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Levo-Lon

Guru
Update today; first inspection reveals the threaded studs have sheared off from the engine block. They were hesitant to make any admissions but did say they weren't sure whether the nuts had been over or under tightened which suggests they're already assuming blame. Handy.

The engine is going to have to come out as they cant get to one of the sheared studs to extract it. I'll hopefully find out how bad the collateral damage is tomorrow.

I've raised a new case with VW UK customer care, informing them my solicitor will be involved if they dont resolve it to my satisfaction. Just a waiting game for now!


Good man, be firm.. Especially now the bolt missing has reared its head.
 

KneesUp

Guru
Am I just lucky with my cars? Or are you lot unlucky?

I've had:

Ford Ka for 50k miles - only major job was some flap in the heater that failed (common on the early ones apparently) so you can't get hot air. Hat to get that fixed, was a cold winter.
Alfa 156 for 100k miles - suspension bushes wore out and servicing was expensive, but it never broke down
SportKa for 20k miles - nothing went wrong
Mondeo Mk2 - 15k miles - nothing went wrong
Fiat Multipla - for 25k miles - was a shed when I bought it from a cowboy. His 'repair' went wrong, but to be fair he fixed it with the proper parts and was fine until it all started to go wrong all at once at 12 years old and 150k miles
Seat Leon for 10k miles - bought it cheap, Had a leaky fuel filter, fitted it properly, nothing went wrong other than the key broke after 12 months and it turned out the locks didn't work with the key - but it was a £700 car. New key was only £50.
Citroen Picasso for 25k miles - engine mount failed. £30 fix at local garage. Remote key never worked and replacement was £150 so didn't bother. Metal in drivers door lock wore out in the end, and arm rests fell off
Honda Civic - 10k miles ABS sensor replaced, a/c condenser replaced (but it was 9 yrs / 130k miles old at the time) 1 x damper
Ford Fiesta - 5k miles needed roll bar buses for MOT once. Nothing went wrong
Honda Civic - 20k miles - new a/c condenser (annoying having paid for one on previous Civic that was written off) 3 x dampers replaced but age related
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
It's worth remembering, theres a lot of responsibility and trust held in a car mechanic. Fair play to the garage for holding their hands up. Knowing the way some garages work, flitting car to car while waiting for spares or similar, it's a very easy thing to overlook something and very important not to. When I'm doing a big stripdown on machinery I always stand back and survey where I've been...did I do that up, that and that, everything. The worst thing is if you're working in a pair, the risk doubles.
 
OP
OP
JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Veteran
Location
Suffolk
It's worth remembering, theres a lot of responsibility and trust held in a car mechanic. Fair play to the garage for holding their hands up. Knowing the way some garages work, flitting car to car while waiting for spares or similar, it's a very easy thing to overlook something and very important not to. When I'm doing a big stripdown on machinery I always stand back and survey where I've been...did I do that up, that and that, everything. The worst thing is if you're working in a pair, the risk doubles.

I couldn't agree more. Of course part of the responsibility lies with the mechanic, but a larger portion lies with the management in creating an environment and systems in which the mechanics are able to do their job properly. Missing a bolt from an engine mount is not the fault of one individual, it's a systemic failure. I will be encouraging them to take no action on any individual other than perhaps some re-education :laugh:
 
OP
OP
JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Veteran
Location
Suffolk
Talking of your expensive bolt..
I needed a new engine sprocket nut for a Kawasaki KH 250 in 1983..it was NINE pounds!!
I said to the guy, thats bloody dear, he replied bloody Extortion nut :laugh:

Its like the old joke with the bloke buying an engagement ring where they go up through increasingly expensive materials; Silver, titanium, gold, palladium, platinum then finally Japanese plastic :laugh:
 

KneesUp

Guru
Talking of your expensive bolt..
I needed a new engine sprocket nut for a Kawasaki KH 250 in 1983..it was NINE pounds!!
I said to the guy, thats bloody dear, he replied bloody Extortion nut :laugh:
Bdm - tish!

The shonky repair with the Multipla I had was with the drive shaft nuts which you're supposed to replace with new if you remove - which they had, to do the clutch. Because they take quite a lot of load they are made of some special metal, but the garage didn't have any, so they used normal bolts, which sheared off in fairly short order, leaving the car with no drive, obviously. I think the bolts were £3 each, and you needed 5, so £15. For the sake of which, the dealer had to send out their low loader, recover the car to their garage (about 25 miles), loan me a car (the shoddiest heap off the lot - it had soft tyres so I pumped them up and a huge egg popped out of one) and then pay their mechanic to tear it down again and rebuild it with the proper bolts. I imagine the idea was that the normal bolts they had used would last longer than the 3 month guarantee. I bought the bolts off Fiat myself and left them on the passenger seat before they collected it for repair.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
Bdm - tish!

The shonky repair with the Multipla I had was with the drive shaft nuts which you're supposed to replace with new if you remove - which they had, to do the clutch. Because they take quite a lot of load they are made of some special metal, but the garage didn't have any, so they used normal bolts, which sheared off in fairly short order, leaving the car with no drive, obviously. I think the bolts were £3 each, and you needed 5, so £15. For the sake of which, the dealer had to send out their low loader, recover the car to their garage (about 25 miles), loan me a car (the shoddiest heap off the lot - it had soft tyres so I pumped them up and a huge egg popped out of one) and then pay their mechanic to tear it down again and rebuild it with the proper bolts. I imagine the idea was that the normal bolts they had used would last longer than the 3 month guarantee. I bought the bolts off Fiat myself and left them on the passenger seat before they collected it for repair.


They often use "single use stretch bolts" for certain things like cylinder heads, engi e mountings ect for accurately torquing up bolts, plus they are dry torque figures s, so adding coppa slip over stresses the bolt, common diy mistake, as we think it wont sieze next time..
 

Cletus Van Damme

Previously known as Cheesney Hawks
Who is the robber?

Car manufacturers. The price that they charge for parts. I guess it depends if you think it's justified that they need to make money. I have had several Honda's, one the Civic MB6, was based on a Rover 45. I could get the same part if it was trim related, for vastly cheaper than off Rover. I would guess it was made in the exact same factory.

Everybody to their own though. It's obvious to see with the vast amount of used components on Ebay from crash damaged cars, that a lot of people don't want to be fleeced, me included.
 
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screenman

Legendary Member
Car manufacturers. The price that they charge for parts. I guess it depends if you think it's justified that they need to make money. I have had several Honda's, one the MB6 was based on a Rover 45. I could get the same part if it was trim related, for vastly cheaper than off Rover. I would guess it was made in the exact same factory.

Everybody to their own though. It's obvious to see with the vast amount of used components on Ebay from crash damaged cars, that a lot of people don't want to be fleeced, me included.

I bet you expect to make a profit, sure thing I do.
 
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