Zafira Engine Terminally Overheated

Hobbo2006

Hi All,

Hope you can offer some advice.

Had a Zafira Elite Ecoflex Diesel. 60 plate. Warranty ended 3 weeks ago.

On Friday the 13th my car lost power on the motorway. Temperature light came on as the power went and I weaved onto the hard shoulder. Steam everywhere and engine so so hot when I opened the bonnet. AA called and recovered to Vauxhall garage. The coolant pipe had burst causing the engine to overheat. Vauxhall have been looking at it since then and are not prepared to pay for the repairs as they say that signs of melting mean that it's run dry and is my fault. I'm stunned by this as drove 80 miles to Swindon and the problem occured on the way back so quite obviously the fault occured at some point on the way back. They want about £5k to replace the engine!

Has anyone had success dealing with Vauxhall if so any advice would be appreciated.

If claiming under warranty fails then I have a car of approx £8k value which now does not have an engine. Could anyone suggest what my options are?

Could I sell the car as is? Is it worth getting a new engine? Should I just write it off and take the loss?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

spacey2012

If the warranty expired, you must have had the car a while, you are liable for the repairs, I would get it taken to a smaller garage, they tend to have part fitters only, an actual mechanic will strip it and fix what needs doing.

Hobbo2006

Bought in June so not had it long...

spacey2012

Well that changes quite a few things, the warranty is an addition to your statutory rights, I would start looking towards sale of goods, the hose must have been inherent faulty if it is not listed as a service part.
The dealer that sold the car would be liable under soga.

bigjl

The difficulty with your statutory rights is that it is unlikely the hose was faulty when purchased.

On a vehicle of that age there is unlikely to be any degradation of the rubber but there could be damage from say a stone or from a careless mechanic.

There is also the fact that the engine being cooked may be considered a consequential loss.

The hose failed.

The engine failed due to the driver not noticing.

Been several years since i drove a mk2 Zafira and i am fairly certain they never had s temperature gauge.

But i think they had a low coolant level warning light.

Not sure if they had a warning light to warn of overheating.

The car must have been driven for many miles with no water to cook it.

An awkward situation indeed.

I would personally try to negotiate some form of contribution from Vauxhall. They might say yes.

If not then i would be checking all the Vauxhall specialist breakers for a nice low mileage engine complete with turbo, rad, egr and injection system.

And get that fitted in there.

arcon5

This is why all cars should have a temperature guage on the dash! And why I would think twice when buying one without.

thescouselander

arcon5 wrote: »

This is why all cars should have a temperature guage on the dash! And why I would think twice when buying one without.

Yes this ^^^^.

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

The difficulty with your statutory rights is that it is unlikely the hose was faulty when purchased.

On a vehicle of that age there is unlikely to be any degradation of the rubber but there could be damage from say a stone or from a careless mechanic.

There is also the fact that the engine being cooked may be considered a consequential loss.

The hose failed.

The engine failed due to the driver not noticing.

Been several years since i drove a mk2 Zafira and i am fairly certain they never had s temperature gauge.

But i think they had a low coolant level warning light.

Not sure if they had a warning light to warn of overheating.

The car must have been driven for many miles with no water to cook it.

An awkward situation indeed.

I would personally try to negotiate some form of contribution from Vauxhall. They might say yes.

If not then i would be checking all the Vauxhall specialist breakers for a nice low mileage engine complete with turbo, rad, egr and injection system.

And get that fitted in there.

+1

Another possibility is a sharp stone having got into the engine bay and chipping the pipe, which has weakened it.

Cant see the O/P having any recourse with Vauxhall nor with the supplying dealer as the fault clearly wasnt present at the time of sale.

PLUS, whilst the O/P is saying they stopped immediately, i am sure both Vauxhall and the garage will be able to say that the damage was caused by driving on at the car without water NOT the pipe bursting.

motorguy

spacey2012 wrote: »

Well that changes quite a few things, the warranty is an addition to your statutory rights, I would start looking towards sale of goods, the hose must have been inherent faulty if it is not listed as a service part.
The dealer that sold the car would be liable under soga.

No.

The SOGA covers "faults" present at the time of sale, for a period of approx 6 months.

Its fairly clear the fault wasnt present at the time of sale as the O/P has driven the car for nigh on six months with no loss of coolant.

Also, the damage has been done by driving on at the car without coolant, NOT by the pipe itself bursting.

motorguy

Hobbo2006 wrote: »

On Friday the 13th my car lost power on the motorway. Temperature light came on as the power went and I weaved onto the hard shoulder. Steam everywhere and engine so so hot when I opened the bonnet.

I'm stunned by this as drove 80 miles to Swindon and the problem occured on the way back so quite obviously the fault occured at some point on the way back.

Key here is how long the engine has been run without water. It is quite possible that the pipe split on the outbound journey - or even some days before that - and has started losing coolant over a period of time. That time period may have been several minutes, several hours or several days.

Hoses tend to split initially with a small hole that gets bigger over time under pressure. It would be very rare for a pipe to "explode" and dump all its coolant instantly. Even if it did, the engine would still continue running for some time, given its getting cold air from the atmosphere as you're driving along.

For vauxhall to be seeing components "melted" the engine must have been driven for a considerable time with no coolant at all in it.

I've had various experiences burst hoses, but the closest to this would be the following two -

(a) mini - hose burst, steam everywhere. Coasted the car to a halt, no engine damage done. Almost total coolant loss.

(b) vauxhall astra - internal heater matrix burst dumping scalding hot water into the drivers footwell at 70 mph on the motorway. It was an old car and practically worthless so i opted to drive on, rather than pay for it to be recovered off the motorway. I got a further ten miles up the motorway to the next junction off - continuing at 70mph. By this stage the water was ankle deep in the drivers footwell and the car was steaming up badly - had windows open, etc, etc. Got a friend to come and tow me home. Of particular interest though, the engine did not seize and there were no melted components - even though i had purposely driven on for some considerable time with no coolant in the engine.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

theres a stale mate to this on both sides.


OP is meant to check coolant levels oil levels periodically, had the OP checked these levels (before a long trip) would have noticed low coolant level and topped up accordingly to spec, had there been low coolant it may have prompted (in my mind on a new car) checks over the coolant hoses for splits incase something he drove over may have ruptured a hose.


on the other hand the dealer is still bound by SOGA, and thus, he is responsible under this to prove the defect wasn't inherited.
I know some vehicles even when new have chaffing hoses as a problem either too close to the engine block or rubs against a metal clip.


this case there serious money involved with a new engine block almost certainly a new head the integrity of the alu head would be compromised here in terms of strength (when they go soft with overheating they're scrap) and the pistons and liners themselves having being subjected to high temps.