Engine Siezure

[Damo]

Just spoke to a friend of mine who had his 100,000 k service done today. He was lucky to have driven 15kms and his engine siezed.

He first noticed a loud clunking/ticking/rattle from the engine that he describes as a metal on metal sound. Now the engine will not even tick over.

The maintenance he had done was:

Timing belt changed

Tension pulley tightened (due to belts screaching on startup)

Several seals replaced (ie, crank seal)

fuel filter changed

oil / oil filter change

One thing that sounded a bit dodgy was a crank bolt which he ( the mechanic) apparently snapped and had to replace.

We are going to confront the mechanic tomorrow and want to make sure we know we know what is wrong first so the guy cant feed us any bulls%*t.

I think the most likely cause is the timing belt not fitted correctly.

What do u guys think and how can we confirm that this is the problem?

[wreckedhead]

if your motor wont turn over means your engine is ****ED. happend to me on my 300zx, after it siezed up had to rebuild the motor. good luck and please dont be shy to confront the mechanic and make him pay for the rebuild.

[Damo]

Is their anyway we can confirm that it is the timing belt that caused it?

[relicr31act]

This might sound dumb but have you checked the oil level. It would not be the first time a mechanic has forgotten to put oil in it.

[predator]

Whatever happened clear case of mechanical screw up on their behalf. I don't quite know how they'd try and wrangle out of it.

but if they do try, get an independent inspection ASAP (like today) by another party or two, get it in writing.

And if you need to take legal action against the mechanic involved, this will help.

[meshmesh]

I'm thinking out loud here, but goig back about ~11 years ago I had a suzuki swift gti, going in for a timing belt/cam belt change. Apparantley the pulley needed to be put on a special way which the mechanic did not do.. we drove about 80k's, and when we tried to restart the car, it would not start... Thankfully it didn't blow the motor, but was an expensive tow from Bells Beach to Melbourne, ended up taking the matter to the Small Claims tribunal and won.

[Damo]

Yeah the oil was checked and even replaced after my friend told the mechanic the car is making a noise. The mechanic said just to put a thicker oil in it and it will be fine. Then 10 km later bye bye engine.

The car is getting towed to the mechanic now and the dick still thinks its the oil.

I dont think he has a clue.