Garage has wrecked my car - what can I do?
I took my 2006 Citroen C3 HDi Exclusive 1.6 to the garage after hearing a ticking noise. The car was running fine (bar the noise) and the garage took the car in for investigation.
Upon investigation they found the timing chain tensioner had broken. They fixed the tensioner and replaced the timing chain. When they fired it up they said it sounded "like a heard of goats" and they'd need to take the engine head off. They've now found that the piston is cylinder one is bent, the cylinder head is broken and the engine is a write off.
They cannot return the engine back to the running condition it was in when it was driven into the garage. Effectively the car is uneconomical to repair. Do you know what I could do now? Do I talk to their insurance company claiming for an accident during the repair, or do I just walk away? The car was worth £2400 on the market before the repair and now it's scrap.
Upon investigation they found the timing chain tensioner had broken. They fixed the tensioner and replaced the timing chain. When they fired it up they said it sounded "like a heard of goats" and they'd need to take the engine head off. They've now found that the piston is cylinder one is bent, the cylinder head is broken and the engine is a write off.
They cannot return the engine back to the running condition it was in when it was driven into the garage. Effectively the car is uneconomical to repair. Do you know what I could do now? Do I talk to their insurance company claiming for an accident during the repair, or do I just walk away? The car was worth £2400 on the market before the repair and now it's scrap.
Asked on 16 July 2014 by chrisjp
Answered by
Honest John
A C3 1.6HDI does not have a timing chain. It has a timing belt. If this slipped, then the timing of the engine would be out and valves would hit pistons. It is possible that when the engine was reassembled, this was done wrongly. leaving the timing out and that was why the valves hit the pistons. Did this happen at a Citroen garage or at an independent garage?
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