Timing belt fitted incorrectly ** Satisfied **

[Odog1980]

Hello,

 

Yesterday I had my timing belt changed at Trust group.

 

 

Today I was driving to work with about 3 miles to go when the car lost all power.

 

 

I managed to get the car into a lay-by and waited for recovery.

When the roadside assistance arrived I told him what happened

and he thought my alternator had gone (I thought this at the time too),

 

 

when he tried to start the car he said it does not sound good, it sounds like the timing belt.

He moved the engine cover and we both could see that the timing belt cover was not installed correctly.

The belt was not even attached anymore.

I called the garage to tell them what happened and that I was bringing the back.

 

When I got back to the garage and they were more than apologetic.

They gave me a courtesy car while they investigate what has happened.

I have not been told how long they will have the car for,

I am guessing that they will do an investigation and check for any damage to the engine

which they have said they will fix.

 

 

If the engine is damaged, will they rebuild it or will they put a replacement engine in?

Also should I push for compensation, as you know it is not cheap to maintain

and service a car, I took it to a VAG group expecting work to be carried out to the highest standard

and I have been left very disappointed.

[postmn]

i cant see you getting a brand new engine out of it , what they would more that likely do is find a engine with the same milages and recon it

[Conniff]

As this a direct fault of poor workmanship, then yes they will be responsible for any damage caused to the engine and the cost of repairing.

It's very unlikely a replacement engine will be required as damage, if there is any, is usually confined to the head and valves but can write off the engine.

 

I'm surprised at the roadside assistance saying it looks like alt belt, cars can run for days on the battery so very unlikely to suddenly stop.

[Odog1980]

As this a direct fault of poor workmanship, then yes they will be responsible for any damage caused to the engine and the cost of repairing.

It's very unlikely a replacement engine will be required as damage, if there is any, is usually confined to the head and valves but can write off the engine.

 

I'm surprised at the roadside assistance saying it looks like alt belt, cars can run for days on the battery so very unlikely to suddenly stop.

 

He said it sounded like the alternator had gone not the belt. I guess his reasoning was from me explaining what happened. Hopefully the garage will get back to me by tomorrow at least to tell me what is going on

[Odog1980]

i cant see you getting a brand new engine out of it , what they would more that likely do is find a engine with the same milages and recon it

 

I don't think they will put a new engine in, you are probably correct on the recon. Either way they best offer a good warranty on whatever action they take

[Hammy1962]

Wow, so few posts, so much wrong already.

 

Trust VW appear to be a well respected main dealer group in the midlands. They have already apologised and said they will fix it and they've given you a courtesy car whilst they do it. The AA seem to have confused the issue as I can't see a connection between between the alternator 'going' (Where was it the last time you saw it?) and the timing belt becoming 'detached'.

 

If the VW engine is a 'freerunning' engine then the valves will be OK, if it's not they may be bent but they won't know until they replace the belt and start it up.

 

Nobody, not even Conniff (Sorry Conniff) knows yet that this is due to 'poor' workmanship. It could be a faulty belt or tensioner.

 

As for a replacement engine, what is the point of sourcing a replacement engine, with the same mileage, and reconditioning it (unlikely in any event), just recondition the one you have if it needs it.

 

Let them fix it and see. As for Compo' well, that's everyone's first thought today isn't it.

 

H

[heliosuk]

Couldn't agree more Hammy. I suppose the next question would be "did trust advise about a tensioner or water pump change" at the time?

If they did and was rejected then perhaps game over?????

[martin2006]

when things do go wrong, such as this, the measure of a good company is in the way they deal with it, so far they cant be faulted, they are repairing the damage they have caused and have given you a car while they do so.

 

It is no doubt inconvenient for you but i wouldnt be thinking about compensation unless it starts to cost you in terms of time and money lost.

 

Its a pity that its happened but i wish there were more companies out there like this, they immediately took responsibility and action to remedy the problem.

 

I like that and i hope its speedily resolved for you

[king12345]

It's unlikely that they fitted the belt or tensioners wrongly on a VW.

Unless they forgot to tighten the bolts which is almost impossible.

Most likely it's a faulty tensioner.

See what they say once they inspected the engine

[martin2006]

It's unlikely that they fitted the belt or tensioners wrongly on a VW.

Unless they forgot to tighten the bolts which is almost impossible.

Most likely it's a faulty tensioner.

