Scammed?

rowanh

My girlfriends 525 tds over heated, she brought it to a tyre place beside us and they put a load of water into it, they said the head gasket might have gone. It drove away ok and then the next day overheated again so she stopped and had it towed to a mechanic. It turns out the problem was the thermostat had gone which wrecked the water pump. He has charged her 1100 euro because he took out the head gasket and checked to see if it was ok, it was fine. Then on top of that the engine is now making a clicking or taping sound which seems really bad, he says he doesnt know what it is but it could be the timing chain. A friend of mine brought his car to him a while ago when the engine was making a strange noise and he told him it was the timing chain, he brought it somewhere else and it turned out to be something very small, i didnt think of it as anything before but its seems strange him giving the car back making this noise and saying thats what it is.. I also would have thought a mechanic could tell if a head gasket was gone without taking the engine apart??

si_guru

rowanh wrote: »

My girlfriends 525 tds over heated, she brought it to a tyre place beside us and they put a load of water into it, they said the head gasket might have gone. It drove away ok and then the next day overheated again so she stopped and had it towed to a mechanic. It turns out the problem was the thermostat had gone which wrecked the water pump. He has charged her 1100 euro because he took out the head gasket and checked to see if it was ok, it was fine. Then on top of that the engine is now making a clicking or taping sound which seems really bad, he says he doesnt know what it is but it could be the timing chain. A friend of mine brought his car to him a while ago when the engine was making a strange noise and he told him it was the timing chain, he brought it somewhere else and it turned out to be something very small, i didnt think of it as anything before but its seems strange him giving the car back making this noise and saying thats what it is.. I also would have thought a mechanic could tell if a head gasket was gone without taking the engine apart??

Yep.. a simple compression test would have told him about the Head Gasket. He sounds more like a robber than a mechanic?

EPM

Plenty of other mechanics...

Anan1

I'd be concerned that the tapping noise might be a result of his having messed up the valve timing when reassembling the engine. And as si guru said a compression test could have ruled out the head gasket. Mind you, I can't really see how a failed thermostat could wreck the water pump - thermostats tend to stick open. Although a failed water pump would cause overheating. By the way, did the mechanic remove the head, inspect the head gasket and then reuse the same gasket? If so, perhaps a mechanic might verify that this is ok?

shamwari

Anan1 wrote: »

I'd be concerned that the tapping noise might be a result of his having messed up the valve timing when reassembling the engine. And as si guru said a compression test could have ruled out the head gasket. Mind you, I can't really see how a failed thermostat could wreck the water pump - thermostats tend to stick open. Although a failed water pump would cause overheating. By the way, did the mechanic remove the head, inspect the head gasket and then reuse the same gasket? If so, perhaps a mechanic might verify that this is ok?

It most certainly is not alright to reuse a head gasket in this case, however I doubt if the car would run at all if he did reuse it. The gaskets have a material which hermitically seals the bore to the cylinder head to ensure compression is maintained. Reusing an old gasket will not seal properly if at all, and therefore would likely result in no compression and the engine not running. If the OP knows where to look, he should see evidence of a shiney new gasket between the top of the block and the bottom of the head!

This tapping noise is odd. The mechanic should know whether it is a timing chain or not, and indeed he would have to have removed the chain to get the head off.

Engines which overheat can have noises like this after they are repaired. The cause can be anything from excessive heat messing up valve clearences, a damaged camshaft, or a badly skimmed head which is uneven, resulting in valves coming too close to pistons :eek: It's highly likely that the overheating may be the route cause of the OP's problems, rather than human error, however the guy who did the job should know how to figure our what's still wrong.

jimmyw

Is there a sniff test ( not with your nose;)) that can be done aswell?

mondeo

How do you know he actually took the head off? He could say anything to ye.....

alexmcred

Why did you take it to him if your friend didn't have a great experience with him?

slimjimmc

He didn't, his girlfriend who owned the car did, after she was left stranded.

rowanh

Thanks for the responses, im not sure what to do, it sounds like he could be taking the piss, i just dont get why he wouldn't have done a simple test to see if the head gasket was ok rather than taking it out and sending it off somewhere to get tested..

On the receipt he has down that he changed the gasket and reconditioned the head.

Im just a bit surprised as i have gotten him to do stuff on a few cars i have owned and he has been great, he always seemed very honest and cheap before.

kona

rowanh wrote: »

Thanks for the responses, im not sure what to do, it sounds like he could be taking the piss, i just dont get why he wouldn't have done a simple test to see if the head gasket was ok rather than taking it out and sending it off somewhere to get tested..

On the receipt he has down that he changed the gasket and reconditioned the head.

Im just a bit surprised as i have gotten him to do stuff on a few cars i have owned and he has been great, he always seemed very honest and cheap before.

It sounds like something has been lost in translation to be honest, I'd imagine he ment that he sent the head off to be tested. How long did he have the car?
It seems that either he didnt explain what he did very well, or it wasnt understood 100%.
A mechanic could make up a story thats plausible to milk you without having to resort to Bull****.

osealy

Water pump failure is common on 525tds engine. Plastic impeller shears off?
I think a compression test is troublesome on a diesel???

See if you can see the new gasket?

ShadowHearth

rowanh wrote: »

My girlfriends 525 tds over heated, she brought it to a tyre place beside us and they put a load of water into it, they said the head gasket might have gone. It drove away ok and then the next day overheated again so she stopped and had it towed to a mechanic. It turns out the problem was the thermostat had gone which wrecked the water pump. He has charged her 1100 euro because he took out the head gasket and checked to see if it was ok, it was fine. Then on top of that the engine is now making a clicking or taping sound which seems really bad, he says he doesnt know what it is but it could be the timing chain. A friend of mine brought his car to him a while ago when the engine was making a strange noise and he told him it was the timing chain, he brought it somewhere else and it turned out to be something very small, i didnt think of it as anything before but its seems strange him giving the car back making this noise and saying thats what it is.. I also would have thought a mechanic could tell if a head gasket was gone without taking the engine apart??

just hang that mechanic, and go to ather one...

Anan1

kona wrote: »

It sounds like something has been lost in translation to be honest, I'd imagine he ment that he sent the head off to be tested. How long did he have the car?
It seems that either he didnt explain what he did very well, or it wasnt understood 100%.
A mechanic could make up a story thats plausible to milk you without having to resort to Bull****.

Either way, he:

1.) Replaced a HG that by his own admission didn't need replacing

and

2.) Gave the car back making a tapping noise.

Marlow

osealy wrote: »

Water pump failure is common on 525tds engine. Plastic impeller shears off?
I think a compression test is troublesome on a diesel???

Waterpump is not uncommon on the 525tds, but more the bearings that go. Fortunatly, the 525tds actually cuts the engine off, when it really overheats (there is a sensor, much to my surprise).

Happened to me on the german Autobahn with my '97 525tds.

And a compression test is no problem with a 525tds. BMW did exactly that before handing me the car back. Replacing waterpump, fanbelt, compression test was something like 300-350 quid in Germany at a main dealer incl. parts.

While I expect it to cost a tad more over here, the OPs girlfriend definatly got scammed.

/M