Day 2 of Ownership - 1st Breakdown!

[HereBeMonsters]

Probably best explained with the email I just sent to the garage who sold it to me:

Email said:

Hi there. Slight problem with the car. Last night while checking the coolant level I noticed it was low, so topped it up to the recommended level. This morning on the way to work the temp sensor housing blew and dropped the coolant.
I managed to limp to the services as there was no hard shoulder to stop on, and the AA attended.
They discovered that some sort of radweld had been used at least once in the cooling system, and a pipe right next to the exhaust manifold had been recently repaired with duct tape.
You obviously knew there was an issue with the cooling system as you used the radweld and duct tape to repair it. If I had known about it then it might not have been an issue and I could have replaced the hose very cheaply. As the car has now overheated the temp sensor housing needs replacing, and it could well have a head gasket failure. It is currently in with an MX-5 specialist near Southampton where they are looking at it for me. Needless to say I'm not happy.

So I might be looking at HG failure on top of all the servicing stuff I wanted. Bargain car not looking so bargainous now!

I have photos of the broken bits and hilarious duct tape repair job if anyone wants to see them...

[snotrag]

Sounds like the classic CAS o ring failure - which drips oil onto the rear heater hose, which then goes brittle and leaks.

I'd say an email is a bit of a waste of time. Ring them up, give them a chance to make good.

[HereBeMonsters]

snotrag said:

Sounds like the classic CAS o ring failure - which drips oil onto the rear heater hose, which then goes brittle and leaks.

I'd say an email is a bit of a waste of time. Ring them up, give them a chance to make good.

They never answer the phone. I've already discovered that in the 3 weeks they had my deposit and I had no car. I hoped once they finally delivered it that I'd never have to speak to them again tbh.

[HereBeMonsters]

garage said:

Please be assured i have no idea what you are talking about and please do not assume just because the aa man tells you something has been added to the engine that it was me I have used this car for 3 months with no problem and as you are aware i would have been just as happy to keep it I feel a bit put out because i did everything you asked of me so why would i go to the hassle of doing something like this when i dont even need the money or the grief

He's already been agressive when I was checking the car over, asking "why don't you trust me?" etc. so I guess this is more agression to put me off.

He had previously said he was using the car for over a year, not three months. I guess if the HG has gone then I'll follow it up, but if it can be easily fixed then I won't bother...

[J-Tuner]

That sucks....

You might have a fight on your hands if you are thinking of chasing them for the money to rectify that. Especially if they let that go off the forecourt in that state...

Good luck all the same and fingers crossed the head gasket hasn't gone.

[HereBeMonsters]

J-Tuner said:

That sucks....

You might have a fight on your hands if you are thinking of chasing them for the money to rectify that. Especially if they let that go off the forecourt in that state...

Good luck all the same and fingers crossed the head gasket hasn't gone.

To be honest I should have walked away once I saw their premises. The worst unit on a crap industrial estate in the middle of nowhere. Their office was some decorating tables with paperwork on. Every car on their forecourt was under £2k, none had MOTs. They made a lot of promises they couldn't keep and to top it off upon delivery they lost the V5.

I actually felt sorry for the car and wanted to rescue it from its terrible fate. I was just hoping it would get to the major service I had it booked in for early next week before it broke.

What really annoys me is if they had told that the hose had split, and they had repaired it with duct tape then I would have got a new bit of hose straight away, and all these issues could have been avoided. It's fairly obvious that it's a recent repair, as the reason it split again is the duct tape melted due to its proximity to the exhaust manifold. That was never going to hold for very long.

I guess if the HG has gone then I can book it in for the full rebuild before the 'charger conversion a bit earlier.

[bluetone]

The seller sounds a right ct.

A pity there is a 'no name and shame' policy on PH.

Edited by bluetone on Thursday 20th May 13:56

[MX-5 Lazza]

As you have had the AA look at it you can use the their legal help. If there is a case to prove against the dealer they will take it up on your behalf so you will never have to actually talk to them yourself

ETA: If it's had Radweld or similar in it then you will want to give it a full coolant system flush - possibly repeated a couple of times. You don't want that crap floating aroun the coolant system - the rads are fragile enough as it is and cylinder 4 needs all the coolant flow it can get!

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Thursday 20th May 14:36

[hornetrider]

If it was bought from a dealer there should be a 3 month warranty as a minimum, no?

[HereBeMonsters]

hornetrider said:

If it was bought from a dealer there should be a 3 month warranty as a minimum, no?

There was no mention of a warranty, but then there no mention of not having one either. It's such a two bit operation that I can't see myself getting any money back for it tbh.

Only cost me £850 I guess, I just hoped it would see me through until the full service, then it would be "as good" as the £1500 cars I saw, and I know the work has been done by a specialist that I trust.

Let's just say if you're looking for a car or caravan near Stroud, Glos. then be wary. I just wanted to rescue the car as it was the exact spec I wanted, and I felt sorry for it being neglected!

[Mark-2]

hornetrider said:

If it was bought from a dealer there should be a 3 month warranty as a minimum, no?

Bodgit & Leggit dealers like this tend to write their warranties on bog roll so you can conveniently stop in at a service station on the way home and flush it down the toilet...

[hornetrider]

Mark-2 said:

hornetrider said:

If it was bought from a dealer there should be a 3 month warranty as a minimum, no?

Bodgit & Leggit dealers like this tend to write their warranties on bog roll so you can conveniently stop in at a service station on the way home and flush it down the toilet...

I think you'll find it's a legal requirement - so... time to threaten trading standards.