See what they say once they inspected the engine

 

I am inclined to agree that vw will probably blame a failed part rather than an employee, either way the result you require is a speedy repair which seems to be what vw are trying to do

[Hammy1962]

Important to remember that this is not VW, but a VW Dealer.

[Conniff]

It's been a couple of days now odog, any news ??

[king12345]

Important to remember that this is not VW, but a VW Dealer.

 

What i meant is that VW cambelts are the easiest to change and any semi experienced mechanic would do the job quite easily.

Even a back street garage would struggle to get this wrong.

My two pennies that one of the tensioners failed.

[Hammy1962]

What i meant is that VW cambelts are the easiest to change and any semi experienced mechanic would do the job quite easily.

Even a back street garage would struggle to get this wrong.

My two pennies that one of the tensioners failed.

 

My response was to martin2006......................... VW make the vehicles, VW Dealers, sell, service and repair them.

 

H

[heliosuk]

What i meant is that VW cambelts are the easiest to change and any semi experienced mechanic would do the job quite easily.

Even a back street garage would struggle to get this wrong.

My two pennies that one of the tensioners failed.

 

 

Would disagree as some of them have questionable parentage and involve removing a lot of the front end of the car. We don't know which one it is and again if the tensioner has failed was it changed, was it suggested it was changed and was turned down or were the work instructions just to change the cam belt?

[martin2006]

Important to remember that this is not VW, but a VW Dealer.

 

Yes, good point

[king12345]

Would disagree as some of them have questionable parentage and involve removing a lot of the front end of the car. We don't know which one it is and again if the tensioner has failed was it changed, was it suggested it was changed and was turned down or were the work instructions just to change the cam belt?

 

VW front carriers are built to be moved to service position without dismantling the front of the car.

A specialist VW garage will change the tensioners and water pump as standard, if they didn't that's very poor of them.

[Odog1980]

Hello thanks for everyones input. I had the car back. I was told the tensioner bolt had snapped and this was replaced along with a new belt, apparently no damage was done. When i originally put the car in, i questioned if the belt was the complete kot of tensioners and water pump, they confirmed it was and i was happy for them to install the lot. So i have had the car back for a couple of days and i am not convinced all is ok. I have been down the m42 today and i had to head back home after a few minutes, the car is vibrating quite bad while under load, it is just not running correctly so i am not sure if there is any damage from when the belt slipped off. Any ideas guys?

[king12345]

It's almost impossible for a cambelt to snap/come off without damaging the engine.

I've never seen an engine survive a cambelt failure without damage, but you never know, that's why I said"almost impossible".

It's a strip off job.

[Conniff]

Can you tell us the car Year / Make / Model please Odog1980 ??

[Odog1980]

Hi Conniff,

 

 

It is a 2006 Audi A4 2.0 TDI S Line

[Conniff]

All the Audi 2.0D are interference engines so the possibility of valve/piston damage is most likely.

 

If the belt has been replaced without other checks ie. compression, then just fitting a new belt is very dangerous.

 

What have they told you has been done ?

Edited April 19, 2016 by Conniff
corrected typo

[Odog1980]

All the Audi 2.0D are interference engines so the possibility of valve/piston damage is most likely.

 

If the belt has been replaced without other checks ie. compression, then just fitting a new belt if very dangerous.

 

What have they told you has been done ?

 

 

 

They told me that the tensioner bolt had snapped and the belt lost tension and pushed the cover off. They said that a new belt was fitted along with a new tensioner bolt and the cover was replaced as the old one was damaged when the belt came off. The car sounds really rough now and there is heavy vibration at 2000 rpm. If there was no damage to the pistons and valves, would the injectors have suffered damage?

 

 

They did not tell me what checks had been done, only that they had driven it for 20 miles and all seemed OK

[Odog1980]

Still no news from the garage. If I dont hear back by tomorrow lunch time then I will give them a call. Worried that something has gone quite wrong on the other hand if it is not related then I guess they would have been back in touch to tell me what needed doing at my expense

[king12345]

Still no news from the garage. If I dont hear back by tomorrow lunch time then I will give them a call. Worried that something has gone quite wrong on the other hand if it is not related then I guess they would have been back in touch to tell me what needed doing at my expense

 

Don't get fobbed off.

Cambelt failure leads inevitably to other components failure.

A lot of time it's cheaper to buy a second hand engine than fix one where cambelt has failed.

Don't let them talk you into believing that coincidentally the engine blew just at the same time as their cambelt came off.

It's all related.

No doubt about it!