Meet my lemon!

[dazzler22]

So the 6 months that i have owned my fabia vrs have not been without fault.. in fact there have been several .. (wrong size spare wheel, Leaking radiator, seized rear caliper, electrical issues and it has used 3ltrs of oil in 10k)

So this weekend me and the wife are going away for the weekend and the car is due a service, tonight this was the task...

So after jacking up the car and removing the undertray, there is fresh oil next to the sump plug.. I get a spanner on the plug and it is loose , it takes almost no force at all to crack it off....

After removing it and letting the oil drain it is clear that the sump has been cross threaded and a new sump is required... This does explain the oil loss though. (i thought it was the turbo on the way out..) the sump plug is literally rattling round in the hole no idea how it did not dump it's oil earlier!

This means that the dodgy garage I bought it from either serviced it and left the plug like this or they never serviced it at all...

So now I'm car less ment to be going away in 2 days.

So what do I need to do the sump other than the sump itself?

How easy is it and where best to order? See them cheap on ebay at around £30

Any thing to watch out for and what gaskets will I need?

Where do I stand with the garage? anyone with a legal mind? I bought the car in March and have had a few probes for sure...

They are getting shouted at tomorrow either way!

Any ideas or assistance appreciated!

Cheers

Dazzler

[alex_e3]

Not much help here, but I had the same issue with mine. When my car went to AP Automotive for its hybrid turbo fitting, Ant found that the sump plug was dripping oil slowly. A new sump later and it's sorted.

 

The car's never been back to the garage that used to service it since - it never will be either! They've obviously been hanging off the sump plug to tighten it. They thread easily as they're aluminium! Sump plug should be torqued up properly in future. IIRC offhand it's 30Nm. I may be wrong though...

 

I'm presuming that your car is now out of any short warranty that the garage may have initially provided?

[coskev]

The problem with the sump plug is that the hole is not straight into the sump,if you try putting it in straight you will cross thread it.

 

Its angled slightly upwards,which does not look correct when your trying to put it in

[sepulchrave]

Since you're going away in the car then I suggest you just helicoil the sump plug thread, cheaper and quicker than trying to replace it in time.

[hutchysrs50]

I don't understand how so many people cross thread them!

I suspect more people have over tightend them and pulled the threads out rather than cross thread it.

[gfwc]

If you do remove the sump, it's a super easy job, the only thing you will really need in order to get to a couple bolts that are right next to the gear box, is a ball joint Allen key which enables you to undo it at a funny angle.

I can't remember exactly what size it is, but if you get a set then you'll be fine

I'm sorry to hear about your rather bad experience so far. Good luck!

[dazzler22]

ha Fabia ownership so far has been a pain in the arse! 

 

going to get a sump ordered tonight and hopefully that will get here Friday and me and a mate can fit it on Friday night/sat morning and we only loose a day of holiday...

 

i am wondering what will go wrong next :P 

 

still on the list to fix is leaking rear doors and the aircon! 

 

Cheers

Daz

 

(also car only had a 3 month warrenty it was right after 3 months that everything started going south :P)

[dazzler22]

can anyone tell me about the gasket for the sump? got the sump ordered just wondering about the gasket, is it a liquid gasket??

 

Cheers

Daz

[sepulchrave]

can anyone tell me about the gasket for the sump? got the sump ordered just wondering about the gasket, is it a liquid gasket??

 

Cheers

Daz

 

Yes.

[dazzler22]

ok so all sorted, 2 hours and the help from my tame mechanic friend (basically i was passing tools... he is the pro!).  The 2 bolts next to the bell housing... well lets just say i owe him 2 mini extensions bars (now wobble bars) and a 10mm socket... 

 

the worst part is those 2 bolts where also a bit mushed as clearly someone had a go before us...

 

the bits of swarf from the threaded plug in the sump and caught in the pickup mesh was rather scary.. hopefully none of it made it into the oil pump... 

 

also on another note the trader i got the car from provided me with invoices for the service and the parts and all the contact details for the garage that did it, including an invoice for an extra replacement sump plug as "the one that was fitted was leaking".. oh well! (sounds like they just stuck a new plug in and figured that was enough, or they tried to remove the sump and failed, hence the mushed bolts..)

 

all sorted for now anyway, till the next lemon issue :P

 

 

Cheers

Daz

[hutchysrs50]

Ball head Allen key, 5mm I believe.