^OPM^

On monday took me mondeo into a local garage to have the cambelt plus all the tensioners etc -the full cambelt kit basically-changed, tonight going to work all of a sudden at about 50 mph engine dies-i immediately thought cambelt-called AA out who towed me home and also agreed its the cambelt that has snapped-oh well will ring garage up tommorrow that changed it and tell them they got a nice repair bill on their hands-just hope they dont try to kick up a fuss over it

fatscoobyfella

Sounds defo like its something they have done..has it defo SNAPPED the belt?Or has it come off in any way?Bearing seized up somewhere?If its a zetec,to do the belt properly,you should loosen the cam pulleys as they are on tapers.perhaps they forget to nip them up??

Good luck anyway..

^OPM^

when i pulled up u could smell burning rubber and when i looked around cambelt cover there was a lump of melted rubber type material at front of it-so im guessing that the cambelt has been rubbing against something which after a few miles caused it to snap

^OPM^

Quick background-on my mondeo had a new cambelt plus all the gubbins with it fitted monday-on tuesday it broke so obviously the garage are gonna have to repair it all at their expense-question is tho-they have a little ford breakers yard next door to them -how do i know they will do a proper job and not stick bits on from this scrapyard onto my car, plus how will i know if they replace all the bent valves -what if one has a very tiny bend in so they dont replace it but then in a few months it causes it to go-what should i check for when i get car back etc? plus as its only a tiny back street garage that dont sell cars can i demand a courtesy car of them at their expense again as its not my fault i'm without a car now?
Thanks for any help.

fatscoobyfella

Any news?

pslewis

You are pretty much in the lap of the gods to be honest, the garage - strange as it may seem - are not required to supply brand new items (although they may do just that) .... they have to re-instate you to the position you were before the incident in question.

So, if your car has covered 50,000miles and they use items from a 50,000mile scrap car then they are doing the correct legal minimum.

I would suspect, if its a proper Ford garage that they will use new items ..... if not, they may just source another head/complete engine and transplant it (saves on labour)

Good luck .... can you not 'pop' in now and again during the repair, just to check whats happening?

Pete

^OPM^

no it wasn't a proper ford garage but a backstreet type garage-anyway just come on lowloader and took car away-he says nothing more then just valves should be bent as i was only doing 50 - 60 mph, i said how long you think it be -so he says its a priorty job and they have a ramp etc waiting for it now and will get straight onto it, said they wont do head but send it to another local place that specializes in cylinder heads and let them sort that side out-what surprised me was he said they hoped to have it back for tomorrow or day after at latest-seems a bit fast-hope they dont just plan on swapping it with a top end of a scrapy mondeo!-what i did before he took it was marked the cylinder head so i can tell if its been changed-is that good thinking batman?

logiclee

I had exactly the same with a Mondeo TD.

They had not aligned the belt properly so it was rubbing and snapped.

Dealer picked up the £1800 repair bill.

Cheers
Lee

Leslie

Ask for all the damaged parts which they claim to have replaced. Otherwise you can't do much else apart from strip the engine afterwards yourself to see what was done and whether the job is good.

You should be able to check reasonably well by the way the engine runs afterwards. Incidentally, the fact that it is a small garage does not necessarily mean they will do a worse job than anyone else although the cambelt failure does not inspire confidence I must admit.

Les

CrisPDuk

I may be missing something here, but why would you have an issue with them putting another complete head on? In my experience a head that has had a cambelt snap is never the same again no matter what work/parts you throw at it

Darbo_wrx

you would think it was a ferrari
its only a crappy mondeo ffs
if they taped a 50 pence piece to the dash it would double the desirability of it

**** happens

CrisPDuk

Going off my local Ford dealer's reputation, I would say he's got a better chance of it being done right if the small garage is reputable, which IMO most are

fatherpierre

That's a helpful comment

Ones mans ****ty car is another man's only mode of affordable transport.

brickboy

I'd agree with CrisP's comment, you're likely to get a better job done with the independent than with the majority of main dealers -- at the end of the day you could take the independent to small claims court which could hurt them a lot.

Good luck with it.

