Engine failure due to a covered component under warranty.

muncey55

Mildly_Miffed said:

If the belt has deteriorated on a 4yo <50k engine, it can only be because of sorely neglected previous maintenance - overlong intervals, wrong oil... And there's not a chance of any goodwill in that instance.

Warranty company has already ok’d the service history. 2 services stamped since I owned it, with the correct oil…

muncey55

Also can I add, 

After discovering it was total engine failure, the repair garage took me to see the car, told me to stand back while they turn the ignition to show me something, when they did it was a gush of coolant about 5 foot in the air, showed me coolant in the pistons with a camera. . . 

Is it normal for coolant to get into piston when pipe has been damaged, or could this be a totally separate incident, which has then caused the engine failure.

Mildly_Miffed

muncey55 said:

Also can I add, 

After discovering it was total engine failure, the repair garage took me to see the car, told me to stand back while they turn the ignition to show me something, when they did it was a gush of coolant about 5 foot in the air, showed me coolant in the pistons with a camera. . . 

Is it normal for coolant to get into piston when pipe has been damaged, or could this be a totally separate incident, which has then caused the engine failure.

No.

A clip holding the pipe to the bodywork would just allow the pipe to sag.
A clip holding the pipe on would allow coolant to leak.
A pipe failing externally, perhaps because it's sagged to be in contact with a driveshaft, would allow coolant to leak.

The wet cambelt failing would not allow the car to start or run.
The wet cambelt delaminating would block the oil pickup and cause low oil pressure, but would not cause coolant to enter the engine

But the driveshaft failing and damaging the oil-water cooler could well allow coolant into the cylinders via the oil circuit, which would also cause low pressure at low revs.

Severe overheating from running the engine without coolant, perhaps due to a leak from a loose or damaged hose, could also cause the head gasket to fail (allowing coolant into the cylinders) as well as the oil pressure to drop at low revs.

muncey55

From what I know, it was only the boot of the drive shaft that was damaged, however they replaced the whole thing 

Funqi

Mildly_Miffed said:

Funqi said:

This portal exists to pay compensation to help cover costs of owners of these engines who have suffered failures.
https://www.stellantis.com/en/contacts/puretech-compensation-platform

You have to provide documentation to prove that you have maintained it in accordance with manufacturer's specifications on order to make a claim. The only leeway is if your service was up to 1800 miles/3 months late. The very fact that this portal exists, shows that Puretech engines are expected have these failures regardless of how well you service it.

Well, that rather depends, doesn't it?

If there's only a very tiny number of successful claims, because of the servicing requirement...

That's a big "if", but in any case, no it doesn't.
While Stellantis hasn't released exact numbers, they've stated that around 60% of claims submitted via their PureTech compensation portal are successful. If they've only had 10 applications that meant only 6 cars (which would stick my neck out and suggest is highly unlikely), then that shows perfectly well enough that their engines at least, were defective. You are telling people that their own lack of care for their engine is the ONLY reason it will fail, that totally at odds with this statement from the engine's own manufacturer.

There will doubtless be many others who can prove that they have maintained their cars well enough, but don't meet one or another criteria to make a claim on this portal. My own car is an example of that. First 3 stamps from a main dealer, independent garage serviced since then with detailed service document showing which oil and parts used. Belt still failed. The only term I don't meet in this portal's T&C is that the failure must be diagnosed and repaired by a Stellantis network garage. My belt failed in October 2024, this portal was only launched in May 2025, I couldn't have known about such a condition.
Even the fact that it was launched in May 2025, yet stipulates that it will only cover failures that occurred before 31st Dec 2024, means that you will either have had to shell out for a new engine, or at least an engine rebuild at a main dealer garage, or had your broken car lying around for FIVE MONTHS before doing anything about it.

We await of the outcome of the group action being taken across Europe. Currently around 4,700 claimants and a further 900 pressing for a criminal conviction. Some 5600 in total, with thousands more on the waiting list to join.
If (another big if) their action is successful, Stellantis will have a gigantic problem to solve. Anyone who has already claimed via this portal, which also stipulates that you must still own the car, might possibly be precluded from any further help and a sack load of others, possibly including the OP here will have either lost or gotten rid of their car by then.

muncey55

And the wet belt only showed signs of cracking, they checked for particals but they were insufficient to have caused such damage

QrizB

Let's look at this logically.

When you received the original "low oil pressure" warning, the car wasn't leaking anything - not oil or coolant.

It was recovered to the garage where, rather than diagnosing the low oil pressure, they identified damage to a coolant pipe and driveshaft plus "deterioration" of the wet belt.

Then, rather than doing anything about the low oil pressure or wet belt, they replaced the coolant pipe and driveshaft.

After replacing the coolant pipe and driveshaft, but before replacing the wet belt, they ran the engine and found it was missing on three cylinders.

After replacing the spark plugs, but still before replacing the wet belt, they then found total engine failure.

It sounds to me as though the garage are at fault here. Instead of replacing the wet belt, they ran your car in full knowledge that the belt was deteriorating (and "Vauxhall is standing over them") and unsurprisingly it failed, resulting in serious engine damage.

I'd be looking to the garage to fix this at their expense.

Mildly_Miffed

QrizB said:

After replacing the coolant pipe and driveshaft, but before replacing the wet belt, they ran the engine and found it was missing on three cylinders.

That doesn't leave many, in a Puretech... They are a triple.

HedgehogRulez

muncey55 said:

Did I mention I have only owned the car for 18 months 

How old’s the car?

Mildly_Miffed

HedgehogRulez said:

muncey55 said:

Did I mention I have only owned the car for 18 months 

How old’s the car?

The first post in the thread literally starts "Vauxhall Mokka 2021"