engine just blew up and seized?

2014 FORD ESCAPE
84,000 MILES • AUTOMATIC
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KRISTIN STAFFORD
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I dropped off my car for repair (it needed a vacuum pump replacement), after a day the shop said it also needed a booster, so I authorized that repair as well, now the car has been in the shop for almost a week, and just post booster replacement the tech (not the owner who was working on it directly he is now on vacation), called and said that he took it down off the mounts, and started it up and the engine just blew up and seized.
The thing is my husband double checked the levels in my car before I dropped it off, (he checks them at minimum 3x a week for me), I barely drive (hence my 2014 car has only 84,000 miles), and when the mechanic was questioned by my husband he said "oh well I had to add a bunch of quarts of oil into it after it seized up because it was empty". In this case it seems like negligence by this tech, am I wrong to think that?
Aug 27, 2025 at 1:58 PM
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MECHTRIX
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We dont know and Theres so much to consider in a case like this maybe this will help
Was the car driven to the shop ?
Did the engine idle when it got there ?
If yes.. then it had oil in it ..then someone must have drained the oil and didnt tell the other techs so the tech didn't know and didn't check it and started the engine without oil in it and ruined the engine .
and if thats the way it happened I guess it would make sense that they should replace it for you free of charge if it happened while in their care any honest shop would do that right? So"
Id say at this point id only speak to the owner of the shop to find out what's going on
People do make mistakes its usually mis comunication or somthing
he might be able explain to you what happened when you talk to him. And you might feel better once you reach a good understanding
it seems like its not fully explained yet ..good luck i hope this helps
Aug 27, 2025 at 4:10 PM
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KRISTIN STAFFORD
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So the car was running fine, my husband doubled checked before I had it brought to the shop and the oil and all other fluids were fine and i had it towed since the vac pump and booster were causing break issues, the car was repeatedly brought up and down off their lift and driven in their lot without issue and the tech called me and just said it "blew up", when my husband went there to check in person he told my husband it was out of oil, and then kept trying to back peddle
Aug 27, 2025 at 5:45 PM
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