Sled caught fire and burned up after engine rebuild...is builder responsible?

[skidooboy]

call your insurance company, let them do a "cause and origin" study on the fire (almost all major insurance companies require this for most if not all fire losses). keep your receipts, when they want to settle, negotiate with your receipts. if you did not purchase extra coverage for the turbo, accys ect... you may be out them but, the majority of the sled itself, would be covered under the policy. if you have added riders for policy for mods, accys ect... you will be covered up to the limit you opted for.

if you didn't tell the insurance company you have accys' and didn't buy a policy, or pay a premium to cover said add ons, you are not eligible for coverage for those items. meaning: if you insured a stock sled, you get paid the value of a stock sled, in it's condition before the loss occurred, within the limits of the policy, and premiums you chose.

as stated above, don't get into it with the builder, let your insurance provider do that. let them be the bad guy.

your results may vary.

Ski

 

[icr]

Had the motor out. Therefore all fuel and electrical was touched. How could it not be related to the repair? 31 Miles after major overhaul? Really how could it not be related?
You can’t say they worked on ABC and XYZ caused the fire.
That’s the same as saying 1+1=3. It’s not rocket science.
I have been in the retail business and we all make mistakes.
Own up to them and save face.

Could be from a stuck injector which could fail at anytime and probably wasn’t replaced during the repair.

 

[XC500mod]

Claim it on your insurance.
They will pay you.
They may, or they may not pursue the builder.
If they do, then they are the bad guy, not you.
This takes the monkey off of your back, and perhaps you can salvage the relationship with the builder.

Totally agree with this. Don't sue him, it will cost you more in missed work, brains stress, and worrying than the outcome is worth. do the insurance claim, let them be the bad guy if they want, and chalk the lost money up to snowmobiling.

you could look at the upside. think how much money you saved by not using that snowmobile the remainder of this year. i just had an unexpected ortho surgery and had to miss two or three remaining trips this year. it sucks but i guess i saved some monies!

 

[scottbilt95]

firestarter

You could forget the park brake on, or have the brake lever ice up/stick on just enough any time with the same result. There’s a decent chance it was due to the repairs, but other reasonably probable scenarios also exist....that’s why it’s a good candidate for insurance, then no one has to make that call. JMO

this is the first thing i thought as it happened once to me on a 2011 freeride. on a sub-zero morning, the parking brake partially stuck even though it was disengaged. about 2 miles down the trail we stopped and i saw flames coming out of the disc cover. the rubber brake line melted and then the brake fluid went up. luckily, got enough snow on it to put it out. in your case, since there are other scenarios that could cause this, i'm guessing your are going to have to get some type of proof it was an engine related fire, and that fire was caused by the builder/installer. it certainly could have been fuel related, i'm just not sure how you could prove it unless there is some evidence. here are a few things to consider:

-you can assume it didn't leak fuel at the shop when they started it or loaded it.
-could it have been a poorly routed line or wire too close to a heat source?
-could it have been a fitting or seal that failed even though installed correctly?
-could something flammable (shop rag?) been accidentally left somewhere?

courts can be a roll of the dice. i would certainly want to go in with a reasonable/plausible chain of events and hopefully some type of evidence?

best of luck!

 

[Sledsniper]

Ok my bad

 

[jdrmx]

Dont sue him. Ive been in diesel repair most of my years. In my experience if there is a failure in short time its usually the mechanic fault. Like 90% of the time. Yes, the parking brake “could” have been a issue. Its unfortunate for the builder and you. Talk to insurance. If hes reputable he will help out. Its one of them cases where your name will teeter between good and bad. Over a few thousand bucks i sure would rather have the story go like, “he stood behind the work”


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[SRXSRULE]

Dont waste your time and money trying to sue. There is no way to prove what happened at this point.

Make the insurance claim. Insurance companies pay very well on total loss sleds, you will likely get full NADA value which is almost always MUCH higher then what you would likely be able to sell the sled for, even with the turbo in your case.