Dumbfounded.. Engine Problem

[DarylBo]

I've had this car for over a year now (2009 Hyundai Genesis V8 4.6). Have had the oil changed and serviced every few months. No mechanical issues whatsoever excecpt the annoying stuck in 3rd gear that is fixed with turning the car off and back on.

I live in Chicago and its very cold I drove the car Saturday to the store. My wife asked my son to go start it Sunday and he said it started. When she went out there it was shut off. She said it would turn over but not start... when I tried to start it it wouldnt crank so I thought maybe he(my son) never actually started it and the battery died. So I tried to jump it off and nothing. New Battery, nothing. So I thought starter but starter is fine. I had it towed to a mechanic... He called today and said it overheated blew a gasket and there is anti freeze in the oil. That I should have been seeing it overheat, but like I said nothing mechanical has been going on with the car at all except what I said earlier. The mechanic is saying it basically needs a new motor that he could fix the problem but it will develop a run knock and just happen again..

What questions should I ask the mechanic and can anyone tell me whats going on? I cannot work on cars I dont know the first thing except the basics. Is this a common problem, a freak accident, did my son blow the motor up when he started it because he said he did press the gas pedal because it was/is extremely cold outside.

Ive had crap cars before that the head gasket blew but it still ran and I could fix the problem. The mechanic says the motor wont crank to prevent further damage.

 

[EdP]

Has the anti-freeze been checked? It it was diluted and did not protect, the coolant could have frozen, not circulated, and the engine overheated. Yes, it sounds strange than an engine can overhear when very cold, but it can happen. If that is the case, nothing your son did caused it. No matter what, it is an expensive problem.

 

[DarylBo]

The oil was changed recently and all Fluids topped off.

Im just confused because I've had cars over heat in cold weather... but there were problems with the car that i put off until it was ruined. With this one I took car of and never had a problem with until bam it was blown and the mechanic is saying that it was a problem that I should have been seeing happen.

 

[Mark_888]

My wife asked my son to go start it Sunday and he said it started. When she went out there it was shut off. She said it would turn over but not start.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that the mechanic knows exactly what happened.

The 2009 Genesis 4.6 V8's were known to have a particular problem when the engine is started (especially in cold weather) and then shut off within about 10 seconds. The next time the engine is started (or attempted to be started), the valves and/or other engine parts can be in the wrong position and the engine may exhibit violent shaking or complete engine failure. The design of the early 4.6 V8 relied on gravity to get the parts in the correct position for the next startup, but when the engine is started cold, but never warms up, the engine and the oil are so cold that gravity does not work properly.

This problem has been described in detail in many previous threads and posts in this forum about 7-9 years ago. I don't know for sure if this the same problem you encountered, but sounds like it could be based on the description you posted above of the sequence of events of what happened.