Up to Standards
- Subject: Lawsuit involving a transmission failure
- Essential Reading: Shop Owner, Center Manager, Rebuilder
- Author: Mike Weinberg, Rockland Standard Gear, Contributing Editor
This is the conclusion of a two-part article that began in the May issue. Part 1 covered the basics of the lawsuit, the progression from warranty issues to major lawsuit, and inspection of the transmission.
Inspection of the vehicle
Early in the afternoon we went to a body shop a few miles from the lab where we had taken the transmission apart. Our inspection of the vehicle found several interesting areas. The fire damage originated at the driver side of the console adjacent to the seat-belt latch and continued up the right side of the driver’s seat to the headliner. All the components showed direct fire damage, with complete combustion of the upholstery, plastic, leather, foam etc. The damage did not move laterally behind the driver toward the door but came directly up from the console to the roof. By the plaintiff’s own deposition the fire did not last longer than one or two minutes. My opinion, and that of our fire expert, was that it was an intense flash fire that originated in the glove box or console and was consistent with a vapor flash in intensity and duration.
At this point we put the vehicle on a lift and inspected the underside for further damage. This sports car was manufactured with a fiberglass and plastic body. The underside was desert dry, with only a light film of road dust, and no signs of heat damage or products of combustion. The fiberglass was not distorted or wrinkled and showed no signs of contact with anything hot. The entire bottom of the car was dry, with no signs of leaking motor oil or transmission fluid. Experience with these car models has shown that if they burn from underneath the whole body will be involved very quickly.
We set the car back on the ground, and I began to inspect the engine compartment. This yielded a surprise. All the components added to the engine were in place as stated by the plaintiff. However, he left out one small item. Under the throttle bodies, on top of the intake manifold, was a 150-hp nitrous-oxide delivery plate. He had neglected to tell anyone that he had installed the nitrous-oxide system. This would add substantially to the engine output and torque and was consistent with producing way more torque than the transmission was designed for.
I followed the braided pair of hoses through the engine compartment, into the cabin and back through to what serves as a trunk. The hoses ended there, and in the carpet were the impressions left over from the brackets installed to hold the nitrous bottle in place. The bottle and the brackets were missing. Nitrous oxide added to incoming fuel will add a massive surge of power to the engine output. The nitrous oxide in itself would not have caused the fire but could support combustion if added to the fuel for the fire. I did a rough test for leakage of the nitrous system using shop air but could find no obvious leaks.
Further inspection of the car showed that the front tires were in excellent condition with good tread depth but the rear tires, which were a matched set to the fronts, were worn to almost zero tread depth, a pretty clear sign of racing. One other curiosity was created when I found that the headlight bulbs had been removed. As this incident happened at night, how does one drive without lights? As we were packing up after the inspection, the opposing team’s expert came over to say goodbye. He was a nice man who operated a racing and performance business in the area. His words to me were: “I’m done; I don’t see any way the trans could have been involved. Nice to meet you,” and he left. Our team of experts had a short meeting to determine future strategy.
Forward strategy
From every aspect of the inspections we found no sign of the transmission being the cause or any part of the fire. The fire expert concluded that the fire originated in the console/glove box from an unknown source. He believed there could have been some flammable substance in the glove box such as a bottle of butane to refill cigarette lighters that had leaked or broken and flashed off. Another assumption was that the driver might have been free-basing drugs, which would have involved ether, a very flammable substance that could be flashed off by a spark from static electricity. Since there were no police reports, or other emergency-service involvement, and the evidence had been poorly handled and preserved, only the plaintiff would know the real story. I suspected that the owner of the car was street racing and that even though he was hurt did not want the police involved. The next day we all departed to our offices to prepare our reports and get ready for trial.
My deposition
About a year later I flew back to be deposed by the plaintiff’s attorney. With me was the defendant’s attorney, and a court reporter recorded the deposition. I produced my report stating that there was no involvement of the transmission in the fire from the evidence the plaintiff had produced. At that point we were informed that the plaintiff’s experts had created a new theory for the cause of the fire: that the failed thrust bearing had generated enough heat to cause the transmission fluid (90W gear oil) to vaporize. The vapor had come out of the vent and accumulated in the console, where it eventually reached a flash point and was ignited by an unknown source.
I said nothing during the deposition about this new fairy tale. After the deposition was complete I sat with our attorney and prepared a defense strategy. In my professional opinion it was impossible for the fluid to heat up enough to reach a flash point, in the area of 425°, without showing any signs of excessive heat in or outside the transmission. I asked him to get comparable operating temperatures of the rubber and plastic parts of the transmission from the manufacturer to prove they could not have handled those temperatures. I asked him to have the seals and plastic subjected to increasing amounts of heat to record at what point they failed and to show a jury physically what they would look like afterward. I suggested that we engage a petroleum engineer to test and confirm how this could happen.
It is obvious to us in the transmission-repair business that fluid exiting the transmission vent could not have all the vapor go up into the car at road speed. There would have to be signs of the vapor condensing on the bottom of the car because of the wind stream passing under the vehicle. As the bottom of the car was bone dry, it was clear that this was not the case.
I flew home afterward and was notified to prepare for trial on a given date. The petroleum expert contacted me, and we discussed the issue thoroughly. He was an extremely competent and knowledgeable man with an engineering degree and real-world experience with several leading petroleum refiners, brands that are household names. His opinion was that the plaintiff theory was created to fit the circumstances, as by their own admission they had no science to back their claim. I agreed with him. The trial was subsequently delayed and rescheduled.
The final disposition of the case
I was about to make flight reservations for the trial and had been discussing the case with the defendant’s attorney to establish the courtroom strategy. Even though there was no physical evidence of science to back up the plaintiff’s claim, we would still need to educate jurors who had no experience with transmissions, petroleum products etc. and who would inevitably be sympathetic to a young guy, badly burned, against a large corporation.
I then received an e-mail from the defendant’s attorneys informing me that the case had been settled out of court. The insurance carrier had worked out a reasonable settlement in their eyes that would save the costs of a trial and the risk of a jury deciding incorrectly against us. Such a decision would create an appeal with more legal bills.
I have no idea as to the amount of the settlement or the terms. I will go to my grave believing that we had a sound defense against a plaintiff’s case that was all smoke and mirrors (no pun intended). However, this is real life, and risk management was the sure way to make this go away for the least amount of money and best results. This sad tale took about three years to reach this point.
In reading this I hope you realize how important it is for you to be careful in your work. It is clear that even if you are 100% right you can still get involved with the court system. On the other hand, if you are sloppy in how you approach the work you do and the customers you service, you have no chance. We live in an era where the United States is being run by attorneys and everyone is a victim in their eyes. There are no longer any accidents, no one has to take any responsibility for their actions, and the barest of grounds will produce litigation in which the lawyers always come out ahead regardless of who wins or loses.
Pay attention to detail, keep good records and be thorough in all your diagnostic and work processes. Quality is your only defense.
