Hi

I took my skoda Octavia Elegance 2003 Estate for a service with a mechanic that i had been using for years. The service showed the cam belt hadnt been changed so he said he would would a full service, cambelt, oil and everything basically.

Anyway afterwards when I got the car back, it was making a slight noise, which he said was the bearings just working themselves in. I stayed for a few days and I took it back to him as I didint think it was the problem. When he put his foot down to test it, reaching about 4000rpm, the engine just blew. The engines not been opened but it defo wont turn over and most likely the engine block is ruined. He reckons it the turbo that caused it, I have my doubts.

So anyway I've only had the car for a year with 100k Miles and it was a perfect car. Its was the 1.9 TDI ASV engine, which features in other VW cars. I cant find any decent Skoda Salvage at the right sort of price to make an engine replacement worthwhile, but there are other cars where the same engine is fitted.

So would it be possible to put an engine from a different car model i.e VW Golf straight into the Skoda, as long as it has the same engine code?

You should be OK as long as the engine code is the same. The Seat Leon used the same engine as well I think.

Seems a little odd that the engine died within days of a new cambelt being fitted and I would expect your mechanic to demonstrate that it wasn't a result of the work he did and possibly you may want to get a second opinion from someone else who is suitably qualified.

There are quite a few cars that used the exact same engine, Golf Mk4, Polo Mk3, VW Bora/Jetta, Seat Leon, Seat Ibiza, Audi A3...

Hmmm yeah, more than a little odd. Although he wont admit its his fault, he has said he will fit the new engine etc all for free.

I have a feeling that he never done the work himself. In terms of competance I have used him for over 15 years mostly due to the quality of his work, but that was always with japaneese cars, which he is a bit of an expert with.

sounds like a cambelt failure/issue to me.

Why would be offer to fit a new engine for free if he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Just the bearings working themselves in"- what a load of tosh!

Sounds like he got the timing wrong on the belt to me!

Agreed that he needs to demonstrate that it was in fact the turbo that caused it. If that was the case it should be pretty easy to tell by showing you the turbo.

Is he paying for the cost of the engine itself or just the fitting or both?

Phil

Another question. I have seen a copart that might meet what I need, but im only given part of the VIN and cant find a way to check the engine code from that.

Is there any way that you can check the engine code of a car other then acutally seing the car?

Send me the VIN. I have an app that tells you some info based on the VIN.

phil

When I changed the cambelt on my car recently there were no funny noises.

When I changed the cambelt on my car recently there were no funny noises.

Probably done properly thats why

This is why mechanics are hated so much.

They do work that the average joe literally knows nothing about, and when they mess up, it's easy to fob them off on a lie. The customer doesn't know the difference.

A bad turbo can damage an engine instantly,I've seen that before.If the the tubo leaks oil in the intake side,oil will get into the cilinder,the piston can't compress the oil and boom...

A bad turbo can damage an engine instantly,I've seen that before.If the the tubo leaks oil in the intake side,oil will get into the cilinder,the piston can't compress the oil and boom...

It can, but in this case the engine blew as the revs were raised to 4000. A running engine can easily clear any oil leaking via the turbo.

"The bearings just working themselves in" is BS. There should be no additional noise after a cambelt change. When there is, it is usually a problem with the belt tension.

As any mechanic will tell you, an unrelated problem can occur after some work is done, but something doesn't sound right with this one.

sounds very messy.. :(

any unusual noise after a cambelt change means something is wrong.. what bearings would be run in? if we're talking tensioners/ guides- they run silent when the belt tension is correct, on the other hand an over tensioned belt will give you a whinning noise either until the belt snaps or stretches.. if the belt has snapped then a new engine may not be required- depending on what damage has been caused by the valves hitting the pistons- ive seen it in the past where a new/reconditioned head has been required and once stripped and rebuilt the engine has run as good as before.. (unless we're talking conrods exiting the block/major piston damage etc.. :( )

although as an ex-mot tester i have also seen turbo's give up during the smoke test (usually down to lack of regular oil changes)- this results in massive amounts of smoke.. and a swift end to the test..lol engine dosnt blow as such- just starts running on its own sump oil- the engine can be saved and a new turbo fitted, a decent service and can give years further service..

im with all the others who say 'something doesn't sound right here'..

When I changed the cambelt on my car recently there were no funny noises.

Nor mine, and I have changed mine several times

Pull the cam belt cover off and have a look if its still there!

The belt is still there and on properly.

The belt is still there and on properly.

Properly tensioned? Jumped any teeth? etc

Just to update on the engine. A new one has been found, beit a little older and has been fitted, fairly smoothly. Im no expert but the turbo looks fine to me, maybe we need to take it off and take it aparts but here are some pics.

Youre probably better off getting some well informed legal advice on this!

Get an independent engineer to report and verify the cause of engine failure. If they made a mistake on the original engine, are you happy to trust them try and fix things?

Why give an incompetent mechanic more of your business - especially if they have quite probably screwed up and lied?

Just to update on the engine. A new one has been found, beit a little older and has been fitted, fairly smoothly. Im no expert but the turbo looks fine to me, maybe we need to take it off and take it aparts but here are some pics.

Im a bit confused - is this a picture of the new motor?

Just looking at the nice big hole in the crankcase...

although as an ex-mot tester i have also seen turbo's give up during the smoke test (usually down to lack of regular oil changes)- this results in massive amounts of smoke.. and a swift end to the test..lol engine dosnt blow as such- just starts running on its own sump oil- the engine can be saved and a new turbo fitted, a decent service and can give years further service..

Had this happen to me a couple of weeks ago, the flap in the manifold saved the engine.

The photos show the compressor part of the turbo, the shaft broke and it ran on its own oil. We had the car up and running earlier this week with a used turbo and all seems well, despite the initial copious amounts of smoke from the oil left in the exhaust.

This is the one we took out. The new engine has already been fitted.