MikeR
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:20 PM |
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ripped off by garage / what is wrong with my car?
Ok, its 5 hours since i picked my car up and i'm still fuming.
What should i do? and what do you think is wrong?
Had my car serviced a month ago and asked them (the local ford specialist) to look into a problem with banging and judder on hard acceleration that is
getting worse and worse. It sounded like the engine was going to drop out.
Diagnosed a failed gearbox mount and play in the nearside lower suspension arm (possibly cause i'd mentioned that after this had started
happening i had kerbed the car at speed avoiding a pillock - although interestingly as part of that service it also passed its MOT from the garage 3
doors down).
To replace the gearbox mount its a big job with the gearbox out. This also almost means removing the lower arm so it won't cost much to replace
that as well. I said you may as well do the clutch then & how much for a dual mass fly at the same time. Came to a guestimated 800 quid + vat.
Agreed he'd get the car tuesday for two days.
Dropped the car off and he said he was going to take it to fords to see his friend at the dealer who still worked there (he used to) to get to the
bottom of the noise. Really concerned me as i thought he'd already diagnosed the fault - but thought better safe than expensive sorry.
Not heard anything from him and i know he's not good at keeping people in the loop so i wandered by on wednesday at 2:30 with the dog. Turns out
he hadn't got hold of the flywheel but was hoping to get one at 3pm so he'd start then ...... no car back for me (which really pee'd
me off as i had the first day of a new job today (friday)).
Didn't hear anything from him again on friday, so called him 5:30 ..... just going to call you. Jobs done, going to take it out for another test
drive to check it. The box mount hadn't failed but a different engine mount had so i've replaced that.
Went down, took it for a drive and it was probably a fraction better. I got lots of story about its the lack of traction control. Everything has been
replaced. Your dual mass was knackered, you could pull it up and down. The clutch only had a couple of thousand miles left. Look the clutch housing
has scrapes on it - these are where the fly has been moving.
I pulled faces as he was adding up the bill.
I got engine mount, clutch, dual mass, release bearing, gearbox oil, flywheel bolts for .... 1104 quid all in. He also offered 50 quid off the next
service and apologised for not calling me when the price went up. I paid by cheque.
So, what do people think
a) is the problem, could it be the lower suspension arm? something wrong with the diff?
b) do i have a leg to stand on to go back and spit my dummy about the price changing and him not fixing the problem.
(also had him replace the EGR valve about a year ago - not sure if its relevant)
Does anyone know any really good garages or ford specialists in the nuneaton / tamworth or rugby areas?
[Edited on 1/4/10 by MikeR]
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will121
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:27 PM |
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not good to hear its not gone well but £800 or more for a duel mass flywheel and clutch alone seems the going price
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ReMan
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:29 PM |
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So the Ford specialist, had to take it to a Ford garage to get a diagnosis?
What car is it?
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austin man
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:31 PM |
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did he fix the fault ?? If not all the work he did was irrelevant and he should have advised you. If you kerbed the car the problem could be down to
the drive shaft, diff, wheel, wheel bearing. Worth going to the Citizens advice bereau and asking
[Edited on 1/4/10 by austin man]
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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MikeR
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:38 PM |
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car is a ford focus tdci 134bhp ghia on 05 plate. full service history and 72k miles.
The problem started before the kerbing (i'm sure - just thought it seemed strange that i mention the kerbing and it needs a new lower wishbone
due to play but it still passes MOT).
I think the problem started with what felt like a bit of torque steer. It wasn't 100% straight line flooring it. It got worse with a little
judder, almost pulsing on acceration and is now on hard acceleration is the attrocious banging.
It could be the wheel losing and getting grip - but in the wet when it looses grip it will spin up the tyres. So why does it sometimes spin up the
tyre and other times lose / grab grip repeatidly.
Tyres are about 4 months old branded something or others.
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perksy
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:39 PM |
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Faulty Wheel Bearing, Bent Driveshaft, Damaged CV Joint or Diff fault ?
[Edited on 1/4/10 by perksy]
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andrew
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:40 PM |
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did he give you back your old flywheel etc , !!!!!did he even fit new one ,or second hand one , duealmass will juder thats probably all that was wrong
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adithorp
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:41 PM |
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Whats the car?
From your description I'd be initially thinking engine or stabiliser mounting. Could be wishbone (could be worn but still pass MOT and whether
it got an advisory would depend on the tester). DMF usually gives a clatter rather than a banging but could be.
adrian
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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Fozzie
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:44 PM |
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Oooo not nice for you Mike!  ....
I assume wheel bearings/ tracking/ balance have been checked in the first instance?
Fozzie
Edit typo
[Edited on 1-4-10 by Fozzie]
'Racing is Life!...anything before or after is just waiting'....Steve McQueen
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MikeR
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:46 PM |
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mate who works for AA, based on the description before this work was done said engine mount is seems like a likely cause.
As thats been fixed .....
