Just had a service and MOT...now engine seized!

rachellelouise

We have a 16 plate Peugeot 308, bought when 3 years old from the dealership (ex-moterbility car), we are its second owner.

19th October we had it serviced and MOT'd by a garage we don't normally use as our usual was fully booked, paid out £1400 for this, along with other work - new break pads, discs and something else (my husband has the receipt I need to double check exactly what else)

25th November on the M1 the engine warning light came on and advised us to stop, unable to restart it...car got towed away to our usual garage, he's told us the engine has seized, stated the engine coolant was empty and its overheated and melted the engine inside. At no point prior to the engine warning saying STOP DRIVING etc did any lights come on to inform us the coolant was low/empty or that the engine was overheating on the gauge. No excessive milage since the work was done. 

We are really stuck for what to do next...financially we are not in a position to get a new car, 3 kids just a few weeks before Christmas in this current financial climate. I am a nurse and my husband a technician with the ambulance service, neither of us are savvy with our car knowledge.

Could the garage that did the work have left a sensor off that was detecting the coolant? Is this something that could have been picked up on or even caused by their work?

Any advice on next steps would be greatly appreciated!! Thankyou 

Krakkkers

Are you saying the engine temp gauge read normal before the seizure? or that it did not work at all.

rachellelouise

Krakkkers said:

Are you saying the engine temp gauge read normal before the seizure? or that it did not work at all.

Thankyou for your quick reply! 
Correct, the temp gauge read normal and no warning lights alerting us to the overheating came on.

TadleyBaggie

So it sounds like a sudden loss of coolant. There may not be a low coolant sensor. 

I'm pretty sceptical that the inside of the engine "melted", mostly metal parts that would require way more heat than an engine could generate.

diystarter7

Hi OP
Sorry re your car
From what you said a temp gauge reading "normal" means it was working.
I've seen drivers driving along the m-way oblivious to the smoke behind them.
From what you said it looks like a coolant leak/burst hose etc.
I'm no mechaic but years of driving many cars for self and family, so I think I
may be spot on
NB: When did you get the car back and for how long and how many miles had you driven it since the return from garage

rachellelouise

TadleyBaggie said:

So it sounds like a sudden loss of coolant. There may not be a low coolant sensor. 

I'm pretty sceptical that the inside of the engine "melted", mostly metal parts that would require way more heat than an engine could generate.

This was my husbands description to me, not sure if the garage described it like that to him. 

What can cause a sudden loss of coolant? Should the gauge have moved to alert us it was overheating?

I suppose what I am wondering is if there is potentially a fault by the garage that undertook the work in October/how we would go about finding this out?

diystarter7

TadleyBaggie said:

So it sounds like a sudden loss of coolant. There may not be a low coolant sensor. 

I'm pretty sceptical that the inside of the engine "melted", mostly metal parts that would require way more heat than an engine could generate.

This car would I'm very certain and an overheat warning

SergeantBaker

rachellelouise said:

TadleyBaggie said:

So it sounds like a sudden loss of coolant. There may not be a low coolant sensor. 

I'm pretty sceptical that the inside of the engine "melted", mostly metal parts that would require way more heat than an engine could generate.

This was my husbands description to me, not sure if the garage described it like that to him. 

What can cause a sudden loss of coolant? Should the gauge have moved to alert us it was overheating?

I suppose what I am wondering is if there is potentially a fault by the garage that undertook the work in October/how we would go about finding this out?

You drove it for over a month without an issues?

rachellelouise

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP
Sorry re your car
From what you said a temp gauge reading "normal" means it was working.
I've seen drivers driving along the m-way oblivious to the smoke behind them.
From what you said it looks like a coolant leak/burst hose etc.
I'm no mechaic but years of driving many cars for self and family, so I think I
may be spot on
NB: When did you get the car back and for how long and how many miles had you driven it since the return from garage

Hi

We collected the car on the 19th October, and the exact milage needs to be confirmed when we check the receipt and the milage on the car, but as an estimate I would say no more than 500 miles maximum. 

Thankyou for your reply. Is this something that should have been foreseen/predicted by the garage, or possibly caused? Should the MOT/Service have lasted longer than the timescale/miles it has? Just trying to work out if the garage that undertook the work was potentially at fault, and it's worth exploring...or if we just scrap the car and look at alternative options.

Thankyou

rachellelouise

SergeantBaker said:

rachellelouise said:

TadleyBaggie said:

So it sounds like a sudden loss of coolant. There may not be a low coolant sensor. 

I'm pretty sceptical that the inside of the engine "melted", mostly metal parts that would require way more heat than an engine could generate.

This was my husbands description to me, not sure if the garage described it like that to him. 

What can cause a sudden loss of coolant? Should the gauge have moved to alert us it was overheating?

I suppose what I am wondering is if there is potentially a fault by the garage that undertook the work in October/how we would go about finding this out?

You drove it for over a month without an issues?

I have very limited car knowledge, and not sure what is a reasonable time to expect things to be working/what should be picked up by the garage during the work undertaken/if they disconnected any sensors that potentially could have caused it to be leaking and overheating undetected and no warning. 

Thank you

Car_54

OP, what did the garage do in addition to the brakes and service?
It must have been something substantial to run up a £1,400 bill.