Walmart has been ordered to pay more than $10,300 to a Wapiti customer, after a judge concluded that an error by the company’s auto shop ruined the engine of the man’s truck.

Kim Wagler’s 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 was working fine when it arrived at the Cody Walmart’s Auto Care Center for an early August 2021 oil change, court records say, but it broke down less than a minute after leaving the shop. A check of the engine showed it had no oil inside.

Walmart, its technicians and its expert contended that one of the engine’s seals must have blown out or the oil cooler failed, citing signs of oil in the nearly overflowing coolant tank. However, a mechanic at Wyoming Diesel found the coolant was clear and concluded that the engine — which had run for 314,500 miles — seized up as a result of having no oil.

After Walmart refused to pay for any of the costs of replacing the engine, Wagler filed suit in Park County Circuit Court one year ago.

The case went to a bench trial on Sept. 20, and Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah sided with Wagler in a 14-page ruling last week.

Video footage from the upper bay showed 3 gallons of oil being poured into the Ram’s diesel engine, but Walmart failed to produce footage from two cameras that would have shown what happened in the lower bay. That led Darrah to conclude that the lower bay technician had “failed to do his job.”

“The only reasonable explanation which exists in this case is that the oil pan drain plug was not installed while oil was being poured from above,” Darrah wrote — meaning the oil went straight through the engine and into a waste vessel in the lower bay.

Walmart’s technicians disputed that. One said that, after the truck broke down, they added 2 more gallons of oil to the engine that also disappeared; he said there must have been a leak.

However, there was no sign of oil leaking onto the ground, and a Wyoming Diesel mechanic said there was simply no place for that much oil to go inside the vehicle. He said the engine “was seized solid” because there had been no oil inside.

Walmart also objected to Wagler replacing the engine before the store could have an expert inspect it, asking the court to find the plaintiff had spoiled the evidence. However, Darrah noted Walmart didn’t ask to see the engine — or even respond to Wyoming Diesel’s report — until roughly two months later.

A Walmart representative had said only that, “If reasonable and causal evidence is discovered that may establish that Walmart/Sam’s Club is responsible for the damages, then upon receiving a copy of the report by [an independent] ASE Certified Mechanic, Walmart Claims Services will reimburse the reasonable and related inspection costs.”

Walmart received a copy of Wyoming Diesel’s report on Sept. 10, 2021, but didn’t respond to it or follow-up emails until Oct. 27. At that point, Walmart said it would send an agent to “verify engine failures,” but it was too late, as the machine had already been torn down and replaced.

Walmart officially denied Wagler’s claim in January 2022.

While Walmart’s legal counsel argued it was unreasonable for Wagler to go ahead and replace the engine, Darrah concluded that Walmart’s “inaction and failure to communicate or reasonably pay attention” played a significant role.

The judge ordered the company to pay $10,381 in damages, which included $7,632 for a used replacement engine and $3,749 for labor and parts (offset by a $1,000 payment for returning the old engine core).

Walmart argued that amount was roughly $5,000 too high, contending it should have taken Wyoming Diesel 13.7 hours to replace the engine instead of 26 and that the replacement engine was overpriced. However, Wyoming Diesel said the labor was necessary and that supply chain issues had driven up the price of diesel engines in late 2021. Darrah sided with the “well qualified shop,” finding that “the amount billed was the actual cost.”

Wagler was represented by Tom Keegan of Keegan, Krisjansons & Miles of Cody, while Walmart was represented by Meggan Hathaway of Sundahl, Powers, Kapp & Martin of Cheyenne.