Built a mild s/c 5.3 build for my daily driver. Went to tuner A (twice) and left with a 13.6 wot tune and was told my AFR gauge was wrong but was offered to buy a $1000 set of injectors to cure the problem I didn't have! (being it was my gauge that was inaccurate....) The ride home I could tell things weren't kosher.
Being I'd gave them two tries, @5 days and an entire tank of gas on the dyno I decided to go to tuner B since buying injectors that would fix the problem I didn't have wasn't feasible. Tuner B makes a pull and shuts it down before redline..... 13.6. Kid your ***** jacked up wtf... Me: yea, figured that much. Fix it please.
Tuner B builds a new tune and all is good. 11.6 to redline. Test run and cruise tune, one r two small pulls and seems strong. Next we lay it out a bit and it spits a good quart of oil outta the rear seal.... I'm ready to give up at this point. Tuner B had told me after the first pull that evening piston damage could have been already done. There was no way to tell without tearing things down. At this point we baby it back to the shop due to me needing to make it offshore the next morning. Back at the shop I get a little encouragement and told it may be due to insufficient crankcase breathers.
Later that night I set the cruise and head offshore for two weeks. While out I have another breather sent to me. When I get in I install the breather and anxiously waiting to see if it cures the problem. After a few short romps I decide it was make r break time (why I decided this 3 hrs from home on Christmas Day is beyond common sense, yes I know). So hear we go, slow to 20mph and lay in it, 2nd gear burn and into 3rd.... Catch another gear and 90mph it falls out! Oil skids down the road, trucks loosing power and poof it dies... Try to crank it but it pops through the crankcase. Few minutes later I'm a thumb in the wind hitchhiking down I-10.
Fast forward a few days later the trucks home and I'm pulling heads. Upon inspection five pistons are melted. Call tuner A, hey you were wrong my gauge was right and I've got a problem. I tell them the story and they tell me to carry *** elsewhere to who ever else tuned it after them. He then tries to argue the tune was not jacked up so we pull the dyno runs at his shop.... Here comes the excuses! We lowered your shift point to 5500 due to 13.6 afr's... What about the the high 12's all throughout the 4k range... Blank stares... We go back and forth and he denies the other tuner could get 11.6 pulls.
I leave and consider to give fair trial, let me have the tunes looked at by independent tuners. Results... Tune A had wot table set to kick in at 8000rpm! Simple mistake? Was it suppose to be 800??? Dunno but I feel it's negligence point blank. During this time I've asked for copies of the runs to no avail... Do I have enough to lawyer up and get compensated? Do I just act out and blast them all over the web? Both? Ideas please, I can send a copy of the tune to whomever would like to check it out.

 

Unfortunately it would be hard to prove tune A caused the damage especially without data logs and a copy of the tune. If tuner A didn't build your combo then it would even make it harder to prove. Plus if tuner A said not to get on it because he thought you needed bigger injectors and you continued to get on it, that would probably give him a way out. I have heard many stories like yours over the years when doing re-tunes and never heard of any of them ever getting compensated from their old tuner or shop. I'm sure that's not what you want to hear nut it would be hard in court to prove IMO.

 

I worked in Jennings on the high school roof about 15 years ago. Was this "tuner" in H-town? As bad as it sucks, when you are dealing with hot rods there is a lot of room for people to take advantage of others. If the shop was the real problem, not short cut parts or shotty build techniques then voice your opinion of the place, but keeping it professional will net you more results then a random he said she said fest. Good luck to you. It is hard to find a good shop that is affordable.

 

Sorry to hear and it's all to common.