I have a 2002 Civic EX. I bought it brand new and have taken great care of it. I have not ever had any issues with it and have only had to replace things due to normal wear and tear. It has about 214,000 miles on it and had been driving beautifully.

A few weeks ago I took it to a mechanic to have him check things over. I wanted to get the car ready for our many road trips this summer. He recommended replacing the timing belt and some motor mounts. We had him replace the timing belt & water pump, along with the front motor mounts.

Less than 2 weeks later, while driving from Louisville, KY to Memphis, TN it ran hot and started to "smoke". When I pulled over & took a look under the hood, the overflow coolant tank's cap was missing, there was a hose that had snapped and the oil was completely gone.

I had the car towed back to this mechanic and he informed me that the head gasket had blown. My suggestion that something was done wrong when he replaced the water pump was met with anger and he informed me that these things just happen all the time.

Needless to say I towed my car away from that mechanic immediately and am now trying to figure out what to do. I am considering filing a lawsuit against him to not only get my money back ($1900) for the "repairs" he already did but to get him to pay for the damage that his faulty work did to my car.

My questions:
1. Am I correct in my belief that his poor work on replacing the water pump led to the head gasket issue?
2. Is it possible to successfully sue a mechanic?

Thank you! I am heartbroken over this car.

 

Your stuck in a hard spot. If your water pump failed, it would cause the car to overheat.

Your water pump should have a warranty and if properly installed (must be proven) they might cover damages.

If installed incorrectly your mechanic SHOULD be liable for damages. Take pictures and get other mechanic professionals to look at it.

This isn't common regardless of what that guy says. Hes trying to cover his ***. And $1900 for a timing belt, h20 pump, motor mount is a ripoff.

I just spent $70 for a new belt, tensioner(spelling?), and h20 pump. It's a 2.5 hour job @ whatever he charges per hour.

Ex. 2.5 X $100 /hr = $250 + parts (not more then $140).

 

I concur with dja, I'd get another mechanic to take it apart and to verify all the installed parts. I'd take either a video or good still photos of every part that was "replaced" by the other mechanic. If any of the parts that the mechanic replaced are damaged, then it is clearly the responsibility of the shop to replace and repair all resulting damage from the failure of the part. It looks like it's time for the mechanic shop to look at their liability insurance.

Definitely $1900 is a rip off, that is probably even more than dealer pricing. Do not ever go back to that guy except with a lawsuit summons.

 

You're taking a risk having a different mechanic diagnose the root cause of the engine overheating. If you decide to do this be certain that the new mechanic is willing to meticulously document the damage occurred and what the cause was. And, confirm that the mechanic is willing to testify and/or prepare a notarized document explaining the situation.

I say that this would be taking a risk because the new mechanic may indeed find that the headgasket took a dump and that this was in no relation to the service work rendered by the first mechanic. This is entirely possible.

Also, the first mechanic may argue that you caused more damage to the car by letting it overheat for too long.

Good luck!

 

I knew I was in trouble with this guy when he complained that I was paying him in cash. When I originally took the car home, it wouldn't start the next day. When I called him, his response was oh yeah, it did that to us & we put gas in it and it started it right up. When I said that the gas gauge was not reading empty, he said that the gauges are "tricky" and often just stop working. (I do not remember leaving the car with him on an empty tank, but he did not have any response about how the car could have lost all it's gas) He made a comment about having my car parked on a hill before he worked on it. I didn't quite understand the correlation, but he was adamant that gauges "just break".

Now that the head gasket has blown, I just have a hard time swallowing that all these things are "just breaking" when it's never been an issue before. I do believe that parts will wear out after time and usage, but they only seem to do this when the car was in his care. Seems awfully coincidental to me.

Thanks for the responses. I wouldn't have thought to take pictures of the parts he installed. Very helpful!

 

Having trouble starting a car can be a symptom of a bad headgasket. If coolant leaks into the combustion chamber the car will not fire up right away, if it does at all. A friendly mechanic would have looked into the starting problem a little more. It's so easy to do a quick compression test but, what's done is done.