^OPM^

a ****ty mondeo in mint condition for your info!!!! minus cambelt lol

^OPM^

quick update-garage rang just-says a cam tensioner guide looks like it has collapsed-wether they are just saying this to save face-who knows-but says i should have car back tommorow evening-they will say i cant check replaced bits as the head went elsewhere to be sorted-oh he said all it had done was bent 4 valves-this sound about rite for it snapping at 50-60 mph?

Brendan Hughes

Surely speed is irrelevant, the gear is more relevant - 50mph in first would do some tasty alterations

fatscoobyfella

Just bending four on a 16v head is pretty rare TBH..But not unheard of.Seems like the guy is doing his best to get you back on the road asap.Just take the car back and keep your eye on it for a week(oil/water),if all seems fine,and it runs fine jobs a goodun!!

^OPM^

true-i was in 5th gear then for info

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

If they get you back running and it feels ok, job done, look at it from their point of view, they wont have made that much on the job and they will be into minus now, not your problem but I reckon if they put a secondhand head in good condition on you are no worse of than before, some places would just tell you to f*ck off.

Darbo_wrx

seems to me like you have a good little garage doing the work for you

like i said b4 **** happens

and at least you seem to have calmed down abit
now all you need is the 50 pence and some tape for when your car comes back

^OPM^

how would i know the second hand head is good condition tho-my car had done 70 k miles the head they stick on mite have done 250k ?

^OPM^

just checked oil-for an engine that has supposedly just been flushed out and had new oil in-the oil is mighty dirty-and i know the head has been changed as i marked my old one and the marks have gone on this one even tho he says its same head-i reckon all he has done is get another head of a mondeo from his mate at scrappy next door and stick it straight on my car-i will ring up place tommorrow where he says head went to be skimmed and new valves fitted-see if they have had one in-if not one he stuck on mite have done 250k miles for all i know!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

How did you mark the head? usually engine builders that recon/inspect cylinder heads stick them in the chemical cleaner to get all the crud off, so a marker pen wouldn't stand a chance

The head should be nice and shiny if it's been properly done, although your rocker/camshaft cover may still look manky as that usually isn't cleaned.

To get clean looking oil in zetecs you need to do 6month 6Kmiles oil changes, sticking to Ford's 12month/12K+ service schedule usually makes it quite black. So when its changed and flushed, in most cases fresh oil will turn black as soon as you pour it in. Ask oilman about black oil - it doesn't mean its no good.

Anyway Its easy to become paranoid, esepcially when they cover the work at their own cost so could well cut corners. But if it went wrong again, then you should still have comeback. No harm in checking though. A 1day turn around for belt and head inspection is pretty damn swift. They must be very quiet or have F1 mechanics, mondeos aren't the easiest cars to do cambelt fittings on. Usually a head specialist takes at least a day to collect and return a head. So I would be quite suspcious if there is a ford breakers next door.

Anyway, you never know, you could be lucky and get a RQB or RQC cylinder head. which should be better than the old one (130bhp XR3/RS1800 head -code stamped on right hand side of the head).

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I would rather have a running high mile head than a broken one, if it doesnt smoke or rattle then its fine.

^OPM^

i stamped 3 dots on it with a nail.

[QUOTE=ALi-B]How did you mark the head? usually engine builders that recon/inspect cylinder heads stick them in the chemical cleaner to get all the crud off, so a marker pen wouldn't stand a chance

fatscoobyfella

I have heard of some head recon people just giving a head thats been re-conned for speed,and they will do yours at a later date..

Just keep with it OPM,if there is no visible signs there is anything wrong,just put it down to experience and be happy the work is done,and your back on the road..

i know you feel hard done too,but if they wanted they could still be wriggling now..and you wouldnt have your motor back..

Be happy mate....

^OPM^

thanks-what was worrying more was fact that oil had not been changed for 15 k miles so i didn't want them to lie about changing that as i would change it myself if needs be

fatscoobyfella

No prob mate....The more "picky" amongst us would say "it should have been changed a long time before 15k irrelevant of the Belt snap"....

Just do it yourself,it will only cost £20 and you will happy in the knowledge that your car is sorted,plus it gives you a good start on checking the level for oil consumption..

BOB.T

Not a part I've ever heard of!

If they mean tensioner pulley, that should be under warranty, assuming they have fit it correctly. You could maybe get Ford to help out with the repair and or costs

Good luck!