Car overheating after getting service today

smallcapmac

Hi, Just picked up my renault megane from renault garage today after its service and on the way home the car engine tempeture was up near the top of the gauge. No hot air blowing in the cabin either. I'll ring them first thing in the morning but has anyone any idea what have they done to my car???

oddone

smallcapmac wrote: »

Hi, Just picked up my renault megane from renault garage today after its service and on the way home the car engine tempeture was up near the top of the gauge. No hot air blowing in the cabin either. I'll ring them first thing in the morning but has anyone any idea what have they done to my car???

Possibly bled and forgotten to refill the radiator coolant or oil I would guess.

Check your car's fluid levels.

listermint

Coolant leak ?

Damaged or incorrectly fitted hose?

Faulty thermostat?

Fault sensor / electrical fault....

Bawnmore

A shot in the dark, but is the fan kicking in? Start the car from cold and give it a couple of revs until temperature rises a little and once about quarter way up check to see if the fan is spinning. If not check that the fan belt is ok and definitly contact the garage back as soon as possible!

smallcapmac

Thanks for replies. The fan seems to be working fine. I just had a look in the coolant place and doesn't seem to be any. the remember to charge me for coolant alright.

air

Hope your engine isnt cooked, if your journey was short enough the cold weather might have been enough to save you.

nightster1

Recommendation:- Do not drive this car without fluids. The engine may seize

mullingar

NAME AND SHAME THE DEALER

If the garage never put fluid into it, they could not and did not finish the service.

Im not a mechanic, but I do know that the cooling fan should be tested for operation by simply letting the car run/tick-over for 20 mins or whatever it takes to heat up.

NAME AND SHAME

And demand some money back for your loss of earnings etc etc..........

oddone

mullingar wrote: »

NAME AND SHAME THE DEALER

If the garage never put fluid into it, they could not and did not finish the service.

Im not a mechanic, but I do know that the cooling fan should be tested for operation by simply letting the car run/tick-over for 20 mins or whatever it takes to heat up.

NAME AND SHAME

And demand some money back for your loss of earnings etc etc..........

Not sure about the name and shame, might have been a genuine mistake but it is a fairly serious one as you could have destroyed your engine.
Definitely contact them asap and explain the situation which the onus is on them to rectify.

mickdw

Were they flushing the coolant or doing any other work that would require the water system to be empty. Its very serious if they let you out without coolant.

Skyuser

Phone them and get them to call out to you to refill the coolant rather than driving it with no coolant back to the garage.

franksm

You probably won't be able to name and shame here (unfortunately). Boards only allow the good to be named. Free speech (so long as it's nice and happy )

mullingar

My understanding of the rules on "naming and shaming" is if you have sound proof that they did do you or your property harm eg forgetting to put coolant in the car, then you can "name and shame".

[mods please correct me if I am wrong]

Guy:Incognito

mullingar wrote: »

My understanding of the rules on "naming and shaming" is if you have sound proof that they did do you or your property harm eg forgetting to put coolant in the car, then you can "name and shame".

[mods please correct me if I am wrong]

Ah boo, I held off naming a Merc dealer that dangerously repaired my missus A class, but they are gone bust now anyway . They wrapped wire around a fuse that kept blowing and just shoved it back in instead of finding and fixing the problem (it wasnt noticed for about 18 months but they were the only ones that ever had it. It was realted to the power steering system that kept cutting out)

kasper

obviously some one made a mistake no on purpose , people make mistakes ,ring the garage i am sure they will only be too happy to rectify it at their expense

Juwwi

I'd get an independent mechanic to have a look over it aswell tomorrow.

How far did u drive with no coolant?

did u not think of stoping when the tempeture gauge raised to the red

Bawnmore

Bawnmore wrote: »

If not check that the fan belt is ok and definitly contact the garage back as soon as possible!

