1.4 Greenline engine failure and extended warranty issues

[idab]

Wondering if anyone has any experience of the 1.4 Greenline engine failing?

My car had a knocking noise and it turned out to be the con rod bearing on the 2nd cylinder. Extended Warranty company are blaming low engine oil level. I know that the engine oil level has never been low. Car has been serviced in accordance with manufacturer's recommendations by a Skoda dealership and oil level checked regularly. If oil level had been low all cylinders would likely have been affected or at least cylinder furthest from pump?

Have been unable to source an independent engineer to support my claim as they say the reason behind the damage is purely speculative. Anyone have any suggestions what the way forward with the extended warranty company may be, or have you experienced similar problems with the engine?

A friend recommended checking if the car would record if engine oil level had ever been low. Does anyone know if this information is recorded by the car and if so how far back can information be extracted?

[Carlodiesel]

Idab

who has said the oil level was low to warranty co.

Go ask the person who checked out your car and reported this.

Take a photo of the dipstick showing oil level.

Then you can argue to warranty co, that is not the case.

You need to do more investigation yourself, then you can stand and shout the odds to them.

cd

This is typical warranty com, stand your ground, do not be put off.

Edited 25 February, 2015 by Carlo diesel

[sharkrider]

indeed, dont be fobbed off, fight it, and you will probably win

[storm blue 2]

Im unsure if the car would store a log of every single occasion a warning light came on, I.e low oil light. Others can confrim this but I imagine the fault logs would clear?

You need to find an independent engineer. Have the warranty company passed you a copy of their inspecting engineers report? They would have had to strip the engine to determine the cause. Did they do this? Also, did they pass a sample of the oil to a lab for testing to look at metal content etc?

[idab]

Thanks for the replies folks. The engine has been dismantled by the garage to diagnose what the fault was. The warranty company arranged for the engine to be examined and I received a copy of the full report - their engineer concluded that the fault would likely be the result of either the engine oil level being too low (at some point during the life of the engine) or deteriorated oil. The car has only done 64,000 miles. I don't know If the oil will have been tested but the car was always serviced by the Skoda dealer and they replaced the oil (so should be the correct oil).

At present the warranty company has lodged my objection to their findings as an official complaint and are arranging another inspection of the engine. I'm definitely planning to fight my case as I know the oil level has never been low and there is only damage to one of the cylinders. An independent mechanical engineer's opinion wouldn't go amiss though or even evidence of others having similar problems.

[Carlodiesel]

Idab,

The answere is in the wording.

"The fault would likely be......."

As I mentioned, do your home work, particularly in their wording of the report. As as you will see their conclusion is one of many things, they are guessing.

Give proof of last service, date mileage, list of parts fitted at service, I.e oil filter etc.

Would be good to copy report and paste on here for peeps to see.

Good luck, keep on their case.

cd

[mrgf]

If its done 64,000 its only mid service schedule so the oil SHOULD have been fine. They don't usually drink oil so its either been leaking (Warranty issue) Or not filled by the service mech. (Warranty issue0!

[Minimoke]

You don't mention how many miles has the vehicle done, and what time has elapsed, since the last serivice by the Skoda dealership?

 

I think that may be crucial data.

 

The fact that its #2 cylinder that has failed is probably neither here nor there and I would not pin my hopes on that.

 

The independent engineer says that the engine may have suffered oil starvation at some point but that is his opinion. It may not have. Its like all professional opinions (and I have provided then in a different field) its no more than an opinion unless he can back up the opinion with more evidence that is likely to sway a disinterested audience  . Was he truly independent or was he appointed by the warranty company?

 

I wouldn't despair at this point but you will have be persistent and patient - above all don't get drawn into a pi**ing contest with the warranty company. If its an insured warranty (a la Warranty Direct) you will have options (later down the track) with the insurance sector regulators if you reach impasse.

 

Best of luck 

[storm blue 2]

As above, they have given their comments on the cause of failure without having provided any 'evidence'. Ways to chellenge their comments

1) Deteriorated oil. Have an oil sample report done (approx £60). They will report back on inter alia, the oils 'tbn' (total base number). New oil starts at a '9', the number will reduce after x miles of use. Thus, you can prove if it is new or newish oil.

2) Reduced oil level (At some point in engine life). Show them your service history, surely on a 1.4 greenline you never need to top up between services? Oil usage would be near nil.

[Carlodiesel]

Quote " At present the warranty company has lodged my objection to their findings as an official complaint and are arranging another inspection of the engine. I'm definitely planning to fight my case as I know the oil level has never been low and there is only damage to one of the cylinders."

 

idab,

You never did post a result of your problem.

How did you get on with the warranty company?

[mrgf]

just had a shedload of issues now myself! At around 45k, the engine was replaces after oil pump chain broke. This follows on from having turbo replaced just a week earlier and a new cylinder head a year or so previously!

 

All the above under warranty.  Now, I had erg valve replaced as I was told it had fault code. Week later, still not running correctly, it went in for testing, an injector was iffy. New set of seals didn't fix it so new injector (QUITE PRICEY)  eventually sorted fuelling but camshaft turned out to be worn, along with the hydraulic tappets. Luckily, the guy at Stevens VW specialists, Wanstead,  had a "Spare" shaft he gave me, charging labour only for fitment of that and the other work undertaken.

 

His opinion was that the shaft lobes were worn, usually to low or lack of oil. The only time my car had oil problem was when the pump failed and the engine was replaced. It would seem that the new engine was most likely a "Short engine" retaining my own head etc. This would mean my head components are now a ticking time-bomb, waiting to go off. I therefor think the repair should really be down to Skoda as they failed to replace components that were now going to be in a naff condition, but it took a further 2 years for the wear to become apparent and the engine was replaced just prior to the end of the 3 year warranty.

 

The car, by the way, has now covered almost 90K but I would not expect repairs like that so soon in its life, really. Not on a VW engine. I could not take out the extended warranty, due to being a driving instructor, otherwise I would have returned it to a main dealer for repair and point blank refused to pay!