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Gearbox nightmare, Mr Clutch incompetence

mulber123

By mulber123
in Skoda Fabia Mk I (1999-2007)

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mulber123 Newbie

mulber123

Posted
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Hi all, I had my clutch replaced at Mr. Clutch 2 months ago, and a few nights ago there was an almighty bang/clunk and my passenger side driveshaft had come off. Working with just a light in pitch black, I thought I could just replace the bolts. But on closer inspection, there is a big hole in the gear box near where the loose drive shaft would've been flailing around. And 3 of the 6 bolts which hold the driveshaft to the transmission are very bent. Clearly not been put on right. Anyone got any idea where I stand legally? Mr Clutch apparently guarantee "all parts and labour", and I kept to warranty inspections (which basically involves some bloke driving your car round the corner). But I've got a nasty feeling this might be the end for my beloved Fabia :sweat:

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Phil-E Mentor

Phil-E

Posted
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I'd say you have a strong case to take the car back and get them to put a new gearbox in!

 

If they had torque the driveshaft bolts to the pecified torque then there is no way they should have come loose.

 

Give them a ring and speak to the manager and start from there.

 

If they start trying to back out then get some advice some the CAB or trading standards before trying anything else wit them.

 

Put pressure on and ask to have the car recovered to them to be repaired... you also want a courtesy car while it's being repaired which I think is a very reasonable request.

 

Good luck!

 

Phil

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padi Enthusiast

padi

Posted
Posted

Hi all, I had my clutch replaced at Mr. Clutch 2 months ago, and a few nights ago there was an almighty bang/clunk and my passenger side driveshaft had come off. Working with just a light in pitch black, I thought I could just replace the bolts. But on closer inspection, there is a big hole in the gear box near where the loose drive shaft would've been flailing around. And 3 of the 6 bolts which hold the driveshaft to the transmission are very bent. Clearly not been put on right. Anyone got any idea where I stand legally? Mr Clutch apparently guarantee "all parts and labour", and I kept to warranty inspections (which basically involves some bloke driving your car round the corner). But I've got a nasty feeling this might be the end for my beloved Fabia :sweat:

Very sorry to hear of your misfortune with Mr Clutch like others had said be firm but positive if you are a member of the RAC etc perhaps get them to make a report.If the job was done correctly there is no way the bolts would have failed and the drive shaft come out. Poor workmanship with the fitter and Mr Clutch has quite a bad service report on the net. But like everything the job is only as good as what the person is doing it lets hope you get a good result.

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rwbaldwin Experienced

rwbaldwin

Posted
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The official Skoda procedure requires that new driveshaft to flange bolts be used each time they are removed. They must not be reused.

After an initial tightening of 10Nm, the torque should be 50Nm+45° if the bolts are M10 or 20Nm+180° if the bolts are M8.

If the correct torque is applied to new bolts, they don't come undone.

HTH

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coskev Experienced

coskev

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The official Skoda procedure requires that new driveshaft to flange bolts be used each time they are removed. They must not be reused.

After an initial tightening of 10Nm, the torque should be 50Nm+45° if the bolts are M10 or 20Nm+180° if the bolts are M8.

If the correct torque is applied to new bolts, they don't come undone.

HTH

 
Is that just because they have thread lock on the bolts?
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rwbaldwin Experienced

rwbaldwin

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Is that just because they have thread lock on the bolts?

I don't think so. If you undo one of the bolts and then angle tighten it again it has a different feel and takes a different peak torque.

Some time ago I did some tests to end an argument about reusing bolts. I checked these bolts, the wishbone to knuckle bolts, the ARB droplink bolts and the engine mount bolts with a digital reading torque wrench. The final torque for new bolts was very different compared to reused bolts in all cases.

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SKYHAWK Experienced

SKYHAWK

Posted
Posted

Hi all, I had my clutch replaced at Mr. Clutch 2 months ago, and a few nights ago there was an almighty bang/clunk and my passenger side driveshaft had come off. Working with just a light in pitch black, I thought I could just replace the bolts. But on closer inspection, there is a big hole in the gear box near where the loose drive shaft would've been flailing around. And 3 of the 6 bolts which hold the driveshaft to the transmission are very bent. Clearly not been put on right. Anyone got any idea where I stand legally? Mr Clutch apparently guarantee "all parts and labour", and I kept to warranty inspections (which basically involves some bloke driving your car round the corner). But I've got a nasty feeling this might be the end for my beloved Fabia :sweat:

I GOT A BOX OUT OF AN 06 PLATE 40K WITH PROOF OF MILEAGE OFFERS WELCOME

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sepulchrave Mentor

sepulchrave

Posted
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It's probably a bit premature to be going for endgame-legal-escalation-armchair-general-red-button-pushing-nuclear-armageddon-insanity!

 

Give them a chance to sort it under the terms of their warranty, it's clearly and unarguably their fault, they don't have a leg to stand on and they'll know it.

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coskev Experienced

coskev

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I don't think so. If you undo one of the bolts and then angle tighten it again it has a different feel and takes a different peak torque.

Some time ago I did some tests to end an argument about reusing bolts. I checked these bolts, the wishbone to knuckle bolts, the ARB droplink bolts and the engine mount bolts with a digital reading torque wrench. The final torque for new bolts was very different compared to reused bolts in all cases.

Stretch bolts then? :)

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mulber123 Newbie

mulber123

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Thanks for all the responses. I couldn't take the car back to them for a week or so because I was busy, but (to my utter amazement) they agreed on the spot to repair all the damage and I got the car back today. God knows what the future will bring since they messed up putting the driveshaft back on initially, but in their defence they didn't even try to argue it wasn't their fault. They jsut took it back and fixed it.  Maybe those good garage schemes they're part of aren't a load of *******

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Phil-E Mentor

Phil-E

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Great result!

 

You would hope that they checked, double and then triple checked the work this time!

 

Fingers crossed everything is sorted now.

 

I guess we all make mistakes... just nice when people hold their hands up and admit it and put it right.

 

Phil

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