most important post i've made..please help out

[mikehazard]

so a few months back my turbo blew. this came right after a sears oil change, HUGE mistake. they didn't use synthetic oil, they just used shitty sears oil. now, I'm not even sure that this is what caused my problems..but I'm pretty sure sears had to have SOMETHING to do with it because this was only days after said oil change and check engine light was on instantly and they said they couldn't fix that. If anyone is a certified mechanic or knows something about saabs that can help me out with a statement or something i work at a law firm and im going for some reimbursement here i could really use some notes or a letter - anything supporting my side of the case that could be confimed.

[2fast4u]

I was in a shitty situation a few years back with my wrangler similar to yours. I took my jeep to a place called JD's off road and performance in Brewster NY (boo) to do a rear+front gear+locker install and upon installing the locker incorrectly caused some rear axle grenading, some non drivability, some warranteed, some non waranteed parts needed replacing, 1 year of parts gathering ... yadda yadda yadda. I paid my bill with a mastercard who arbitrated the deal, found in favor of me, gave me my 1500 back, and then JD's took me to small claims court which ruled that they agreed to mastercard arbitration and had no right to sue. It was a 18 month disaster to say the least.

Unfortunately for you the oil change was cheap and the turbo wasnt so I dont know if that helps, but if you had other work done related to the turbo on the same card (assuming you paid with a card) then you might have something.

If nothing else I feel for you. The ASE mechanic that gave written testimony to the screwings up of JD's was a retired father of a friend, who looked at my Jeep out in CT. It'll be hard to get a shop to testify that another shops shoddy work caused damage... trust me... I know.

[Celtic1982citleC]

+1. You'll have a very difficult time finding someone that is certified to testify on something like this. Especially when it comes to a blown turbo. You say the CEL came on instantly after the oil change...so that should've tipped you off to get that looked at asap. Anytime you have work done to your car and a CEL is on after the work it's your job to refuse receipt of that service. The fact that you signed the paperwork and drove away could cause serious issues. The problem could've been pending before the oil change, and that is impossible to prove. Stored codes can sit in ECU limbo indefinitely. Sucks to say but you may have to bite the bullet on this one my friend. Going from synthetic to traditional oil may cause problems over time, but I don't see how it could immediately cause turbo failure.

My .02

[crazybrew609]

i'm with justin on this.. i am a gm trained ASE tech and one oil change from synt. to regular oil is not gunna do they type of damage to the turbo.. you don't even know the exact cause for why the trubo failed.. was it over heating or was is shaft play or was it something going thu the turbine and causing internal damage?... this makes a difference as to the causes behind who is at fault.. i mean the slight fact that you didn't get your oil changed at exactly 3K miles is causes enough to show that you might of been responsable for the damage and not sears

[mikehazard]

it wasnt immediate it was within the next few days, but alright. grand total only came to around $900 because saab had my turbo on backorder for 3 weeks and ended up giving me a free rental and no charge for the turbo itself.

[Shawn96VR-4]

No lawyer will take that. It's not easy to prove liability.

Also, what was the CEL?

And the oil change to synthetic didn't cause your turbo to blow. I've used ghetto WalMart oil and my motor runs just fine.

[Captain Moai]

You can switch from synthetic to regular, back to synthetic a million times. It won't do anything adverse to your motor, aside from running like dogshit on regular oil. The protection doesn't even come close. There's a very good possibility they underfilled your motor with oil and it may have had the briefest moment of starvation, or something to cause oil pressure to drop enough to cause damage to the turbo... but that makes little sense, seeing as the rest of the engine would also have been damaged most likely.

So yeah, on this one you're out. Grab a turbo, a turbo timer, use only synthetic oil and above all, never ever bring a turbocharged car to a quicklube place. Do your own changes or bring it to a trusted mechanic that will take the time to do it right. Be a pain in the ass and watch them every second if you have to.

[nysulli]

what signs were there that the turbo went, could you hear the bearings go and give you the dreaded death whine?

i've had a turbo die in this manner, and it went very quickly, out of nowhere one day i heard the bearings grind at full boost, on my way home to have it fixed a few days later, with maybe 20 more light miles on the supra, it would grind at with any boost whatsoever

so weather or not their work had to do with your turbo's failure, you would have a very tough time proving it

and on top of that, a lawyer to prove such in court would cost you more then $900

[mikehazard]

lawyer costs me zero i work at a law firm but if there's no shot im over it it's already been paid

[mustangraven]

sounds liek yet another reason to change your own oil :-( may be cold and crappy out but better than letting some retard with a wrench near your car..... GL