Clio 197
I hope someone here can help, in a bit of a sticky situation and really need some advice. I own an '07 Clio 197 that's done 58,000 miles. Please excuse any terminology that's not correct, I'm no expert in car mechanics.
Yesterday morning I was driving along and I've accidentally driven over a few small potholes, which were covered in water which meant I was unable to see them. About 3-4 seconds later the cars lost power, the power-steerings gone, I could smell petrol and the dashboard reads 'check injection'. There were no real loud noises and no 'clunk' when the car came to a stop, and nothing major when I tried to turn it back on.
I wasn't able to get the car to my normal garage (they fitted my cam belt recently) as they were unavailable so the AA have towed it to a nearby garage that I have no experience with. The AA guy thought that maybe the car had thought it was in an accident because of the potholes and had stopped fuel going to the engine, therefore causing the loss of power and maybe explaining the smell. My mum (who'd come to help me push the car to safety) seems to remember him saying that the auxiliary belt or cam belt were still intact (she doesn't remember which). The car was then towed to the nearby garage.
This morning (around lunchtime) I received a call saying that the cam belt had snapped and that they were going to look into it further. I'd explained that we believed the pothole had caused the damage because it had happened straight after and the mechanic seemed to go along with this theory and didn't question it. Afterwards I've called my dad to tell him the bad news and he doesn't seem to buy that the cam belt could be damaged by a pothole; the suspension and alloys maybe, but a cam belt doesn't stack up. I've then called them back and asked whether they thought the pothole could cause the damage and let them know for the first time that the cam belt had only been changed 4-5 months ago, this time they've agreed and said that there was no way that a pothole could cause the damage. They've then said they'll 'strip it' and find the cause/damage.
3 hours later I receive another call saying that the 'Auxiliary belt' had broken and been sucked into the cam belt, damaging it. They've then said that they'll continue to strip it to find the damage and then let me know from there how much it will cost. I've then called my usual garage to see if this seems legit and they've agreed, whether this was just to get them off the hook for the broken cam belt, we don't know.
When I get home I've contacted a distant family member who has a lot of experience in tuning cars professionally, he doesn't buy that the auxiliary belt could break a cam belt and that the case should protect it from the belt or any other foreign objects. I still need to find out whether the case was on for sure, but my usual garage never mentioned that it was missing and my dad seems to remember it being on, so it seems likely that it was in place.
I'm now in a sticky situation where my cars at the garage that I'm not sure's telling the whole truth, and they're 'stripping' the engine to look for damage still. I've been told that I should get the car back to the garage that fitted the cam belt originally, as it's possibly their issue, if the case was on.
Essentially, I'm wondering whether anything stands out as odd for any of you, I'd seriously appreciated it as I'm worried that this is going to be a very expensive repair job. Thanks in advance!!
Yesterday morning I was driving along and I've accidentally driven over a few small potholes, which were covered in water which meant I was unable to see them. About 3-4 seconds later the cars lost power, the power-steerings gone, I could smell petrol and the dashboard reads 'check injection'. There were no real loud noises and no 'clunk' when the car came to a stop, and nothing major when I tried to turn it back on.
I wasn't able to get the car to my normal garage (they fitted my cam belt recently) as they were unavailable so the AA have towed it to a nearby garage that I have no experience with. The AA guy thought that maybe the car had thought it was in an accident because of the potholes and had stopped fuel going to the engine, therefore causing the loss of power and maybe explaining the smell. My mum (who'd come to help me push the car to safety) seems to remember him saying that the auxiliary belt or cam belt were still intact (she doesn't remember which). The car was then towed to the nearby garage.
This morning (around lunchtime) I received a call saying that the cam belt had snapped and that they were going to look into it further. I'd explained that we believed the pothole had caused the damage because it had happened straight after and the mechanic seemed to go along with this theory and didn't question it. Afterwards I've called my dad to tell him the bad news and he doesn't seem to buy that the cam belt could be damaged by a pothole; the suspension and alloys maybe, but a cam belt doesn't stack up. I've then called them back and asked whether they thought the pothole could cause the damage and let them know for the first time that the cam belt had only been changed 4-5 months ago, this time they've agreed and said that there was no way that a pothole could cause the damage. They've then said they'll 'strip it' and find the cause/damage.
3 hours later I receive another call saying that the 'Auxiliary belt' had broken and been sucked into the cam belt, damaging it. They've then said that they'll continue to strip it to find the damage and then let me know from there how much it will cost. I've then called my usual garage to see if this seems legit and they've agreed, whether this was just to get them off the hook for the broken cam belt, we don't know.
When I get home I've contacted a distant family member who has a lot of experience in tuning cars professionally, he doesn't buy that the auxiliary belt could break a cam belt and that the case should protect it from the belt or any other foreign objects. I still need to find out whether the case was on for sure, but my usual garage never mentioned that it was missing and my dad seems to remember it being on, so it seems likely that it was in place.
I'm now in a sticky situation where my cars at the garage that I'm not sure's telling the whole truth, and they're 'stripping' the engine to look for damage still. I've been told that I should get the car back to the garage that fitted the cam belt originally, as it's possibly their issue, if the case was on.
Essentially, I'm wondering whether anything stands out as odd for any of you, I'd seriously appreciated it as I'm worried that this is going to be a very expensive repair job. Thanks in advance!!
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