Mechanic fitted my timing belt incorrectly

[indigo_lisa]

Please can anyone advice me as I am in a right mess.

 

A month ago I bought myself a Golf 1.6 16v on a 2001 plate, the car was sound but due to my job working for Domino's as a delivery driver I decided to have a new cambelt kit fitted by a mobile mechanic. Two weeks later when on my way home from a hospital appointment 10 miles from home, a bolt in the engine sheared off wrecking all 16 valves, I called out the mechanic who stratched his head and help to push the car onto a side street where is stayed for a week, every day he said he was going to recover, it finally came back to my drive on Tues its now Saturday. He's taken the engine out and taken it to his house, he's also now saying that it isnt his fault the timing belt had failed and "not to worry as it is under guarantee". A few days later he told me that the parts company (not the manufacturer) was going to supply all the parts to fix it? Within the conversation he mentioned the parts company name, so I called them. They knew of this incident but had not agreed anything as it will need a full investigation, which could take months however this mechanic had ordered parts (don't know what though) they arrived on Thursday and my car was promised back yesterday, then I got my ex-partner to call him today and he then said it will be done today.

 

I have lost £300 in wages and my little girls follow up appointment in Manchester is Monday, I am a single parent and running out of money fast as I can no longer work been without my car for 2 weeks now? And the mechanic isn't answering his phone now!

[honeybee13]

Merging three threads about this. Lisa, if you can't see what you just posted, please try hitting the refresh button on your browser.

 

My best, HB

[indigo_lisa]

I went into edit but then it resent them, very sorry

[heliosuk]

If he'd fitted it wrong lisa then it would have failed within seconds not two weeks later. Exactly what are you asking for help with?

[indigo_lisa]

The timing belt had slipped off and was still intact but he tensioner had cause the bolt to shear off into the engine? I know nothing about engines.

[Westmead Fan]

so maybe what your saying is the tensioner failed & damaged the engine, this will not be a quick fix as the suppliers will need to take the engine & inspect it to find who or what was at fault.

 

this will not be back on the road for quite some time

[indigo_lisa]

I don't know what to do, where do I go, what should I do, he wont answer texts or calls.....I have a feeling that he is at fault and hes trying to repair, but I don't want him to I've lost all confidence in him. How do I find out who is at fault?

[indigo_lisa]

Its Monday tomorrow an I need to know what is my next move, please can anyone help me? x

[Kiki1]

Do you have the engine code ? (three digits)

 

Was the tensioner replaced at the same time as the belt ?

[indigo_lisa]

Where will the code be? Bearing in mind he has taken my engine to his house?

[indigo_lisa]

It was a cambelt kit with water pump not sure about the tensioner?

[indigo_lisa]

Please anyone?

[heliosuk]

This will be a very difficult one to prove and I fear bad news as well. What seems to have happened is that you have had a belt change and that two weeks later the tensioner bolt has sheared which has led to the belt falling off due to the obvious relaxation of the tensioner as a result of the bolt failure. Your problem will be proving that the tensioner bolt was over tightened leading to the shear or that he needed to change the bolt as it was a use only once bolt. This means that if the bolt is required to be changed as the tightening torque puts the bolt into yield then this should be changed as a matter of course and included in the kit. If it is not then it is not recommended that the bolt is used more than twice.

 

Frankly as the repair lasted two weeks it is unlikely to be down to poor workmanship as you cannot prove the history of the bolt and neither can he. Generally if a mechanic has got it wrong then the issue would be very apparent far quicker than two weeks with a failure of this nature.

[Westmead Fan]

seems to me also this is a parts failure rather than negligence or bad workmanship, this will mean the mechanic will have to claim off the parts supplier who will then need to do there tests.

 

whats the update???

[9000Parts]

There is always the possibility that the mechanic didnt tighten up the bolt and it has worked loose and either fallen out or the tensioner has caused the bolt to snap as it has moved out of position. I cant see how the bolt will have just sheared without it snapping the belt as the belt is a lot weaker than a bolt and its the belt that carries all the load in the system. The bolt will hold the tensioner to the block but it will not be bearing any direct load from the tensioner itself.

[Ed Gasket]

If it is like the Audi then the M8 tensioner bolt needs replacing everytime as it is not really up to being reused. Who knows what happened except that either the mechanic didn't do something right (most likely) or there was a faulty bolt (less likely).

 

Any news on progress indigo_lisa?

[popeyethesailortam]

If it is like the Audi then the M8 tensioner bolt needs replacing everytime as it is not really up to being reused. Who knows what happened except that either the mechanic didn't do something right (most likely) or there was a faulty bolt (less likely).

 

Any news on progress indigo_lisa?

 

Ford diesels the same. Its a stretch bolt and has to be changed each time.