He did show me a dual mass and flywheel - thing is, they could be ones he keeps hanging around for when people turn up and ask to see them. Problem is
he seems a nice bloke, i just don't know how far i can trust him now. I appreciate the work he's done to do the dual mass + clutch etc is
a good price. But if i've still got the problem i've got a car i'm nervous driving (can't pull out in a hurry due to the
problem).
Any simple tests for bearing / cv / drive shaft / diff???? i can't think of any.
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adithorp
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:47 PM |
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I can't see how you need the gearbox out to change either of the mounts on it. I did a clutch on one just last week and you take the mounts off
then the box out after.
Sarting to sound like a shocker/tyre problem causing wheel tramp maybe.
adrian
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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andrew
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 10:58 PM |
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anyway watever the problem is the garage has failed to correct what he has been paid to do, and it is covered under the sale of goods and services
act ,
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MakeEverything
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 11:07 PM |
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Cancel the cheque and get the car back to him asking him why the car still makes the noise and that youre not paying anything over the QUOTED
amount.
ETA: OR Cancel the cheque and go somewhere else. Main dealer would be my preference, though ive seen and heard some horror stories there as well
[Edited on 1-4-10 by MakeEverything]
Kindest Regards,
Richard.
...You can make it foolProof, but youll never make it Idiot Proof!...
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andrew
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 11:19 PM |
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definately cancell cheque at least then you have some leverage cos he will just tell you on yer bike otherwise
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craig1410
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| posted on 1/4/10 at 11:21 PM |
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CV joint is my best guess - are the boots in good shape? You could try opening up the boots and dig out some grease and see if it's full of
metal particles.
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MrFozzieBear
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 12:18 AM |
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When i had my clutch done on my focus but on 2lt petrol, that came out of the garage with a banging/judder on acceleration like yours, took it back
turned out the gearbox mount wasn't tightened up correctly so there was movement causing the sound.
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stevebubs
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 12:19 AM |
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Hate to say it but it sounds like one of those faults that if the chap hasn't seen it exactly before is going to take a while to track down.
Specialist garages can be good, but they're not main dealers. Unfortunately main stealers rip you off with labour rates, part prices etc.
Given the problem isn't solved, perhaps worth dropping into the main dealers and asking them for a price to fix?
Doesn't sound like the chap's necessarily ripped you off (especially if the price for th e clutch was OK), but if you mentioned possible
sources of the problems before he started diagnosis then that's probably where his brain immediately went to and he just went ahead without
further diagnosis?
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jonesier1
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 08:42 AM |
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focus tdci can be prone to flywheels but normally give a bad rattle and banging on start up and keying off,the price for that does'nt seem
bad.They are not how ever prone to engine mounts or bottom arms,as a main dealer tec and mot tester i hav'nt failed or replaced many.if the roll
restricter bolts are ass about face ie in the wrong holes one is longer than the other that will cause a noise.
If the wheels are spinning you will get tramping and banging,does it have any vibration through the dash(we call scuttle shake)when driving up hill
and putting under load,this would indicate a drive shaft inner joint.Other than that go back and say that the fault is still there,demonstrate it to
him and say your not happy,as a tec its always good to get the customer to show and reproduce the fault to ensure it is a proper concern not just the
way they drive.not saying its your driving but if he rides with you he can see whats happening and when.
im in my own little world...its ok though they know me there
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ReMan
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 09:05 AM |
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I had the diff feplaced on my 02 Mondeo.
This sounds more probable to be CV joint
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dazzx10r
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 11:35 AM |
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Sounds like your diff, I replaced the gears in one on a peugeot 405 Mi-16 a while ago, car started making loud banging and juddering on acceleration,
I checked the driveshafts and they were ok, I ended up taking a mate out in the car and he said straight away 'it's your diff', I
changed the 3 little gears in the diff without taking the gearbox out!
deffinatley sounds like drivetrain from what you are explaining.
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dazzx10r
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 11:39 AM |
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Just a thought, put the car on axle stands and have it running in 2nd gear and get someone to turn the wheel from lock to lock whilst you look/listen
from under the car. you may be able to see what the problem is, driveshafts ect.
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snakebelly
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 11:45 AM |
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i would agree it sounds diff related, scrapped my multipla some time ago with very very similar asymptoms, it was the diff and repair wasnt
economically viable
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MikeR
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 01:35 PM |
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mechanic has been out in the car himself repeatedly and has reproduced the problem himself. Took me out in it last night and said "its cause it
doesn't have traction control" - except it never used to do this
When he first saw the problem he said "it only happens if you don't drive like a granny". Last night he said, "it only happens
if you're really agressive with it". Reality is ..... if you floor it in second once rolling in the wet it has a 50 / 50 chance of
spinning the wheels or doing the banging. I think its worse when you've got a bit of steering on.
Need to go out in the car again today to see if its as bad or if i was over egging the problem last night in my bad mood.
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 03:02 PM |
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Take it to a main dealers for diagnosis, you don't have to get it repaired there?
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MikeR
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| posted on 2/4/10 at 05:07 PM |
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guess i'll have to do that - although the mechanic was ex main dealer and took it back to his mates for their view as well as collecting the
ford parts.
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