The "fan belt" on most modern cars does not operate the fan

Seems as they charged for coolant and the car was fine before going in and the expansion tank is empty it appears that they drained it and didn't refill unfortunately. Worst case scenario the HG is damaged if not the engine itself, as said by folks above do not drive the car, insist they come out and have a look see for you. There is a chance you coincidentally sprang a major coolant leak on the way back from them so don't be too ott with them in case that is the case.

unkel

mullingar wrote: »

My understanding of the rules on "naming and shaming" is if you have sound proof that they did do you or your property harm eg forgetting to put coolant in the car, then you can "name and shame".

The claim that they did not put coolant in the car is only a claim from the OP (like a witness statement). It is not proof at all. Now if you had video evidence (clearly identifying the garage) that they drained the coolant system system and not refilled it and then handed over the keys, that would be a different story.

Naming and shaming in this case would be an accusation that the OP can't prove, so it would be libelous!

mullingar

kasper wrote: »

obviously some one made a mistake no on purpose , people make mistakes ,ring the garage i am sure they will only be too happy to rectify it at their expense

They made 2 mistakes
- not filling coolant
- not checking fan operation (kicks in & out)

If they made the mistake of not filling the coolant the final check would spot it.

Unforgivable IMO.

If that was me I would be livid:mad: but thankfully not as I avoid main dealers like the plague;)

smallcapmac

Thanks again. I'm pretty annoyed about this. It seems it was an almighty mistake to make that could have cost me a fortune. I drove about 15 miles with it and didn't notice that engine tempeture until I was v close to home...To busy fiddleing trying to get the hot air going.

I'll give them and buzz first thing and hopefully they will sort out the situation. My gut feeling is that they made a mistake rather than a coinicidental problem on the way home. Getting an independent mechanic is a good idea. I'll give them a chance to make good but if its not sorted to my satisfaction I might revisit the name and shame...

Nonoperational

Your dead right to be annoyed. Hopefuly there is no damage but the head gasket could easily be damaged. Very very poor stuff.

Juwwi

Just out of curiosity what year is the car?

Not that it maters

smallcapmac

04

voxpop

You might want to check for any leaks under the car or a trail of coolant- depending on where the temperature sender is mounted. Its just that on VAG cars the temp sender is clipped into one of the coolant pipes and if it is loose or not fitted correctly, will usually pop out when the water pump starts-so not straight away when the car is started but only when the car is up to temp. If it does come out then the coolant will drain out from there.

They may have changed the temp sender or unseated it by mistake when servicing the car

-Chris-

franksm wrote: »

You probably won't be able to name and shame here (unfortunately). Boards only allow the good to be named. Free speech (so long as it's nice and happy not libellous )

FYP

mullingar wrote: »

They made 2 mistakes
- not filling coolant
- not checking fan operation (kicks in & out)

The fan still works.
The coolant was either not put in or was put in but has leaked out.

Both are more than likely the garage's fault, but are more than likely not malicious actions.

mullingar wrote: »

If they made the mistake of not filling the coolant the final check would spot it.

Unforgivable IMO.

Forgivable if they fix it properly when confronted IMO. Mistakes happen, it's how you deal with them that seperates the mice from the men.

mullingar wrote: »

If that was me I would be livid:mad: but thankfully not as I avoid main dealers like the plague;)

Because no independent mechanic has ever made a mistake in the history of man... :rolleyes:

---

OP - call the dealer immediately. Refuse to drive the car. Tell them to send someone out immediately.
Allow them to fix the problem, make sure it's fixed (2nd opinion).
Get some goodwill out of them (next service free or something).

Be firm and polite, throwing the toys out of the pram just makes people defensive.
This was an accident that was their fault and is now their responsibility to fix.

kasper

well said chris some poor lad made a mistake

-Chris-

And the poor OP has a banjaxed car through no fault of his own, but there's no point in getting bent out of shape until you hear the dealer's response...

Bawnmore

RoverJames wrote: »

The "fan belt" on most modern cars does not operate the fan

Feck it, I knew my first advise would have something wrong

Someday I'll get it right...............

Thanks though!

Not to worry, the name is very misleading, folks nowadays when they say fanbelt they are more often than not referring to the alternator belt . Fans are powered by the electics.

Juwwi

OP is your car banjaxed? how did u get on