Fault reappears after major engine repair, now garage says problem is something else

rkrishna

Hi, my car was overheating (engine coolant mixed with oil) and I took it to the garage and they found some major problem (with head gasket) with it. They charged me £1365 (including all other parts normally replaced when head gasket is replaced and labour. warranty company agreed to pay only £450 for head gasket alone ). I paid it and took the car from the garage in the morning and in the night I got the engine warning lights in my car again. I was planning to take it back to the garage next day morning. but my car was stolen in the night and recovered in the morning and I took it back to the garage again. Now they think something else is also wrong with my car (engine block). They thought the problem was with head gasket which they had replaced and thought the problem will go away after that and didn’t check if something else is also wrong (I am not sure if they have actually test driven my car). When I ask them, they are saying no garage strips the whole engine down to see if there are any other problems, because it costs them lot of money. Now I am not sure whether the garage is at fault or not and what options do I have to solve this problem. If I go to warranty company again, I am not sure what they are going to say. I have a maximum limit on the warranty pay, so I will have to shell out even more if I decide to go ahead with this repair. I can make a complaint about the garage (for that I need to check if they are at fault), but I don’t want to get into a lengthy legal battle if there is an easier alternate solution.
Is it not possible to diagnose the root cause of the problem beforehand without carrying out the repair? if so, how much will it cost for the diagnosis? my car is Ford Focus diesel 2003 model. I can't even sell this car now in this state despite paying so much money. it is a huge loss for me. This issue is causing lot of stress to me, Please help.

Tilt

A few questions; when did you buy the car, did you buy it from a trader, how many miles has it done, is it still driveable?

garethgas

Have they tried to reset the light using a code reader? Sometimes, thats all it needs.
However, if they do this and the light comes back on, further investigation will be needed.
I'm afraid your problem is a bit tricky as it might well be the garage's fault or, it might equally be an unrelated fault that they couldn't have known about.
Then again, I would have expected them to test it after that kind of work to make sure it was ok to return it to you.
I'm sorry my post isn't that helpful but I'm sure one of the mechanic types on here will offer you better advice on what could be the fault and depending on that outcome, some redress from the garage.
Good luck

kaya

any mechanic worth his salt would have been able to tell if it was the headgasket or a cracked engine block visually when they removed the cylinder head to replace the gasket, i have done many head gasket replacements and its not rocket science to see if the old one was faulty or not when it was removed, however it could be the code on the ecu needs a simple reset as mentioned previously, if it was not the head gasket i would be asking for a refund, why would you be expected to pay for their incompetance?

forgotmyname

TDCI engine? Does it have an oil cooler? TDCI in the Mondeo has one and it can corrode and the water/oil mix.

rkrishna

Tilt wrote: »

A few questions; when did you buy the car, did you buy it from a trader, how many miles has it done, is it still driveable?

I bought the car in Nov 2009 from a dealer (mileage when bought £66000, current mileage £71300) for £3600 and I bought a three year warranty on the car for £600. I haven't got it inspected when I bought it. I did a test drive and looked OK to me. but within a span of less than two years, there were two major problems with this car. the clutch and dual mass flywheel had to be replaced which cost me £800 and warranty company didn't pay for this saying they only pay for things that are broken. they say it is worn out, not broken and mechanic says it never breaks and warranty is not worth the paper it is written on. now major engine problem with the car (again I lost trust with this garage after they failed to diagnose the full extent of the problem, I am not even sure if the head gasket is really gone or not). this latest issue cost me £1365 out of which warranty company is paying £450, so effectively £900 paid by me. I am not sure if the warranty company will pay more if there is some other problem with the car now. there is a maximum limit of £1000 on payment (I think per claim, don't know) and they have got carefully written warranty contract with many conditions in it.
in total I spent around £2000 for repairs so far (excluding warranty cost and their recent payment). after all this, the car is now almost worthless, I can't drive and I can't sell it. now I have to pay more to buy another car and can't recover some of that by selling this car. this issue is causing me lot of headache and desperately looking to get out of this situation. any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tilt

Yeah, you warranty seems pretty worthless. Most of them more or less have clauses which make them almost impossible to claim from.

I think we need to establish what exactly the problem is with the car now before commencing any more work. Personally I think it is too much of a coincidence that the current problem isn't related to the one that the garage has just 'fixed'. I suggest you ask for a written estimate report on what the problem is now. Ask the garage to do it as you are not happy with the situation after juist shelling out a signifitant amount of money already. Come back and tell us what they say.

diable

What is the make and model of the car?

Tilt

diable wrote: »

What is the make and model of the car?

There's a clue in the second to last line of the OP's original post.

attila_

I would argue that the engine light is a new totally unrelated fault to the head gasket. Get another garage to diagnose and agree. Then claim again.

If it was engine block that was knackered you'd aleady know by now and i don't think it would manifest itself through a dashboard light.

rkrishna

apart from the engine warning light, the temperature gauge was turning all the way to the right and I stopped driving as soon as that happened. its the same problem I had before giving the car for repair. if the garage had given me a report of what's all wrong with my car and how much it will cost to fix before carrying out the repair and if it is going cost me more than what I paid already, then I would have decided not to go ahead with the repair, because it will exceed the value of the car and I would have sold it for whatever price I am going to get. I kept calling them every day when I first gave it for repair to know how much it will cost, they kept telling it is not possible to diagnose everything before. I think their approach seems to be fix something, run it and if it doesn't work, check again what else is the problem.