.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 3:19 pm

Ok. Jeep is back at the dealer.
Fluid dribbling out from the side of the pressure cap.
Just barely, but it is definitely leaking.

Does anyone have any clues on what could be wrong?
The mechanics are stumped.
The leaking seems to stop the hotter the jeep gets.

I took a long drive yesterday and it was dry.
I took a short drive to work this morning and it was wet.
The mechanic today had it running and he kept running his finger under the pressure cap and it kept getting wet; then after the jeep had been running a while and got hotter it stopped dribbling.

LostEddie · **Posted:** Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:39 pm

JohnnyCash wrote:

I am really concerned that more damage was done.
Because the dealer misdiagnosed the problem ... They owe me an extended warranty at the least.

Try this site to buy DC Extended warrentee - http://chryslerservicecontracts.com/ .

I got mine from here. Good Luck!

Lemon Law - Head Gasket Leak

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