So what are the odds
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Booked my car in for an MOT and cam belt change, an Alfa 156 1.8. Cam belt should have been changed in April but it has only done about 12,000 miles since its last cam belt change and only about 500 since April.
Now according to the garage while it was having the MoT the cam belt shredded, but they went ahead and put the new timing kit and water pump on in the home it would work.
When I got the phone call I was disappointed, the car still ran perfectly, leaks, no smoke, but now wondering if the garage screwed up in some way?
The garage want me to pay £400 for them doing the job.
Some years ago I had a Mercedes van and the garage put the belt on the wrong way, the garage, a Mercedes dealership then agreed to replace the engine, I had to pay for the labour
Now according to the garage while it was having the MoT the cam belt shredded, but they went ahead and put the new timing kit and water pump on in the home it would work.
When I got the phone call I was disappointed, the car still ran perfectly, leaks, no smoke, but now wondering if the garage screwed up in some way?
The garage want me to pay £400 for them doing the job.
Some years ago I had a Mercedes van and the garage put the belt on the wrong way, the garage, a Mercedes dealership then agreed to replace the engine, I had to pay for the labour
Armchair Expert said:
When I got the phone call I was disappointed, the car still ran perfectly, leaks, no smoke, but now wondering if the garage screwed up in some way?
And none of us will ever know if they screwed up.Armchair Expert said:
The garage want me to pay £400 for them doing the job.
Two ways of looking at this.£400 seems reasonable for a job that needed doing anyway by your own admission.
They should still have asked you before doing the job under the circumstances.
And then there is the elephant in the room, on which you said nothing..... Did it work?
Edited by E-bmw on Thursday 9th September 16:04
Armchair Expert said:
Booked my car in for an MOT and cam belt change, an Alfa 156 1.8. Cam belt should have been changed in April but it has only done about 12,000 miles since its last cam belt change and only about 500 since April.
When I got the phone call I was disappointed, the car still ran perfectly, leaks, no smoke, but now wondering if the garage screwed up in some way?
The garage want me to pay £400 for them doing the job.
r
Am I getting this right?When I got the phone call I was disappointed, the car still ran perfectly, leaks, no smoke, but now wondering if the garage screwed up in some way?
The garage want me to pay £400 for them doing the job.
r
To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly but you're disappointed.
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
23.7 said:
Am I getting this right?
To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
OK, I mss worded, the car was previously in very good working order, now it runs like an old tractor.To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
How much does it take to change an engine?
Armchair Expert said:
23.7 said:
Am I getting this right?
To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
OK, I mss worded, the car was previously in very good working order, now it runs like an old tractor.To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
How much does it take to change an engine?
Book car in for mot and cambelt
Mot and cambelt done
Car not ok
Garage want paying
Is this what happened?
23.7 said:
Armchair Expert said:
23.7 said:
Am I getting this right?
To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
OK, I mss worded, the car was previously in very good working order, now it runs like an old tractor.To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
How much does it take to change an engine?
Book car in for mot and cambelt
Mot and cambelt done
Car not ok
Garage want paying
Is this what happened?
Armchair Expert said:
23.7 said:
Armchair Expert said:
23.7 said:
Am I getting this right?
To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
OK, I mss worded, the car was previously in very good working order, now it runs like an old tractor.To summarise
You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.
Or am I missing something?
How much does it take to change an engine?
Book car in for mot and cambelt
Mot and cambelt done
Car not ok
Garage want paying
Is this what happened?
Withhold payment
Get your ducks in line
Speak to garage re resolution
I did my 156 1.6 TS cambelt a few years ago. Involved specific locking tools on a cam lobe.
Maybe they've tried to shortcut it and just cocked the timing up when reassembling.
Have you got the car now? Or is it with them still, and fee unpaid? (Doubt they'd give you the car without payment.)
I would not accept the car back (or pay) until they had done the job properly.
Think the 1.8 had balancer shafts as well, so even more opportunity for the garage to cock up.
Maybe they've tried to shortcut it and just cocked the timing up when reassembling.
