Miata Mailing List: March 1996, Message #54
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   From: JEANNIE_HOBBS@HP-SantaClara-om3.om.hp.com
Subject: Wendy - Broken Crankshaft
   Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 16:59:22 -0500


Well, it's happened to me.  Wendy went over a speed bump and stopped
running, and the dealer says the crankshaft bolt sheared off.  He says
Made in Japan (who replaced the timing belt) put it back together wrong,
and Made in Japan says it's been too long (22 months, 24K miles) and
if it was going to fail it would've done so before this.

So, anyone who's had this problem, what's to be done?  Has anyone
successfully gone after Mazda for the repair cost (rumored to be 
around $2K)?  If the dealer will be an expert witness, can I threaten
Made in Japan with small-claims court?  

After it's fixed, can I still trust my car?

Please respond via private e-mail.  I plan to pull all the old
messages from the archives (thank God for Keith, Gary and the search
feature) on Monday, but if anyone has any concrete solutions (especially
financial), please let me know ASAP.  I'll log on again tonight.

Jeannie Hobbs
Boulder Creek, CA
I know it's Friday but it sure feels like a Monday.

P.S.  Repeat after me:  I will never, never buy a first-year car again.