confused about fees from garage

[lorrennadel]

i have a ford mondeo ghia x, 1.8 sci. its 2004 plate. it has 38000 miles on the clock. i have had it 18 months.

i took out an extended warranty through ford protect for the next 3 years which in total i have paid £699.99 - and that will take me upto 70,000 miles.

well i took my car into the garage today as its been sounding really rough and on tick over it sounds like an old diesel.

when i went to pick it up they told me that they have switched the ignition on and they think it is something under the engine, possibly the tension chain. they wanted my permission to take the engine casing off to investigate further to find out what was wrong. they also told me that they had drained off some excess oil. for this they are charging me £40.

i have to book the car back in and they are wanting it for 2 days. they have said it will cost 2 hours labour for them to take the casing off and investigate to find out what is wrong - for this they will charge £165.00.

then if it is the tension chain they will ring the warranty company to see if the tension chain is covered, and if not the full cost will be down to me. if it is i will still have to pay the £165.

i think the charges are extortionate. and i cant understand why i should have to pay them to find out what is wrong with the car, especially not that much.

can anyone help. this was a Ford dealer who quoted me this. thanks in advance.

[old_andrew2007]

bump

[TonyCorsa]

Try getting a secong opinion from another garage. Will help u decide if it is expensive

[parkj3]

Phone the warranty company yourself to find out if the timing chain is covered. Peace of mind at least.

I nearly got duped by a garage telling me that a part which had broken ( a cable they said) wasn't covered by my warranty, and I needed to pay over £180 to replace it.

I phoned the warranty company and they say it is covered.

I phone my car's local dealership for a quote, and they tell me there isn't even a cable in there (gear selector) - it's a rod and bolt, which, with their labour prices would cost just £125 to replace.

So check with your warranty company first, then shop around for quotes too.

You might be surprised!

[JonCris]

Did you take it back to the garage you bought it from??

[parkj3]

What me? Yes. Stupidly.

I found out after that I can take it to which ever VAT registered garage of my choice.

Luckily, or maybe not so luckily as per my thread, I haven't had it repaired yet. (see unsatisfactory repairs - what would you do next?)

[JonCris]

Then even though you bought the car from them, together with the insurance 18 months ago they are under an obligation to recitify the problem with no cost to you - unless they can (& only if they can) establish that the fault is the result of abuse by you - which I very much doubt.

[parkj3]

Hang on, you're confusing me with the op!

[WizardWheels]

For £699.99 I would expect that all engine parts (except consumables, eg; filters and service parts) are covered.

[installspark]

I'd be very surprised if it was the timing chain, these aren't scheduled for adjustment on a service until 100k.

The more likely cause of the noise is the auxiliary timing belt tensioner located at the bottom of the engine block drivers side. These are known for failing at around the OP's mileage, the tensioner dries out causing a rattle that's more pronounced at idle speed (sounding like a diesel). Mine lasted until 78k.

It is a quick 15 min job to replace the tensioner - remove wheel and splash guard, take belt off (turn tensioner clockwise) undo mounting bolts and replace.

Cost of parts:

Pulley Assy Tension £73.79 + VAT
Auxiliary Drive Belt £13.92 + VAT
Shipping £5.00 + VAT

Sourced from www.fordpartsuk.com

The other possible source is the inlet manifold swirl plates, but IIRC this was rectified by the 04 plate.