Have you got the car now? Or is it with them still, and fee unpaid? (Doubt they'd give you the car without payment.)
I would not accept the car back (or pay) until they had done the job properly.
Think the 1.8 had balancer shafts as well, so even more opportunity for the garage to cock up.
Ian Geary said:
I did my 156 1.6 TS cambelt a few years ago. Involved specific locking tools on a cam lobe.
Maybe they've tried to shortcut it and just cocked the timing up when reassembling.
Have you got the car now? Or is it with them still, and fee unpaid? (Doubt they'd give you the car without payment.)
I would not accept the car back (or pay) until they had done the job properly.
Think the 1.8 had balancer shafts as well, so even more opportunity for the garage to cock up.
Agree with this, I did my 2.0 about a year ago and needed the cam locking tools, a dial gauge and for convenience, the special tools to set the tensioners. I got the cam timing *and* balance belt out on my first attempt and it ran rough AF, did it again and it's fine now. I bet the cam timing is out.Maybe they've tried to shortcut it and just cocked the timing up when reassembling.
Have you got the car now? Or is it with them still, and fee unpaid? (Doubt they'd give you the car without payment.)
I would not accept the car back (or pay) until they had done the job properly.
Think the 1.8 had balancer shafts as well, so even more opportunity for the garage to cock up.
If the pistons and valves have met then wouldn't you expect lower compression on that cylinder? Can you get compression checked? Hopefully it just needs timing reset. The balance belt is a funny one to get right too, you have to line up the marks on the belt with marks on the pulleys. Easy when you see it and it clicks.
It's been a few years now since I had my alfa, but IIRC if your cambelt went, there was absolutely no chance of getting away with it - it always ends up needing valve and maybe bottom end work. IMHO they've messed up changing the cambelt, and are trying to make out the belt snapped as an excuse for the poor running.
Potentially, time is at least as big a factor as mileage, lack of use & age will destroy a belt easily.
All service intervals will say something like "60,000 miles or 10 years" and many look at the mileage on a 100,000 mile car which says "cambelt done" on the ad without looking at the fact that it was done at 70,000 miles & over 10 years ago.
All service intervals will say something like "60,000 miles or 10 years" and many look at the mileage on a 100,000 mile car which says "cambelt done" on the ad without looking at the fact that it was done at 70,000 miles & over 10 years ago.
E-bmw said:
Potentially, time is at least as big a factor as mileage, lack of use & age will destroy a belt easily.
All service intervals will say something like "60,000 miles or 10 years" and many look at the mileage on a 100,000 mile car which says "cambelt done" on the ad without looking at the fact that it was done at 70,000 miles & over 10 years ago.
Everybody knows that replacement cambelts are magic and everlasting. All service intervals will say something like "60,000 miles or 10 years" and many look at the mileage on a 100,000 mile car which says "cambelt done" on the ad without looking at the fact that it was done at 70,000 miles & over 10 years ago.
A garage can refuse to test if a cambelt hasn’t been changed and is overdue, you should mae it clear to the garage that it’s overdue at time of test (nobody does)
its A tricky one, really the belt should be changed before the mot, however if they did that and then they mot’d it and it failed needing £1000 on repairs most owners would question why you didn’t mot it first rather than wasting money on the belt being fitted before.
I assume it failed it’s mot, if the belt failed during the test then the tester would have had to abandon test.
its A tricky one, really the belt should be changed before the mot, however if they did that and then they mot’d it and it failed needing £1000 on repairs most owners would question why you didn’t mot it first rather than wasting money on the belt being fitted before.
I assume it failed it’s mot, if the belt failed during the test then the tester would have had to abandon test.
Belle427 said:
Armchair Expert said:
Thanks for answering
The Guy who runs the garage said something about missing teeth
His or yours?The Guy who runs the garage said something about missing teeth
I presume the teeth he is ref to is on the cam belt wheel (sorry not very mechanically mind, illiterate too), he also says the belt shredded, Would that not indicate a seizure of the belt, rather then the belt failing?
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