Q: Can a transmission problem destroy an engine???

asked by on August 04, 2016

My husband was driving his Explorer to work when his oil pump went out. We live in the country & the engine was knocking badly before he reached a town. We paid a company to install another engine. We paid for the engine in advance & then paid for installation BEFORE we test drove the vehicle. The vehicle still knocked & missed, the a/c didn't work & the front end was out of alignment. We took the vehicle immediately back & the owner promised to fix the problems. The next day we called & our vehicle was supposedly repaired. This time we started it before we left. The truck still had the same problems. The day after, the owner called & said the mechanic had installed the fly wheel in the wrong place & the vibrations were causing all of the problems. He'd take it to another mechanic for their opinion. The mechanic called us today & tells us that our transmission had caused BOTH motors to go out. Our vehicle has always been babied. We need confirmation of his lies. Thanks.

My car has 158000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

My suggestion is to have the vehicle towed to another shop that you choose for a second opinion. Make sure it is not a shop he suggests and don’t tell him where you are taking it. Typically, flywheels are indexed and can only be assembled one way - the bolt holes are in a unique pattern.

I have not seen a transmission ruin an engine. Anything is possible, but I can’t think of anything that would cause a transmission to ruin an engine. It is usually the other way around. Engines are much tougher than transmissions, and usually the transmissions fail well before the engine fails. You may be able to dispute the charges depending on their policy.

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