Garage misdiagnosed problem - who pays to put right?
Discussion
InitialDave said:
Triumph Man said:
Who thought that was a good idea?!
Ever seen the coolant system tapeworm BMWs get?
Plastic strips in the radiator, presumably to promote better flow/cooling. But they migrate out and get into pumps and thermostats.
Triumph Man said:
InitialDave said:
Triumph Man said:
Who thought that was a good idea?!
Ever seen the coolant system tapeworm BMWs get?Plastic strips in the radiator, presumably to promote better flow/cooling. But they migrate out and get into pumps and thermostats.
waynecyclist said:
Well the new expansion tanks now do not have it, once it splits it is a nightmare
Doesn't even have to split the stuff leeches out.Coolant with no service interval and one of those s
tty bags = Blocked matrix.Woeful design and typically many VW engines are a pig to bleed so even flushing the stuff out is tricky.
Did the problem just arise on the next day? As I'm sure being a PH member you took the car on a proper test drive where the car got up to temp & you tested everything was working fine.
I don't see what you're asking the garage for as they carried out a cambelt change the only thing that was anything to do with your problem was the Thermostat which I agree is worth taking off the bill but don't expect a lot to come off as it's not an expensive part.
I don't see what you're asking the garage for as they carried out a cambelt change the only thing that was anything to do with your problem was the Thermostat which I agree is worth taking off the bill but don't expect a lot to come off as it's not an expensive part.
rainmakerraw said:
Gary C said:
even at 135,000 miles ?
It's a diesel, so barely run in. At least once this is done you should have a solid runabout with all the serviceables done, OP. Looks like it's been well looked after through its life.
kingswood said:
2 part problem. bought a 62 plate Octavia VRS private @4k with 135k on. next day on a run it gets to temp then the heaters go cold. kid who sold the car said he knew of no issues, hes got radio silent at the moment but i'll come back to him at a later date. wanted to know whats wrong with the car.
armchair diagnoses via forum points to head gasket. little pressure in the coolant but not using any and running well. happened to a few on the forum, causing similar issues. took to a VAG specialist who said it was the thermostate. car need cambelt and pump doing anayway. i asked several times is it defo not the HG, even insisting they did a sniff test which came back negative. aksed what would happen if once the work is done the same thing still happened and the garage said theyd look after me therefore paid the £620 for thermostate, belt and pump.
problem persists. heats fine until 90 degress and then goes cold at idle. revving the engine make it go warm again. garage now says its the heater matrix blocked. to be fiar they can suffer with this but that wouldnt explain the heater working fine all the way upto temp. i assume at idle the gasses are leaking into the collant casuing an air lock, and when you rev the negine the pressure pushes it through.
i bought a sniff test off ebay, blue liquid turns green if CO2 in the coolant and it comes back positive. checked again and same result. checked the test kit on my golf and came back negative. rang garage and took it back again. they did 2 of their 'sniff tests' (wife was there not me so unsure what they did) and came back negative! she got the ebay one and it shows positive. they rang me at work with a price for HG and said £750. i said id be inclined just to pay the differnece between what i have and what it should have cost in the first place. he said he'd get back to me.
when i rang he'd gone home. we're back in there tomo where he rang the wife and said he was getting another snif test tomo.
where do i stand? im going to insist on just paying the difference, whish i assume will be £400, and not a penny more. will mean ive sunk £1000 into a £4k motor, i'll be chasing the previous owner too as its clear hes had my life
Is it a DSG model? armchair diagnoses via forum points to head gasket. little pressure in the coolant but not using any and running well. happened to a few on the forum, causing similar issues. took to a VAG specialist who said it was the thermostate. car need cambelt and pump doing anayway. i asked several times is it defo not the HG, even insisting they did a sniff test which came back negative. aksed what would happen if once the work is done the same thing still happened and the garage said theyd look after me therefore paid the £620 for thermostate, belt and pump.
problem persists. heats fine until 90 degress and then goes cold at idle. revving the engine make it go warm again. garage now says its the heater matrix blocked. to be fiar they can suffer with this but that wouldnt explain the heater working fine all the way upto temp. i assume at idle the gasses are leaking into the collant casuing an air lock, and when you rev the negine the pressure pushes it through.
i bought a sniff test off ebay, blue liquid turns green if CO2 in the coolant and it comes back positive. checked again and same result. checked the test kit on my golf and came back negative. rang garage and took it back again. they did 2 of their 'sniff tests' (wife was there not me so unsure what they did) and came back negative! she got the ebay one and it shows positive. they rang me at work with a price for HG and said £750. i said id be inclined just to pay the differnece between what i have and what it should have cost in the first place. he said he'd get back to me.
when i rang he'd gone home. we're back in there tomo where he rang the wife and said he was getting another snif test tomo.
where do i stand? im going to insist on just paying the difference, whish i assume will be £400, and not a penny more. will mean ive sunk £1000 into a £4k motor, i'll be chasing the previous owner too as its clear hes had my life
It sounds like the Thermostat to be honest.
Was it replaced with a GENUINE unit?
Aftermarket ones are crap, half of them don't work.
Reason if it's DSG is there's another thermostat.
Headgasket are generally pretty solid it's not a typical fault on the VRS either petrol or diesel.
Little bit more likely on a TDI if it's a PD170 (early one).
Later CR are pretty tough.
HG will cause pressure overnight after driving but usually doesn't cause issues until you are pressuring the cooling system and the coolant comes out the bottle
Either way if you're a punter without much of an idea of mechanics other than googling, it's best to just report the issue to the garage (use a specialist / enthusiast garage if you can) and leave them to it rather than suggesting this and that.
When an issue could be a variety of things it can be hard for the garage to diagnose exactly, it's not exactly hard to diagnose faults but sometimes there can be several things
EG thermostat, heater matrix, head gasket (possibly), blocked radiator etc.
Where do you start? the cheapest?
On any of the VAG stuff a cambelt / waterpump is around £400 at most fitted and a thermostat being done at the same time shouldn't add much labour, just the cost of the thermostat, which is around £50
The price seems quite steep for that work.
InitialDave said:
Triumph Man said:
Blimey - new one on me! Which BMWs does that affect?
I don't know exactly, it seems to be the 1990s ones. First heard about it when a friend found his thermostat bunged up with the stuff.https://m.imgur.com/JH1UvW9
gooner1 said:
InitialDave said:
Triumph Man said:
Blimey - new one on me! Which BMWs does that affect?
I don't know exactly, it seems to be the 1990s ones. First heard about it when a friend found his thermostat bunged up with the stuff.https://m.imgur.com/JH1UvW9
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