rumsey

Ok in abit of a pickle.

Have had my headgasket fixed 2 months ago aswell as alot of other things. since then i have had to go back to the garage 3 times. about 30 mins after picking up the car i went straight back for a rattle that happened when in low revs in higher gears, i did assume it was a heat shield but 2 months down the line it still hasnt been found or fixed. i also have been back 2 times because all the oil in my car has completely gone. he cant find a leak so again confusing. its had 7.5 L in over 377 miles. something is seriously wrong.

He stated that he thinks it might be the seals on the headgasket (would that cause loss of oil?)
At the time of getting my headgasket done i was skint and needed it to be as cheap as possible the garage recommended i got a new cambelt kit, radiator, water pump, headgasket set, thermostat,clutch,oil filter etc so alot of stuff. i stated i found a headgasket set on ebay for £270 rather than the £600 from subaru, he stated he would rather me buy the headgasket and inlet manifold from subaru instead if i wanted to save money as he didnt want to fit a non subaru headgasket so i went for that option and chose not to buy the seals and he did say he felt the seals would be fine, this was also the advice of a friend of his who works at subaru aswell. (u can see where this is going)

He know states to do the seals he wants the same money again.

My arguement is i have not had the car back for 1 day fixed since he has had it. and to pay again for labour for a job that should have already been done is very annoying to say the least.

I understand that changing the seals in the first place would have stopped this but if he felt this would of happened why would he fix this in the first place knowing this was going to happen?

he is giving me the car back again unfixed asking me to check how quickly the oil is draining then take it back 2 weeks later.

I havent got the money to get this fixed again but still dont feel i should have too.

I understand his point of view as doing a weeks work for free isnt something i would be happy about but as its never been fixed from day 1 he should be making sure the car gets fixed.

should i be meeting him in the middle and be open to coming to an agreement or stand firm?

he is a nice guy and a good garage so do not want this turning into a drawn out arguement but i also dont want to be spending the same large amount of money to get something fixed that should already be done.

any advice would be a great help. i hope i explained this correctly so its easy to understand the situation.

thanks.

Tidgy

crank bearings?

tbh if you try a bodge fix job you'll end up back to square one like it sounds you are

giz1978

iTrader: (5)

agree it sounds more then just seals and which seal is he going to replace????

CREWJ

If you skimp on parts in the first place it always comes back to bite you. You always learn these things the hard way.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Trading standards.
He is supposed to have repaired your car he is the professional, you paid a large amount of money to have your car fixed.
Car not fixed.
Open and shut case.
There are no friends / nice guys when it comes to business.
Business first friends later..
I dont see why these garage owners think they can just absolve themselves of responsibility,having made a diagnosis agreed a price carried out the work and taken the money. if there are rattles and major oil leak that was not present prior to them working on the car then they should rectify the problem ....

EddScott

The garage did say he didn't want to fit non-standard parts.

It could be argued that the garage "should" have said they wouldn't do the job unless it was with genuine parts. Although you could argue it's up to the customer to decide.

The garage was probably trying to do the OP a favour by getting the car serviceable cheap as possible and it hasn't worked.

rumsey

Just been down to the garage to pick the car up.

I need to ask if anyone knows this -

If the headgasket seals are gone and need replacing would this cause oil to simply disappear? there is no smoke coming from the exhaust and no sign of leaks on the engine.

someone posted about the crank bearings, what would this do if that has gone? would that be the cause of the rattle? and is this expensive to fix and could it be down to replacing the headgasket?

i have got the car back with oil in the engine for a change but this will of course go again so i need to get some idea iof what how when where and why it can simply disappear.

thanks for all the repsonses already as you can see even with a forum there are alot of different views to the situation which is why i am very uncertain of the way forward.

chopperman

Fixing the head gasket could not cause problems with crank bearings. Maybe the rattle is valve clearances.

bugeyejohn

iTrader: (11)

Theres only 2 ways you can lose oil,with a leak or the engine is burning it.How much oil to miles is it using?

Tidgy

did he warn you that doing it on the cheap might cause issues down the line?

L.J.F

iTrader: (31)

Where abouts in the country are you mate?

rumsey

no mate.

as i initially only wanted to fix the headgasket and he told me i should get a new clutch, rad, cam belt kit, thermostat, water pump etc while i was there so it wasnt really a cheap job and i had alot of work done.