[Howard-]

Poor little car


FWIW someone at work recently had theirs fixed due to much the same problem - overheating due to blocked rad etc. As far as him and the garage who fixed it know, the head/gasket hasn't suffered, and it drives nicely now (I've actually driven it myself since!)


So fix her up and enjoy

Edited by Howard- on Thursday 20th May 14:54

[HereBeMonsters]

Howard- said:

Poor little car


FWIW someone at work recently had theirs fixed due to much the same problem - overheating due to blocked rad etc. As far as him and the garage who fixed it know, the head/gasket hasn't suffered, and it drives nicely now (I've actually driven it myself since!)


So fix her up and enjoy

Yeah, it didn't overheat for too long I hope. Basically as I pulled on to the A34 I noticed smoke behind me (which must have been steam) and literally as I passed the first lay by the temp gauge went ping all the way past hot.
I tucked in to L1 and kept it in 5th at 50mph, but the next lay by was full, so I plugged on to the services. Coasted into the petrol station then got a biker and another car driver to help me push it uphill to the free water pump. The biker managed to get a snide comment in about it being the wrong mode of transport, and I should have bought a bike for the summer instead of a sports car, which was quite funny actually. Thanks if either of you by some freak chance saw my PH sticker and have logged on trying to find me!
Once it had cooled down we put some water in the rad and started it up, and it gurgled it all up then ran alright while we looked for the problem.
Once that was fixed it fired up perfectly again, sucked up some more water and heated up smoothly to just under halfway. AA guy used a temp sensing laser all the way around the system to show the block was at 88c, the rad pipe at 90c, then bottom hose back into the block at 40c.
I took it easy all the way to the garage (which wasn't easy as there are some epic country roads around there!) and the temp never went above 2/3rds, never below 1/3rd. Fan blew hot and cold properly as well. TBH if it was my Peugeot I would have said it was fixed for the time being and just waited until the service next week to get it seen to, but I don't know how highly strung these engines are (in fact, I know 3/5ths of bugger all about MX-5s in total, tbh) so thought I should probably take it straight to the garage. Just waiting to hear from their prelim inspection this afternoon.

I would estimate it was driven (gently!) with no coolant for about 2 miles. To be frank, that was preferable than pulling up at the side of a busy A road with no hard shoulder at 8am. I'd rather look after my own safety first than that of my car. Selfish attitude for a petrolhead maybe, but cars can be fixed with spanners and money. Putting me back together would take something a little more complicated.

[HereBeMonsters]

HereBeMonsters said:

garage said:

Please be assured i have no idea what you are talking about and please do not assume just because the aa man tells you something has been added to the engine that it was me I have used this car for 3 months with no problem and as you are aware i would have been just as happy to keep it I feel a bit put out because i did everything you asked of me so why would i go to the hassle of doing something like this when i dont even need the money or the grief

I've just replied as advised:

my reply said:

Actually, whether you knew about it or not is irrelevant. There has been an obvious recent repair done to a coolant hose using duct tape. This has to have been done recently as the reason it failed this morning was the duct tape melted due to its proximity to the exhaust manifold.
As far as I understand it, as the car was sold as working with 12 months MOT, not as a spares or repair vehicle, as a dealer you are obliged to provide me with at least 3 month's warranty. The car was blatantly not fit for purpose when you delivered it to me, the bodged hose repair may have permanently damaged the engine.
Hopefully it will just require a replacement hose and temp sensor housing, which should be quite cheap. If it is anything more than that then I will have to take this further.

To be honest if it's less than £100 to fix it I can't be arsed with the hassle of chasing up the dealer. I just want a working convertible for the summer. Such a shame as I had already planned a trip to Beaulieu this weekend with my sister and her boyfriend in their Eunos!

[J-Tuner]

If you have the mental willpower then i would take them through the court if they dick you about and it turns into an expensive episode - out of principle... but it will take a long time i think. Even if its to cause hime some mental anguish.

My mate is still fighting with a trader after the a-class he bought blew its gearbox 2 miles from the forecourt. Court ruled in my mates favour and the c*nt still wont pay up !!

Edited by J-Tuner on Thursday 20th May 16:05

[MX-5 Lazza]

The head & gasket on MX5 engines does seem to be pretty robust and you need to drive them a fair distance with no coolant before any real damage is done. You really do need to make sure all that Radweld is cleared out though.

[HereBeMonsters]

MX-5 Lazza said:

The head & gasket on MX5 engines does seem to be pretty robust and you need to drive them a fair distance with no coolant before any real damage is done. You really do need to make sure all that Radweld is cleared out though.

Yes, I have instructed the garage to give it a proper coolant flush if the HG turns out to be OK. It's having its major service at the same time anyway so new fluids, filters, gaskets, belts and tensioners all round. If there's no HG failure.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Make sure they also back-flush the rad thoroughly (I'm sure any decent garage will do this but best to make sure) as the rads do get blocked very easily.

[HereBeMonsters]

Just phoned Autolink (am I allowed to mention how good they've been? There isn't a "naming and praising" policy on here is there?) who have said they haven't been able to have a look at it yet, but they're going to do a "sniffer test" on it first to check for HG failure before they do anything else.

Of course I've asked to keep all the bits if they do replace anything.

Does anyone else on here use Autolink in Swanmore? I was recommended them by my sister's other half as he bought his Eunos from them, and gets all his servicing done there. I had booked it in for a major service early next week (£350, which I thought was reasonable?) but when the AA guy got the car working again I called them to ask if they could take it in today, which they did, gave me a little Micra courtesy car, and I was on my way again.
Mainly, I'm impressed with their quick replies to emails, and they always answer the phone. A bit of decent customer service can go a long way...