I recently bought a 180k mile Octavia II diesel DSG to replace my Octavia I which suffered a timing belt failure (my fault; changed the belt only once in its 190k mile life...).  So, once bitten twice shy, I took it to my local garage (not Skoda) for a service and precautionary timing & fan belt, tensioner, water pump etc change.  The service record showed that the timing belt had previously been replaced twice, but the mileage since the last change was 70k miles, so time for another.  £750 worse off, but full of confidence I tested it on a 50-mile drive for a day's walking.  All fine until the drive home (engine now cold).  On start-up the engine made a regular rubbing sound that appeared to come from the fan belt area. This eased slightly over the careful drive back to the garage where a failure of the brand-new pulley tensioner (?) was found.  This was replaced foc and I set off on a long trip up to Scotland.  250 miles into the trip and the car stopped.  Timing belt had failed.

The garage owner has agreed to repair the car as it clearly was not my fault.  I am worried about their competence and/or compatibility of the parts they have used.  

Q1.  Can I check the parts against what should have been used?

Q2.  Should I ask for a whole new engine or will a repair to any bent valves etc be adequate to give me an acceptable life from my "new" car?

Q3.  Other than finding a new garage to look after my car, is there anything else I can do to prevent similar future nasties?

Any advice gratefully received.

I think that you pretty much have to let the garage attempt to rectify the problem before you can take any further action. If you don't allow that it can hinder what you can do later on.

 

Might be worth having a discussion with the garage how they intend to fix the problem. I wouldn't be surprised if they were looking at an engine swap as a more efficient solution than a rebuild but I think they have the discretion to fix it how they want to.

 

Without knowing the reputation of the garage it's impossible to judge if they have been negligent or just unlucky. Plus even the best garage/mechanic will make mistakes. Your message suggests they are acting reasonably and are going to rectify the problem.

Edited 11 September, 201411 yr by Aspman

I'm in favor of always putting original belt or from Bosch. My dad had similar issue in his passat. Once i put a goodyear belt on "fan belt " and less than 10k it started to come apart

As above.

 

Get into a dialogue with them and ask how they intend to fix it.

 

If it's a matter of a "new" engine then you would be well within your rights to know the history of this engine.

 

If they do another belt change on this or your "new" engine then make sure they use OEM skoda parts!

 

Phil

Useful input - thank you all!  Pretty much what my intuition was leading me towards.  The garage immediately said that they would rectify the problem, so I will let them do that.  As for engine swap or repair I will let them decide and will keep a close eye on the use of Skoda parts, 

I too would be suspicious of the use of a Goodyear belt. This is not oem, which means they probably did not replace all the parts you are supposed to during a belt change.

 

I would suggest to them once they fix the engine, that they use either a Skoda/VW cambelt kit or a Gates kit (VAG belt kits are reboxed Gates kits). These kits have a new belt along with tensioner, idler rollers and new bolts/studs to attach these replacement items. I've replaced a few cam belts in my time and did the cam belt on my 2.0 PD myself a while ago, and although it's not especially hard to do, as cam belt changes go it does require care and attention to detail to avoid making a mistake. In particular positioning of the locking pins is easy to get wrong, and the tensioner stud (which is replaced) is quite prone to being damaged if you are heavy handed with tightening it up.      

if your gunna get major work done go to a dealer where manufacturer parts are used and the technicians are specifically trained on a brand. I know they can be expensive but who you want fitting a timing belt, a back street garage taking notes from a book all can get or a skoda tech who has been on multiple training courses and upto date skoda technical alerts. For example i work for renault the petrol timing belt tensioner has been modified where the spacer needs turned round( on manufacturer parts ), and if this isnt fitted correctly the tensioner will fail and snap the belt. Backstreet garages wont of known this when it first came out. But  a dealer technician would of known. Remember you aint paying for the shiney dealer showroom your paying for the technician knowledge.

 

Hmmm gone off track basicaly say your not happy with the work your local garage does  take to a dealer, your local garage will have to pay for repair costs.

My dealer couldn't be bothered to diagnosis a suspect fuel pump on my car and try to insinuate my turbo was faulty. £1500 in necessary work if I'd allow them to replace those parts.

 

Dealers have ulterior motives - find a good independent VAG garage imo, they DO exist.

 

To the OP - I hope you have a sensible resolution to this problem.

It would be unbelievable if, as a business they don't have liability insurance to cover them for losses such as this. I don't think for a minute that they will be footing the repair costs out of their own pocket. I would raise this with them and push for a new engine.

It would be unbelievable if, as a business they don't have liability insurance to cover them for losses such as this. I don't think for a minute that they will be footing the repair costs out of their own pocket. I would raise this with them and push for a new engine.

Unlikely that they would do that, the excess is likely to be more than the cost of the parts, unless they were fitting a brand new engine, which would probably be more than the car is worth.

Business insurance is no better than for individuals, in some ways worse.

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If they fitted a new belt in good faith would they not have some comeback against Goodyear?

 

The belt on my VRS was done by a non Vag indy but always used OEM parts. I can remember him commenting on how expensive he thought the belt kit was.

A mate of mine recently had the timing belt done on his 56 plate Vectra 1.9 tdi and a few weeks later I noticed it was making a rattling sound from the timing belt cover so advised him to take it back to the garage. He did so and they discovered that the tensioner was on the point of failing, so replaced it and the belt again. A couple of weeks later it was making the same noise again, so he took it back and sure enough it had gone again. Both timing belt kits were Dayco ones as supplied by a local motor factors, so they have now been sent back to Dayco for further examination, and he now has a different make fitted (don't know which one) and all appears well.

There is no chance the op will get a new engine due to age and mileage. If the engine can be repaired they are legally allowed to do that or source another engine of same age and mileage or better. Once the car is fixed, it must be as is or better, if not then the garage will have problems.

We had a similar failure on a Passat with the same engine, the belt went slack just like the one in the photo after 30 miles.  The fault turned out to be a sheared tensioner retaining stud.  Luckily for us, we had used genuine parts from our local TPS including the 60 pence stud that failed.  Our customer got a brand new engine in his 100,000 Passat courtesy of VW parts warranty.

 

I recall, some years ago when a motor factor representative visited us with a view to selling us some Goodyear timing belt kits, we were told that the warranty for consequential damage was very good.

Thank you all for your hugely helpful responses.  The car is now with the garage after a 12+ hour recovery from Scotland courtesy of the AA.  The garage owner totally accepts responsibility and will repair the car.  The fault sounds virtually identical to "fordfan"'s above; a sheared bolt.  I didn't have my camera this morning and the bolt is hard to see from the outside, but attaches the part immediately below the 2 toothed belt sprockets in the diagram (tensioning pulley?).  This was hanging off so the whole belt had gone loose.  Investigation this week will determine whether the engine has to be repaired or replaced.  First and only timing belt failure for him in a 15-year career.

I didn't have my camera this morning and the bolt is hard to see from the outside, but attaches the part immediately below the 2 toothed belt sprockets in the diagram (tensioning pulley?).  This was hanging off so the whole belt had gone loose.  Investigation this week will determine whether the engine has to be repaired or replaced.

That's the tensioner and the tensioner stud is what it is mounted on.