The car is a Fabia from 2010, HTP 1.2L (Petrol). Around 90k miles. I bought the car at the start of June. It had 12 months MOT. I drove the car like 5 or 6 times (200 miles max) and one day I went to start it and it'd wouldn't go. Electrics and all of that were on, and the starter sound was there, but the engine didn't engage. I phoned a friend, and he checked it around for a few hours. Eventually we swapped a sensor, and nothing. My friend thought the timing chain slipped.

 

The car was recovered to a garage, were it was for a couple of weeks. Finally I went to see them, and I don't think they did any diagnostics beyond starting the car, listening to it and nope, not interested. The mechanic said that fixing it would be 600-1000. But he also said that it's a gamble and therefore it is a job they are not interested in doing. Mechanic said valves are bent, but my friend said this unlikely because the chain didn't sleep while the car was working. I don't think the mechanic checked it, to be honest, but he has the experience.

 

I am going to contact other garages, but I don't know if I should just scrap it. (scrap websites offer 200). It'd be a big loss. But spending 800 and then not working is an even bigger loss.

 

At the same time I don't know if the problem is fixable, or if it's a big of a gamble as the mechanic said.

Garage is under no obligation to carry out work, even if in this case they sold the vehicle to you.

 

The engine will have turned over during your attempts to start it, if the slippage is enough to bend the valves it will have happened then, it does not need to be running.

 

They probably heard that the cranking speed was abnormally high and correctly IMO deduced that at a minimum valves were bent on all cylinders.

 

In your position if I were happy with the car I would pay the money, better the devil you know and all that but everyones circumstances, external influences and decision making are different.

Edited 27 July, 20232 yr by J.R.

4 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Garage is under no obligation to carry out work, even if in this case they sold the vehicle to you.

 

The engine will have turned over during your attempts to start it, if the slippage is enough to bend the valves it will have happened then, it does not need to be running.

 

They probably heard that the cranking speed was abnormally high and correctly IMO deduced that at a minimum valves were bent on all cylinders.

 

In your position if I were happy with the car I would pay the money, better the devil you know and all that but everyones circumstances, external influences and decision making are different.

This garage did not sell me the car, and I am not annoyed with them or anything. If they don't want to do the job, fair enough. They said it is a gamble, and they might fix it and still wouldn't work.

I didn't know just by the sound you can tell if the valves are damaged.

Anyway, now I need to think what I do. I need to contact a few garages to see if anyone would be interested.

It's a fairly quick and easy job to inspect the valves with a borescope through the spark-plug holes.

That would allow more accurate quotes for chain replacement versus chain replacement plus headwork to be made. Is it the 60bhp or 70bhp version of the 1.2 HTP? Valve damage is almost inevitable if the latter has a chain slip, I think.

Either way it will be a lot of labour hours, so nastily expensive. 

 

Do you park on a slope regularly, by any chance?  If so do you leave it in a gear that would cause the engine to rotate backwards if the handbrake allowed some movement?

 

14 minutes ago, the_phet said:

I didn't know just by the sound you can tell if the valves are damaged.

 

A mechanic familiar with that engine and who has already encountered several with slipped timing would know in an instant.

 

Most owners would recognise the faster cranking but as the engines normally fire in 1/2 a turn they may never have heard the actual against compression cranking speed unless they had run out of fuel or had another engine problem.

9 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

It's a fairly quick and easy job to inspect the valves with a borescope through the spark-plug holes.

That would allow more accurate quotes for chain replacement versus chain replacement plus headwork to be made. Is it the 60bhp or 70bhp version of the 1.2 HTP? Valve damage is almost inevitable if the latter has a chain slip, I think.

Either way it will be a lot of labour hours, so nastily expensive. 

 

Do you park on a slope regularly, by any chance?  If so do you leave it in a gear that would cause the engine to rotate backwards if the handbrake allowed some movement?

 

 

The car is Fabia 2 Htp 70, 68 BHP. So i think it is the 70bhp as you say.

I do park it in a slope, and the handbrake was not amazing. But when it happened it was actually at a friends house where it is parked flat (the car had been there for 2 weeks).

A longish layoff also increases the risk of chain slip, as oil can drain out of the tensioner.

 

Edited 27 July, 20232 yr by Breezy_Pete

The valves are bent otherwise it would start and run roughly, it's a brutally expensive job and very few garages will be interested because the head has to come off and be sent away for rework and a new chain kit must be fitted upon reassembly, this means the car will be hanging around for a week or two and in the way while it's a non-runner.

 

Sell it for spares or repair on eBay.

Drop another engine in it , they are fairly cheap on the old eBay, and being 3 cylinder the room to work on them is a dream 

I went today (with the bike) to a couple of Garages near my area which have good reputation. Both of them said it's a big job. One quoted me over 1k, the other one said 1.2k - 1.4k. Both of them said it's a common problem with these cars. I asked them about fitting a new (used) engine. Both of them advised against it.

 

Considering I paid for the car 1.5k, sadly I am inclined to scrap it (and recover as much of the insurance money and road tax as possible).

A pragmatic choice, it will make a good project for someone.

Just now, J.R. said:

A pragmatic choice, it will make a good project for someone.

The original mechanic (the one who didn't want to do the job) said it'd be 600-1000. And I was willing to spend around that. Perhaps a max of 800. But I think 1200-1400 is just too much.

Thanks for your help.

On 27/07/2023 at 13:37, the_phet said:

The car is a Fabia from 2010, HTP 1.2L (Petrol). Around 90k miles. I bought the car at the start of June. It had 12 months MOT. I drove the car like 5 or 6 times (200 miles max) and one day I went to start it and it'd wouldn't go. Electrics and all of that were on, and the starter sound was there, but the engine didn't engage. I phoned a friend, and he checked it around for a few hours. Eventually we swapped a sensor, and nothing. My friend thought the timing chain slipped.

 

The car was recovered to a garage, were it was for a couple of weeks. Finally I went to see them, and I don't think they did any diagnostics beyond starting the car, listening to it and nope, not interested. The mechanic said that fixing it would be 600-1000. But he also said that it's a gamble and therefore it is a job they are not interested in doing. Mechanic said valves are bent, but my friend said this unlikely because the chain didn't sleep while the car was working. I don't think the mechanic checked it, to be honest, but he has the experience.

 

I am going to contact other garages, but I don't know if I should just scrap it. (scrap websites offer 200). It'd be a big loss. But spending 800 and then not working is an even bigger loss.

 

At the same time I don't know if the problem is fixable, or if it's a big of a gamble as the mechanic said.

Was there any warranty with this vehicle when you bought it?

14 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Was there any warranty with this vehicle when you bought it?

I was bought privately so there's no warranty.

What’s the colour and spec of the fabia and location and price as is ? 

15 minutes ago, thomasaspin said:

What’s the colour and spec of the fabia and location and price as is ? 

 

Location is Glasgow (Scotland). 

 

Spec, I am not sure. "Fabia 2 Htp 70" is what Motorscan says. It is a hatchback.

 

MOT until May 2024.

 

Colour is blue.

 

If you are interested we can chat privately.