Negligent Garage service

Brooker_Dave

Pssst wrote: »

This sounds like a nightmare.

Sounds like a wind up to me.

Brooker_Dave

spox wrote: »

I collected the car today at 1730hrs after a second hand engine had been put in.

Rapid work by the garage to source and fit an engine in a day.

spox

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Sounds like a wind up to me.

This is the honest truth.I have no reason to lie.It was actually done in two days because in the morning of 18 June he had said that he was going to get the engine that day and he had that afternoon and the whole day yesterday to fix it.

jeannieblue

It is very common with Ford's - in particular KA's - where the plugs get corroded in and if you try to remove them, they can snap which means head off etc and can be very expensive.

We had a focus in a couple of days ago and plugs were very corroded. We squirted alot of WD40 down the plug holes and advised the customer that it was up to them if they wanted to bring the car back and we chance removing them but explained what could happen.

Whenever we have Ford's in (and others too) we always remove the plugs, inspect or change (if need be) and make sure the plug holes are well lubricated. We do this because we once, many years ago, tried to remove a spark plug and it snapped.... not our fault that it had been badly serviced in the past - elsewhere of course...

And why can't you do an engine swap in a day? It is possible - but we would like a lot longer to do that and drive it for a couple of days too, to make sure that it is fine.

Pssst

jeannieblue wrote: »

It is very common with Ford's - in particular KA's - where the plugs get corroded in and if you try to remove them, they can snap which means head off etc and can be very expensive.

We had a focus in a couple of days ago and plugs were very corroded. We squirted alot of WD40 down the plug holes and advised the customer that it was up to them if they wanted to bring the car back and we chance removing them but explained what could happen.

Whenever we have Ford's in (and others too) we always remove the plugs, inspect or change (if need be) and make sure the plug holes are well lubricated. We do this because we once, many years ago, tried to remove a spark plug and it snapped.... not our fault that it had been badly serviced in the past - elsewhere of course...

And why can't you do an engine swap in a day? It is possible - but we would like a lot longer to do that and drive it for a couple of days too, to make sure that it is fine.

Surely they are all alloy heads now? I would have thought the plug would come out without snapping as the plug is steel? mind you, i guess people tighten them in far too much anyway and dont clean the threads when fitting/lube

gilbert_and_sullivan

Sobering tale this of the pitfalls of using an incompetent garage.

Didn't used to get this spark plug problem in the past as those with sense would change them every year themselves. (cue the everything new is wonderful brigade who think a set of plugs will last the life of an engine)

A set of plugs is usually less than £20 and takes about an hour or less to change on the average proper car.

spox

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Sobering tale this of the pitfalls of using an incompetent garage.

Didn't used to get this spark plug problem in the past as those with sense would change them every year themselves. (cue the everything new is wonderful brigade who think a set of plugs will last the life of an engine)

A set of plugs is usually less than £20 and takes about an hour or less to change on the average proper car.

Interestingly the previous service was in Sept 2008 and was done by the same Garage where they allegedly changed the spark plugs as well.The fateful service was in May which is 8 months later.

jeannieblue

Pssst wrote: »

Surely they are all alloy heads now? I would have thought the plug would come out without snapping as the plug is steel? mind you, i guess people tighten them in far too much anyway and dont clean the threads when fitting/lube

We see this all the time - its very common. Nothing to do with the tightening up of them. Alot of the time water gets into the holes and rusts. We are not talking about ancient Fords here. 2- 5 years old and more.

cyclonebri1

jeannieblue wrote: »

We see this all the time - its very common. Nothing to do with the tightening up of them. Alot of the time water gets into the holes and rusts. We are not talking about ancient Fords here. 2- 5 years old and more.

I've come accross a couple of Ford Ka's with this issue, as i stated in an earlier post it's far from rare. Jennies place does what a competant garage should. The op's garage were plain stupid with the actions and advice they gave. To be honest OP your car was fairly high mileage, how old out of interest? The most you can reasonably hope/argue for if that the car is as it was before you took it for the service, ie, no using oil, no rattles knocks, and performs as well as it did.

Just a thought while tying this, you can always take note of the engine No off the "new" block, Ford should then be able to detail the year/model/identity of the car it came from. Do your dectective work from there;)

oldagetraveller

jeannieblue wrote: »

We had a focus in a couple of days ago and plugs were very corroded. We squirted alot of WD40 down the plug holes and advised the customer that it was up to them if they wanted to bring the car back and we chance removing them but explained what could happen.

I'd be a bit reluctant to use your place if it's thought that WD40 would be a good release agent. It's a water dispersant (WD) and as such will have no useful effect. Plusgas or similar should be tried instead.