Mechanic legal advice needed

flashg67

My twopence worth - you could argue that a competent mechanic would do a proper test first rather than jump in and assume it's just the head gasket?
Or, because the car was ok initially, the block was ok after the first repair and the subsequent coolant loss has then caused the block to crack later? Not easy to prove either way though...

spacey2012

Is this a rover ?

Retrogamer

flashg67 wrote: »

My twopence worth - you could argue that a competent mechanic would do a proper test first rather than jump in and assume it's just the head gasket?
Or, because the car was ok initially, the block was ok after the first repair and the subsequent coolant loss has then caused the block to crack later? Not easy to prove either way though...

What tests can be done to identify a cracked blocked as opposed to head gasket failure?

spacey2012

Retrogamer wrote: »

What tests can be done to identify a cracked blocked as opposed to head gasket failure?

Engineers blue, pretty standard bread and butter stuff, scrape on the block, leave to dry, put the UV lamp on.
You will soon see a crack in the block where it meets the head.

Sort of thing mechanics just did in the old days, to prevent the scenario above.

Retrogamer

spacey2012 wrote: »

Engineers blue, pretty standard bread and butter stuff, scrape on the block, leave to dry, put the UV lamp on.
You will soon see a crack in the block where it meets the head.

Sort of thing mechanics just did in the old days, to prevent the scenario above.

That only seems suitable if the crack is on the outside of the block. If it's on inner part of the block where a cylinder meets a water journal then you wouldn't be able to find it or diagnose it correctly without removing the cylinder head.

Quentin

arcon5 wrote: »

No it won't, costs won't hit a few hundred and will be added to the claim.

The minimum court fee for a hearing over £880 is £140.

The loser also will have to pay the other sides reasonable expenses for having to attend court, plus any witness costs (including any expert witness costs the court approves for the winner)

So losing the claim could well be over £200 of good money after bad, so the OP should get advice on his chances of winning before embarking on court action.

EdGasket

You could try some K-Seal. Might just work. Just pour it in though make sure it goes right in the system and not just the header tank. Steal-seal is another one though more expensive.

spacey2012

You blue the block with the head off.
Which is part of the process, off comes the head and the block face gets blued and inspected, if that appears ok, the head goes away for a pressure test and Skimming.

Sounds to me they might have "skipped" the head skimming, check the gasket size, they have sometimes a tag with thickness on.
If it is a rover the cylinder liners come loose and expand breaking the gasket.

Retrogamer

spacey2012 wrote: »

You blue the block with the head off.
Which is part of the process, off comes the head and the block face gets blued and inspected, if that appears ok, the head goes away for a pressure test and Skimming.

Ahh got you now.

I was meaning in my post that the garage would have no way of diagnosing a cracked block without stripping the engine and the customer incurring a few hours (potentially) of labour costs

mattyprice4004

spacey2012 wrote: »

If it is a rover the cylinder liners come loose and expand breaking the gasket.

For gods sake, I've told you this before on the SAME subject but you are wrong.
Reason one - Rover made many engines, some of which suffer HGF for different reasons. The KV6 suffers from under cooling in Freelander applications, and the K4 engines suffer with elastomer de lamination, thermal shock and head shuffle.
Nothing to do with the liners!

If the liners came loose coolant would drain into the sump - this is NOT what happens.

Learn or do one with your incorrect advice. You're helping no one chatting nonsense about a problem that doesn't exist.