New engine

teallach

She said that they put water in it (it being the radiator maybe?) and when they broke down, they had a look and the water had 'evaporated'. Even if this had been the problem, surely a warning light would have been visible?

Marktheshark

A Common failure is the Head gasket failing between the water jacket and Cylinder, it will over heat eventually.
I would find another garage, unless they have stripped the Cylinder head and sump pan off, they wont know what damage it needs repairing.

teallach

As far as I know, it's all been done now. She's certainly paid for it anyway! Just wish I'd known about it sooner!

forgotmyname

Thats a bit cheap for a new engine. Get it inspected to see what work they actually did to it.

A lesson for her that when the water needs topping up, do not drive it
until its been looked at by a mechanic.

marlot

roneik wrote: »

. For a fee I believe the AA could inspect your vehicle and give you a report.
I think someone is trying it on

I believe the aa outsource inspections to Dekra. probably better to go direct to Dekra, or use the rac

Strider590

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Only way I could see this happening was if for some unheard-of reason the coil started firing the plugs at the wrong time and advancing the timing so much as to cause detonation and overheating cylinder temperature.

Don't believe I've ever heard of that actually happening, though.

The coils don't control the ignition advance, so no risk of that happening.
The ignition works by releasing the stored power in the coil at the correct time to the correct spark plug.
But lack of maintenance would lead to excessive plug gaps, which would overheat the coils (as HT voltage increases by about 5000v per 0.5mm) and the plugs themselves, which could lead to breakdown of the plug and damage to the piston+bore from shards of ceramic insulator.

It's bonkers the damage that can be caused by lack of servicing or lazy (or rushed) mechanics (especially at dealerships).

This sounds to me like a coolant loss related headgasket failure, or possible overheat caused by jammed thermostat, £1000 is double the cost of a headgasket+skim (but not enough for an engine), but then £140 is double the cost of a new water pump.

So I think they want to change the H/G and charge for an engine.

maninthestreet

Did the water pump fail, resulting in the engine overheating, which then may have caused the head to warp? At the worst, it would need a new head or the existing head skimmed, but not a complete new engine.

marlot

maninthestreet wrote: »

...At the worst, it would need a new head or the existing head skimmed, but not a complete new engine.

As you don't get a new engine for £1000, I think we're all agreed that it didn't happen.

I'm guessing the head was skimmed and a new gasket fitted.

skivenov

A something with a something and maybe a coil will cause something to do something everytime and that could wreck an engine or stop the radio getting Classic FM.

What did the garage actually say?

BeenThroughItAll

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Only way I could see this happening was if for some unheard-of reason the coil started firing the plugs at the wrong time and advancing the timing so much as to cause detonation and overheating cylinder temperature.

Don't believe I've ever heard of that actually happening, though.

Strider590 wrote: »

The coils don't control the ignition advance, so no risk of that happening.
The ignition works by releasing the stored power in the coil at the correct time to the correct spark plug.
But lack of maintenance would lead to excessive plug gaps, which would overheat the coils (as HT voltage increases by about 5000v per 0.5mm) and the plugs themselves, which could lead to breakdown of the plug and damage to the piston+bore from shards of ceramic insulator.

Good God, I'm well aware of how the ignition system works, but thanks for the lesson in egg-sucking.


You'll have noticed I never used the phrase 'coils controlling the ignition advance' or anything like it - merely 'for some UNHEARD-OF reason'; as in 'not having been heard of before'. I know the coils don't control the timing, but if they were in some way responsible for the spark plug being all sparky too early, the timing would inherently become advanced.


Won't have been heard of, because it's infinitesimally small in likelihood that a coil pack would fail electrically in such a way as to allow a plug to fire so early that pre-ignition would occur so as to cause cylinder over-temperature and hence valve/piston damage - however, that's not to say it *couldn't* happen.


When I wrote that post, the information available was 'overheat - new engine - coil thingy'. I proposed a single possible way a coil could be involved in overheating - specifically by being involved in a pre-ignition situation. I did NOT say that WAS the cause, or even state it was LIKELY to be the cause.