A mechanic mate just did my cam belt for me, and the Climatronic has stopped working.

No blower and the heater temp led's don't light up.

Is it just coincidence or could he have done something to cause it?

Had the codes read and cleared by local independent, but the fault came straight back.

They told me it had to go to main dealer.

Its a 2008 1.9 tdi DSG.

At local dealer for diagnosis but i am very distrusting of garages, so would like some info before they try bull****ting me.

I'm an ex retail and fleet hgv mechanic, and worked with some right cowboy's, hence my trust issues.

I hate not being able to do the work myself, but i am well out of date with modern cars.

Ta, Daz.

if you post the codes on here someone may be able to advise, or look on Ross-Tech site for more info about the codes

Is the aux belt on and did you check the fuses?

Don't have the codes.

Not the fuses, it seems to have some kind of built in circuit breaker to shut it down.

Will hopefully have more info Monday morning when they plug it in to their machine.

Shock headline: Independent bad, main dealer good-ish!

Must have MUG! tattooed on my forehead that only garage receptionists can read.

A local independent in Broad Oak Road, Canterbury, who have been about for years, charged me £165 for not fixing my car, and insisted it had to go to the main dealer.

Took it to Motorline Skoda and explained the problem with the car and my issues with trusting garages etc, see first post, to Tristan in reception.

He seemed very genuine and completely understood my concerns, having worked in the trade locally for 30 years, both in workshop and reception.

There were supposedly other issues with the car that showed up while plugged in, i have a list of codes, but how do you know they were for my car and not copied and pasted from another? Paranoid, moi?

A total of 10 hours labour to fix other faults that showed up, which should have equated to £800 plus parts, if in fact they existed.

I ended up with a £650 bill including parts, after Tristan sorted me a discount after i explained my circumstances.

I am a right leg amputee and the car is my taxi and only means of working.

I can't rent a replacement due to the adaptations it needs.

And from what i hear, Motorline don't do discounts.

Turns out my mate had knocked the only heating switch anywhere near the cambelt, which was green with corrosion, and it short circuited.

So my point is, why could the very 'experienced' independent's mechanic not find that, with their £10,000 diagnostic computer that they bragged about.