(N.B I've also posted this in the Rapid Forum)

 

My son has recently bought a 1 year old Rapid 1.6 TDi S with approx 14,000 miles on the clock just over a month ago.

 

Within two weeks of ownership there was a loud knocking from the engine.  We called Skoda assist and the car was diagnosed with a broken engine mount (the nut and top of the stud had sheared off) the car was taken to a skoda dealer and a new mounting fitted under warranty.

 

Now two weeks later, the mounting has broken again in exactly the same way?

 

I've attached some pictures that I took this morning - you can clearly see how the nut has sheared off from the top of the stud which goes through the engine mounting.

 

Has anyone come across this before?  What could be causing the nut to shear off after such a short time of driving?  Is there likely to be an underlying issue with the car that should be investigated? should we be rejecting the car and getting our money back?

 

Any help or advice that members can provide would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Paul

 

wouldn't have thought it worth rejecting if you're happy with it otherwise,  and the chance of two bad ones from the same batch  (factory +spare one+ year later) seems remote,  It may be a monkey with a wrench as opposed to a torque wrench --I would let them do it again and make sure it's all flagged up with Skoda UK customer service then keep eye on it,    a call to the tech's at Skoda UK may be useful I've found them keen to help

I did a bit of metallurgy at college, and IMO (informed but not qualified since I didn't graduate in metallurgy) that looks like a wildly over-torqued stud. As the "Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat" says above, suspect a monkey with a wrench!

this ain't  Red City      this is county palatine of chester :sun:

this ain't  Red City      this is county palatine of chester :sun:

Hey, at least you understood the joke, even if it was subject to a geographical inexactitude.

Well it seems that the first broken engine mount was just 'one of those things!", however Skoda Tech is investigating this as it is an unusual occurrence.  

 

However, it seems that the replacement mount broke within two weeks of replacement because the Skoda dealer that did the work (not our usual dealership - the nearest one which Skoda Assist towed the car to) had just jacked the engine up and put in the new mount without slackening off and adjusting the other mounts on the gearbox end.  This led to the engine/gearbox not being mounted correctly which placed the new mount under stress - so much so that it sheared off after two weeks.

 

We're getting the car back tomorrow, but it just goes to show that not all the dealers are the same, and also that some of the grease monkeys in the garage don't have a clue what they're doing!  Our regular dearer has been very helpful and made sure that the job was done properly.  Hopefully my lad will be back on the road with no further problems for a long time to come, fingers crossed!

Sorry, in my view a complete rubbish explanation. Engine mounts are flexible and will accommodate angular and axial misalignment.

 

The stud fractured because it was was overtightened. VAG stipulated tightening torques are often wrong - get it assembled by someone with experience and common sense. There's actually very little load on this stud as the joint is under compression.

 

rotodiesel.

Sorry, in my view a complete rubbish explanation. Engine mounts are flexible and will accommodate angular and axial misalignment.

 

The stud fractured because it was was overtightened. VAG stipulated tightening torques are often wrong - get it assembled by someone with experience and common sense. There's actually very little load on this stud as the joint is under compression.

 

rotodiesel.

Seconded in full, well except that IMO shortcutting by not relieving stud torque in the other mounts could lead to a torsion in the one which was replaced. Having said that, the photo is of a classic tension sheer from over-tightening!

Looks more like a fatigue failure to me. I've suggested a possible scenario for how that may have happened in the other thread about this in the Rapid Forum.