Timing chain snapped at mechanic

thewizard_bfd

Hi all. I could do with some assistance with this one.

My Girlfriend took her vehicle in last week to a mechanic near her house, as there was a problem with the driving. Unfortunately, I have not been able to check the vehicle to see exactly where the problem had lied or potentially lied.

Was advised due to how busy they were, that would take a few days to fully investigate, to which yesterday was told A) A wheel bearing issue and steering rack and pump required replacing - but would know more today.

Today, she received a call advising that when they were pulling the car onto the ramp, the timing chain had snapped, and ruined the engine - due to the nature of the issue, would require a 2nd hand engine to repair.

What I would like to know is - would this be under the fault of the mechanics/would they be liable for part of the issue in regards to this? Would they have some sort of insurance as I would have thought they would be able to know whether the vehicle required a new timing chain first of all. The Mechanics words were that he believed that the wheel bearing was making the noise, not the timing chain.

Thanks all

Aylesbury_Duck

thewizard_bfd wrote: »

Hi all. I could do with some assistance with this one.

My Girlfriend took her vehicle in last week to a mechanic near her house, as there was a problem with the driving. Unfortunately, I have not been able to check the vehicle to see exactly where the problem had lied or potentially lied.

Was advised due to how busy they were, that would take a few days to fully investigate, to which yesterday was told A) A wheel bearing issue and steering rack and pump required replacing - but would know more today.

Today, she received a call advising that when they were pulling the car onto the ramp, the timing chain had snapped, and ruined the engine - due to the nature of the issue, would require a 2nd hand engine to repair.

What I would like to know is - would this be under the fault of the mechanics/would they be liable for part of the issue in regards to this? Would they have some sort of insurance as I would have thought they would be able to know whether the vehicle required a new timing chain first of all. The Mechanics words were that he believed that the wheel bearing was making the noise, not the timing chain.

Thanks all

In the absence of you being able to prove they'd done something to damage the timing chain, this will just be put down to unfortunate timing. From the little you've described, it's entirely plausible that the timing chain was worn or due to be changed and it just happens to have snapped whilst in the garage's care. It is unrelated to the two things they've diagnosed and perhaps unrelated to the symptoms that caused you to call them in the first place, although the noise could have been caused by something related to a failing timing chain. That wouldn't be the garage's fault.

Either way, it is unlikely to be the garage's fault and no, they don't have insurance to cover this sort of thing. If a tyre blew out whilst they had it on a rolling road you wouldn't expect it to be covered (unless their rolling road was faulty, of course).

foxy-stoat

The timing chain would of snapped at the garage or if your girlfriend drove it - the fault with the tensioners was already there - just unfortunate,

Fortunately the engine was just being driving up on to the ramp at presumably low revs and very low speed so she may be lucky and they just need to replace the chain and not killed the engine - but ask them how do they know the engine need replacing?

What was the original problem with "the driving" - its not clear if the problem was timing chain, wheel bearing or power steering. I dont have much trust in the garage at this point - it wasnt Halfrauds was it?

ratrace

what car is it and what miles has it done as there are some cars other there such as bmw n47 engine that has a very common timeing chain issue and are prone to premature wear

thewizard_bfd

foxy-stoat wrote: »

The timing chain would of snapped at the garage or if your girlfriend drove it - the fault with the tensioners was already there - just unfortunate,

Fortunately the engine was just being driving up on to the ramp at presumably low revs and very low speed so she may be lucky and they just need to replace the chain and not killed the engine - but ask them how do they know the engine need replacing?

What was the original problem with "the driving" - its not clear if the problem was timing chain, wheel bearing or power steering. I dont have much trust in the garage at this point - it wasnt Halfrauds was it?

Sorry for the little info - from what she told me, the main issue seemed to be with the steering of the vehicle, and in her words "the Front Drivers side tyre was about to fall off". I hadn't had the chance to even take a look at the vehicle but would have assumed that the steering rack was the issue - especially since there was no power steering fluid remaining even though this was topped up 6 months previous to this.

The mechanics was a local mechanics and I am still trying to get more info in regards to the engine and why the whole thing needs replacing....

thewizard_bfd

ratrace wrote: »

what car is it and what miles has it done as there are some cars other there such as bmw n47 engine that has a very common timeing chain issue and are prone to premature wear

Vehicle is a MK4 (2005) Polo 1.2 - approx 70k on the clock

Aylesbury_Duck

It sounds as if your girlfriend could do with some advice on regularly checking her car and the value of preventative maintenance. If the power steering fluid needed topping up that suggests it was leaking somewhere so how did it become empty before it was noticed that it was losing fluid? How is a tyre almost falling off before it gets taken to a garage?

When was the car last serviced?

All the information your giving us lends weight to the thought that the timing chain is a completely separate problem to the one the garage was working on.

marlot

thewizard_bfd wrote: »

Vehicle is a MK4 (2005) Polo 1.2 - approx 70k on the clock

Unfortunately, these engines are known to suffer from stretched timing chains that can slip.


Some people have been able to get away with just replacing the chain. You might be lucky.

foxy-stoat

Definitely help her keep better care of her car in the future - at least do a weekly check on oils/tyres.