Excursion transmission damage

[andy69]

what on earth would have caused this?

The Excursion we use to tow our big survey boat had transmission problems last year. It was repaired, then in October the torque converter went bad and it was repaired under warranty. We got it back and several days later we were loading up for a job when I noticed a large puddle of trans fluid under the truck when I moved it. It also shifted funny, like it was low on fluid. So, we scrambled to rent a big one-ton dually Dodge so we could get on the road, and took the Excursion in to the trans shop.

We got it back a week later, and the report from the shop was that the leak was caused by extensive damage to the transmission and engine block. They replaced a crushed transmission pan and a few other things, but they said the transmission housing was cracked and would continue to leak unless replaced. They also noted that the rear corner of the engine block had a chunk out of it.

Needless to say, the boss thinks someone beat the crap out of it, and is raving mad. But I am at a loss as to what could possibly have been done to it to cause damage to the engine block and transmission such that they both need to be replaced, when there is absolutely no damage of any kind to the rest of the truck, that I have been able to find. No new dents, impacts, or anything, and I have driven this truck almost as much if not more than my personal vehicle since the truck was purchased new in 2001. The only time it was out on a job between the torque convertor repair and when I found the leak was when a couple of our guys took it to Texas. They reported no problems, and I know those guys well enough that I don't think they would wreck company gear that badly and not fess up, as we all know that equipment gets pretty beat up in this line of work, and stuff needs to be fixed all the time.

I would think if the truck took a hit hard enough to cause extensive damage to the engine block and transmission, there would be other damage to the body, frame, suspension, etc., but I have not seen any. I thought of a few possibilities, but nothing definite:

1) Damage is due to frost or freezing. It doesn't get cold enough here for that kind of damage, and that doesn't explain the impact damage to the pan.

2) Damage is due to impact caused by one of our employees operating the vehicle. It;s conceivable, since there are times when we have to put boat in in some questionable places, but our policy is safety first and if the place is THAT iffy, we'll look elsewhere to launch. Our people are generally pretty honest and not negligent, long time employees, and have always fessed up to mistakes or screw ups that have caused damage to equipment. Also, I would think there would bne other damage to the truck, unless it was run over a large rock or something.

3) Damage was caused by an employee of the transmission shop while either test driving it or joyriding.

4) The engine and transmission in our truck were swapped for damaged ones from another vehicle while in the shop. My understanding is the work was done at the Ford dealer. While that doesn't necessarily mean fraud can't happen, it certainly reduces it. I have not checked the engine numbers to make sure it is the original.

Thoughts?

[99Expy]

Boss is mad because unexpected expenses are directly sucked from the profit category, which I am sure you know. Sounds like somehow it got jacked onto a big curb or something, if you loading and offloading boats is their any concrete blocks it could have got caught on while maneuvering a big boat? I know I creamed a golf cart with my camper while taking it out of storage, had no idea I hit it until to late. I was at an extreme 90' angle with truck and 32' travel trailer. Anyway, the engine has a chunk missing out of the corner, as you said, something had to jar the living s*&^ out of the Excursion. Seems like their would be a lot of under carriage damage as well.