In transport, when moving between transport vehicles, somehow the accelerator pedal got stuck down and when the car was started by the transport guy it revved full force for a second and they shut it off. From then on they just pushed the car, no more starts.
Is it possible that 1 second of high revs could have done real damage?
Thanks!
It is possible that the car has a rev limiter that would prevent damage If you have the owner's manual it should give this information. I know that the early 1970's models had a device in the distributor like the centrifugal advance that would act as a rev limiter, Hopefully your car has this and no damage was done.
williamr
Could a single instant of high rev really cause so much damage?
It is a '67 so not sure if such safety features were present.
It's likely fine if they shut it right down. The only way you're going to know is upon receipt. I would request the transporter give you a signed letter describing the event on company letterhead. At least you would have proof down the road which may end up meaning nothing. Proving damage would be tough unless it runs wrong before they leave. Take your time with the drop off evaluation. As for their professionalism, they shouldn't be starting any vehicle without respect to gas, clutch and gear positions and since they charge generously they should use EXTRA care. It could have been as simple as floor mat carpet shifting, in their business they should know.
Yea I already informed the transport co and they replied with a message about how their company isn't responsible for the condition of the vehicle, and thus their insurance wouldn't have anything to do with it.
According to their e-mail to me "When our warehouse manager attempted to start it to reload for the final trip to you from the Toronto facility the engine revved high. He immediately shut it off in less than 1 second and brought this to our attention in the office; we called you to inform you and pushed it to avoid any further issue. We did not try and diagnose or fix the issue; that is not our job."
I figure at least I have a paper trail of events.
I had the car delivered straight to my mechanic, which I planned on doing anyway, so if it's nothing major, no hard no foul. If it does turn out to be something major, then I guess I would have to file it with my insurance carrier, Hagerty.
It's interesting they claim no culpability and downplay the incident but they felt the need to tell you. Don't know what the equivalent of an Attorney General is in Canada but whatever board governs commerce in that province might disagree with their self assessment of responsibility if you have to "go" there.
This was their response in its entirety. It still could be nothing major as the shop hasn't looked into it yet, but they suspect something going on from how it sounded.
PS I know the car was running well because it was loaded onto the trailer by the seller, and I had seen driving videos made days before being loaded up.
From the transport co:
"I am sure it is frustrating to buy a vehicle from far away and it arrives with issues you didn’t expect. I am sorry that any issue occurred. The vehicle ran fine until entering our Toronto facility it was parked in a spot and left in that spot. When our warehouse manager attempted to start it to reload for the final trip to you from the Toronto facility the engine revved high. He immediately shut it off in less than 1 second and brought this to our attention in the office; we called you to inform you and pushed it to avoid any further issue. We did not try and diagnose or fix the issue; that is not our job. We also waived half of the fee because it was only being pushed on the return trip.
Mechanical/engine functions are outside of our control and the mechanical condition of any vehicle is not covered by insurance. Our contract is very clear about this. The reason we have to take this position is that it is not feasible for us to mechanically inspect thousands of classic cars prior to loading them for mechanical condition. Furthermore it is not reasonable for us to accept any responsibility for the mechanical condition of old cars. They do break; we see it regularly which is why we have procedures in place like the one enacted when issues presented themselves with your vehicle. These cars often sit for extended periods of time, especially prior to a sale. I empathize with your frustration, being an owner of multiple classics myself. I have had similar issues. This said, vehicle was not damaged by any actions of us and travelled seamlessly through customs export/import.
We simply started the vehicle and operated it in a normal way, the same way we operate the other 13,000 vehicles we transport each year. We were never informed of any potential issues by you or the pickup location and had no reason to believe that the vehicle had any mechanical issue that would present a problem for us starting and running the vehicle on and off the truck. In fact, my warehouse manager, who handles the loading and unloading of 30-50 high end classic cars a day, likely saved the motor by immediately understanding something was very wrong, shutting it off in less than 1 second and not running the car again.
I do hope everything is ok with your vehicle and I hope a qualified mechanic is able to diagnose and fix this issue with no more than a minor inconvenience.
My apologies again that this occurred with your vehicle."
I don't see anything saying the throttle was sticking or they otherwise did something out of the ordinary. In fact they go so far as to say they did not diagnose the cause whatsoever.
They said the engine revved high and the first thing we noticed at the shop it was delivered to saw that the accelerator pedal was stuck down. We have yet to determine if any engine damage was done.
Chances are it’ll be fine. A motor that old has already seen years of high end revs. I’d say fine since it wasn’t under load. That happened to my MR2 once… like a good 90’s
toyota
, nothing wrong and that car had 700hp