Tidgy

have you got anything in writing? cos if not i think your gonna be in a he said this i said this match and wont get anywhere

rumsey

its had about 7.5L in just under 400 miles.

there is no smoke from the exhaust in the mornings or anytime. there are no splats on the engine and there is minimal leak marks on the under cover aswell. so its going somewhere just have no clue

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Ok.... so as hg's normally cost a packet to do properly and you just wanted the guy to replace the gaskets (I take it you didnt want the block checking for cracks or reskimming which would have cost more?) then it could be down to you not opting for the more expensive option to start with (plus is the garage a subaru garage or an independent?)

This may end up being an expensive mistake on your half tbh, not the fact the HG's been done but the fact you should have asked for the full monty rather than the half baked version (which if you instructed the garage to do he would have done so).

Tony

bugeyejohn

iTrader: (11)

Wow thats a lot,so you would see a leak that bad.If you have cats fitted perhaps there hiding some of the smoke,if it was my car with a unfound rattle and big oil usage i would want a compression test done to check the piston rings.

rumsey

i did have it skimmed and i replaced the inlet manifold and both headgaskets just didnt have any of the seals done.

i wouldnt really call it a half baked version as i spent alot of cash and had alot of work done. only thing i didnt get was the seals.

rumsey

i do have my cat fitted and would the piston rings cause the oil leakage without me being able to notice? and how much are we talking cost wise? and is it related to the HG?

steffi4

Having the same issue with my mechanic still got issues on both vehicles! Small claims with all paperwork, quotes and witnesses etc. Your paid for it to be fixed it isn't so don't stand for it!

bugeyejohn

iTrader: (11)

Its obviously not a leak that big as you would see it, so you have to say its getting burnt.That can be a number of things piston rings are the easiest to check plus you have a rattle so thats what i would look at first.Others are valve stem seals the turbo and possibly a oil gallery leaking into the barrel.The only thing ive heard of which isnt really bad news is a faulty or blocked pcv valve building too much pressure but that would probably blow the dip stick out.

rumsey

Is it simply coincidence that this has happened the day i got my car back or is this going to be related to the work i had done?

as i said before there is no smoke from the exhaust so surely i would notice if the oil was being burnt?

I just cant see how me having the car fixed and the day i got it back this happens. it has to be connected somehow.

bugeyejohn

iTrader: (11)

I once did a hg on a vauxhall i owned it went all of a sudden anyway when i started it up it still wasnt right so i pulled it apart and the rings were gone on one cylinder.Whether the hg going caused the rings to fail i will never know but i know they were ok before as the engine had no rattles and didnt use oil.

stef_2010

iTrader: (3)

I'm no mechanic but if it was burning that much oil surely it would be extremely noticable ?

bugeyejohn

iTrader: (11)

You would think so,the only other explanation is the garage didnt fill it up correctly after doing the hg.

DanAmo

Had a similar problem mate.

Had my headgasket done not so long ago, brought good quality goods though. But in my haste I brought the wrong seal kit. The bloke fitted it anyway, I guess he thought I wouldn't notice. But a week after I notice a oil leak which became very bad. It came from both side of the engine.

I called the bloke and quizzed him, He admitted to the mistake straight away claiming with the deadline and how busy he was he forgot to tell me about it. Can kind of see his point. I was going to threaten him with trading standards as I paid alot of money. But he is repairing it free of charge with the correct seal kit.

Just the way things go I guess, toughen up with them mate. You should not have to pay for something you have already paid for.

rumsey

so a comprassion test will tell me about the piston rings?

stef_2010

iTrader: (3)

Yes it will

If one or more were damaged though youd know all about it

classicgc8

iTrader: (4)

needs a leak down test ,bit more involved than a compression check,vaguely it involves screwing a tool in through the spark plug thread and putting the cylinder to tdc posistion.then via a coupling compressed air via a airline hose is allowed to bleed into the cylinder at about 90 psi andwhen shut off any loss can be seen any more than about 30 % is major ,but upto 20% is acceptable in my opinion ,which will help to show any ring problems.not all garages have this kit though worth asking and making sure they dont confuse you asking for a compression check

Scrappy9

Why did you have the head gasket done in the first place? Has that fault now been resolved?

As previous posters have said the oil can only be leaking out or being burnt.

I really don't mean this to sound insulting but you have checked the oil on level ground etc. and it did have oil in when you picked it up - just thinking if it the level was low when you collected it - and the car is on a slight incline it may not have used as much oil as you think.

Sounds really odd.

giz1978

iTrader: (5)

get it check by someone before it blows up