[V8] Oil Seals

[DasWolfen at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/27/04 3:14:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
roncav3 at comcast.net writes:

> What I'm really trying to figure out is if I have any type of case for 
> holding them liable for fixing the oil leaks that they missed.  You all indicate 
> that it's not possible for the new rear main seal to cause other leaks - so 
> the front engine oil leaks must have been present all along.  
> 
> I told the garage that the car "leaks oil."  I didn't specify where the oil 
> was coming from.  I expected them to find the oil leaks and repair them.  
> They told me that the rear main seal and valve cover gaskets needed to be 
> replaced.  So, I let them do the work that I couldn't be bothered with - RMS.  When 
> I got my car back, as soon as I got home I noticed it was leaking oil.  
> Their claim is that it wasn't leaking from the front seal when they were given 
> the car to do repairs.  Of course, they didn't really attempt to clean up the 
> engine at all (I looked and it's still pretty nasty).  Now, I've paid them way 
> too much money to replace the rear seal and I still need engine repairs.  
> Where do I stand?  Are they liable for not finding the front engine leak(s) in 
> the first place?  I'm furious!  Thanks for all of your help.
> 

 <wearing my Audi owner and list member hat>

 What are they going to be liable for? They didnt charge you for anything 
other than the RMS and they did fix that so where are your actual damages? 
Mechanics are human, even the best of them sometimes miss things. If you read back 
through the archives you'll find a lot of horror stories about different shops 
doing much worse than missing a leak or two. Since you haven't said anything 
about transmission leaks or the car running strange I suggest you thank the 
Audi Gods you were lucky enough to find a shop that was not only willing to 
remove your transmission but actually did it without breaking something. 

 <putting my mechanics hat on>

 Since I probably work on more V8's than anyone outside of Germany I've more 
than my share of experience finding leaks in V8's and I still sometimes miss 
one or two or even <gasp> misdiagnose a leak. If an owner tells me that I'm 
liable for repairing an oil leak that I didn't cause, didn't see, and didnt 
charge him for fixing, well lets just say that particular customer will be directed 
out of the shop, permanantly. 

Keith