Renault kadjar 2019 engine failure.

Pringlet13

Hello fellow forumites.

I am after some advice please.
On the 13th September my engine failure light came on my 2019 Renault kadjar, I cruised to the nearest layby and turn the car off with grey smoke coming from under the bonnet. Called the AA who advised the coolant thermostat was cracked. I was towed to the nearest garage (not renault) and left.
The garage replaced the thermostat but unfortunately it's a non runner. Renault advised to tow to them and pay for diagnostics, earliest appointment was 26th October.
Diagnostics confirmed engine failure. 
Renault will not offer any "good will" because 
1. I had the thermostat replaced at a 3rd party garage.
2. It's 2 and half months out of warranty 
Renault instructed me to contact the ombudsman.
The ombudsman won't help its out of warranty.
I now have a 5year old car that's been serviced by Renault every year and done 86k needing a new engine which they have quoted just shy of 10k including 12hrs labour.
It's more than the car is worth.
Is there anything I can do?

It doesn't seem right a car this young should fail like this.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jade

Alanp

I think you need to determine what has failed, it might be repairable ( at another garage, not Renault prices) , or you could source a reconditioned engine and have that fitted, it will probably be less than 10k…

Arunmor

Have you researched this engine and any similar issues, it will be in other makes of car too so cast a wide net.  Start gathering as much evidence as possible to build a case.  What engine was it?

Very petty of them re a 3rd part garage changing the thermostat.  Was it an OEM part?

Keep_pedalling

How many miles has it done?

daveyjp

Without a warranty unfortunately it is probably down to you.  Whilst the thermostat housing failed that may have been the cause or result of a more serious issue, especially as you saw smoke not just steam, so that should have been investigated.

The AA diagnosed a overheating issue on a friend's car as a failed radiator expansion vessel cap and fitted a new one.  What they didn't check was the water pump and that failed a week later, overheated the car, cracked the head resulting in a mashed engine.

LightFlare

Keep_pedalling said:

How many miles has it done?

86k in the OP.

Not sure why Renault are refusing any good will due to the thermostat being replace at another garage since the problem clearly preceded that 

I would push them on that - maybe try social media. Keep it calm and factual though - no emotion or hypothetical scenarios 

As already suggested, search the internet for any similar occurrences 

MattMattMattUK

LightFlare said:

Keep_pedalling said:

How many miles has it done?

86k in the OP.

Not sure why Renault are refusing any good will due to the thermostat being replace at another garage since the problem clearly preceded that 

I would push them on that - maybe try social media. Keep it calm and factual though - no emotion or hypothetical scenarios 

As already suggested, search the internet for any similar occurrences 

Almost certainly because without the faulty thermostat it is impossible to tell if that was the cause, or of it was something else. E.g. forget to put enough oil and/or coolant in the oil, engine overheats and dies, replace thermostat and flash the chip to hide user fault.

WellKnownSid

I understand it's not an unknown fault - Dusters with the 1.3 TCE engine have suffered similar.  It's the thermostat housing - a complex plastic part - that just cracks.  Engine overheats through coolant loss, writing off the head gasket (possibly warping the head and other damage).

Definitely search the Renault / Captur / Kadjar forums for more info in case others have managed good will.

Other options are to find a good (i.e. with warranty) used engine or get it rebuilt.  Certainly head gasket but would require a check of the oil system / pump as well as the cooling system / pump as I believe the housing carries both fluids.

Engine was co-developed by Mercedes so used in several Mercs... another search option.

MCT56

As suggested search the forums on the internet for failures of this specific plastic thermostat housing. The engine will be shared with other partner makes and you will find pages of unhappy customers on one particular forum. It appears to be a common, known failure issue. 

TadleyBaggie

I’ve seen on a Nissan forum ( believe they share an engine) many reports of engine failure after the thermostat housing fails. 

born_again

WellKnownSid said:

I understand it's not an unknown fault - Dusters with the 1.3 TCE engine have suffered similar.  It's the thermostat housing - a complex plastic part - that just cracks.  Engine overheats through coolant loss, writing off the head gasket (possibly warping the head and other damage).

Definitely search the Renault / Captur / Kadjar forums for more info in case others have managed good will.

Other options are to find a good (i.e. with warranty) used engine or get it rebuilt.  Certainly head gasket but would require a check of the oil system / pump as well as the cooling system / pump as I believe the housing carries both fluids.

Engine was co-developed by Mercedes so used in several Mercs... another search option.

Do they not have any temp warnings?