So I have a very well maintained 2002 4 door 4WD King Ranch with 145,000 miles on it. Last month I noticed a coolant leak coming from the front of the intake manifold. I set up an appointment with my local mechanic whom I have trusted with my truck since I bought it in 2012. He called me the day after I dropped it off and told me he had completed the replacement of the intake and when he started the truck to move it out of the shop it began missing. He didn't know exactly what the problem was but he would keep it overnight and check it out the next day.

Next day he calls and says No. 6 cylinder has ZERO compression. He wasn't sure what was going on and was still investigating. Well long story short, a small bolt/screw from the beauty cover around the top of the intake had fallen onto the intake manifold some time before the coolant leak had started and when my mechanic removed the intake, unbeknownst to him, the bolt/screw fell into the No. 6 cylinder. He put everything back together and then when he started the truck up....that's when the damage occurred.

So here I am with a damaged engine. The shop has insurance and now I am at the point where I need to make a move. A shop has to be chosen that will replace/fix the engine and with talking to the mechanic, who has been very helpful and sorry for the events that have occurred, has not been successful at finding any other shop that wants to take on this repair work. I am not really in the mood to spend a lot of time researching and finding a shop that even wants to do the work and then taking a chance that they don't do a good job putting it all back together and it not running well.

Before all this occurred I was within a year or so of upgrading to a newer truck but at this point i have lost the value of my truck and don't know that it is worth all the hassle to get it running correctly. Is there a market out there for damaged engine trucks that are in otherwise really good shape? One of my options at this point may be to get a cash settlement from the mechanic's insurance and then just sell the truck as-is. I don't know what it would even be worth at this point.

What are your thoughts on my situation? Thanks.

 

Let the mechanic fix it.

Sounds to me like you may need a whole new engine, not just a head.

Those bolts that hold that cover on are like quarter inch diameter...... They're not small. You likely have piston and cylinder damage in addition to head and valve. Which means replace the engine.

The problem is you got a 18-year-old 145,000 mi engine so you don't deserve a new engine.... You deserve an 18-year-old 145,000 mi engine......... Which is precisely what you'll find at scrap yards.

Without a working engine your truck is worth scrap value.
The cost to put a new engine in is more than the truck will be worth once it's installed. Unless somebody does it themselves.

just to put in a used engine you're probably looking at 1500 for the engine, 1500 for installation, a few hundred for miscellaneous, and tax.

I'd expect insurance might total the vehicle and give you a check for the current value of it. That may be cheaper for them.

 

You're currently dealing with a shop that admitted what it did instead of trying to talk their way out of it. I'd stay with that shop.

 

As I understand it in Michigan, the shops insurance cannot total someone else's vehicle. They can limit what they give the shop but that doesn't get the shop off the hook for the damage they caused. The shop is only responsible to replace what was in the truck though, a used engine. You might want to consider paying the difference between a used engine and a rebuilt engine. That might effect labor costs though with swapping parts from your engine to a new one. A rebuilt engine usually doesn't come with things like the alternator, starter, AC, etc.

 

Some thoughts for you to consider
Did the screw make it into the cylinder? My guess is that if you dropped a screw into the injector port it would get stuck trying to get past the intake valve and jam that valve open thus zero compression. It would be tough to visually (scope) see a stuck open valve unless you have special equipment that most of us do not own. Get the mechanic to pull the valve cover and see if an intake valve is stuck open. Depending on the engine design it may be possible to open that valve beyond its normal full open position and using a wire down the injector port knock the screw into the cylinder where it could be seen and recovered.
If the screw stuck in the intake valve the damage maybe minimal to the extent that once screw is removed the engine would be usable.
Let us know it the screw made it into the cylinder

 

So, to me, this part of your explanation makes it sound like this screw was already an issue before you took it to the mechanic. If I am reading this correctly, you are damn lucky he is taking the fall on this one.

 

I don't see how the shop is at fault if the bolt was already in the intake.

 

it was ON the intake manifold and fell INTO the cylinder when being remove by the mechanic.

 

...
^^ posted while I was writing.

 

Synopsis: The owner knew the screw was there, left it there, and now the mechanic and his insurance are falling on the sword.