FF182 Aux belt shredded. Engine dead. Where next?

[Marky_]

I was driving back to London from my visiting family this week when along the A14 there's a bang and the car cuts out. Thankfully I was in the inside lane and not going too quickly (maybe 50ish) having just cleared a load of traffic.

I manage to coast it over to the sliproad/hard shoulder. Popped the bonnet to have a look and there is a strong smell of plastic/rubber burning. I notice that half of the Aux belt is missing.

I know this isn't the media section but a couple of pics will break up the text a bit:

The AA came out and he reckons the aux belt has taken out the cambelt as there is no sign of the missing pieces anywhere. Anyway I end up getting recovery to take me the rest of the way into London, rather than the nearest garage.

To say I'm pretty livid would be an understatement as the belts had only been changed 13 months ago by a Renault dealer and in that time the car has only covered 2176 miles. I had the work done in my home town so the car is now 120 miles from that dealer, so it'd be quite a b@ll ache to get it back there for investigation.

Not sure what to do now tbh. I have a dead car sat in my parking spot. First thought was to sell “as is” for peanuts, but then I think about the small fortune I’ve already spent on maintenance since buying the thing in 2008. The car has wanted for nothing and the rest of it is in great nick.

Assuming the worst, I've read of a few of the previous threads and see quotes of £1100-1700 for a top end rebuild or similar for another engine and all ancillaries to be fitted.

Where do I go next?
Obviously I need someone to have a look at the damage and get a quote for rebuilding the engine before I decide, but should I take it directly to the dealers who did the belts? Not sure how much a tow that far would cost me. Or should I find a specialist (any recommendations in east London)? Would they be charging by the hour to investigate?

How much would I be looking at selling a FF182 for spares/repairs?

Thanks for reading

 

[Louis]

I'm not sure what sort of cover the renault garage will have given you but I have a feeling it might have only been the 12 months/mileage limit.
Really sorry to hear about this though! Most likely has been the aux going and taking the cambelt with it. Think aux is recommended for change every 35k mlies not sure on time though. Definitely longer than 13 months!
If you do decide on selling this I'd be interested if you could pm me but hope you get it sorted otherwise!

 

[MRBILLYUK]

Sorry to hear about your car , not good :unamused: The first thing I'd do would be contact the dealership that did the service . It needs investigating why it should fail in such a short space of time and hardly any miles . I wouldn't let anybody else touch it until the dealer has looked at it.

 

[Mar172]

New engine time and as said 12 months warranty from renault that's a shame

 

[Tim.]

Contact the dealer and see if they'll make any goodwill gesture.

Failing that I'd try and source a replacement engine and get it in there.

I'd be gutted if it happened to me but it's not as severe a situation as it probably feels, it can be recovered.

 

[Poopensharten]

You'll pick up a replacement engine and someone to swap it all out for under £600.

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

Gutted for you, i'd ring the Dealers and see what they have to say, failing that, have it re-built or replacement engine.

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

 

[tom172w]

Straight back to the garage that's done the work and hope for a goodwill gesture!!

You can swap engines pretty cheaply with these. When mine went I bought a bare engine with no history for £100, fluids cost £100 and I bought a new clutch for around £100, swapped it over on a weekend, although I did have the tools already.

An engine with history will cost a bit more but with how easy it is to do the engine swaps on these i will just keep buying cheap engines and throwing them in...

 

[Mr R.]

Let me know if you do decide to sell.
Fire me a PM bud.

I live in essex and work in East London.

Scott.

 

[Knuckles]

@NorthloopCup has an engine for sale at the moment I believe

 

[Adamm.]

With a dud engine cant be worth much more than a couple hundred I i imagine.. £500 max if the car is tidy at a guess.

Gutted for you mate I'd be livid too. Hopefully you can get it sorted at a good price.

 

[barnesautos]

@NorthloopCup has an engine for sale at the moment I believe

He does indeed

F4r 736 172 cup engine

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur.../&share_tid=797475&share_fid=191&share_type=t

 

[Marc.]

Let me know if you do decide to sell.
Fire me a PM bud.

I live in essex and work in East London.

Scott.

Why, you looking for a 182? What about the Scoob?

 

[Mr R.]

Why, you looking for a 182? What about the Scoob?

Not really mate, I just like the colour.

I'd buy it and do it when I has time, store it at my in laws place.

What about the Scoob mate? [emoji1]

 

[Lozza-p]

The belt failed within its service time, I'd imagine Renault might help you out with the repair. Phone up the garage or Renault uk if you don't have much luck.

 

[RMDavis]

Don't suppose you were getting towed down the M25 this afternoon?

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[Marky_]

Don't suppose you were getting towed down the M25 this afternoon?

Not me. Must be some other poor soul.

 

[Marky_]

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

I called the dealer today but the service manager was out so I spoke to the sales manager, who was not particularly interested. I told him that it was outrageous that I should spend so much money having a major service with them last year only for one of the parts to fail some 2000 miles later.

I've been promised a call back from the service manager tomorrow morning. Expecting to be fobbed off tbh.

 

[MRBILLYUK]

If they do fob you off , ring Renault Customer services . 0344 335 0000. Even if the belt is 1 month out of warranty , it shouldn't fail . It needs to be looked at why it was defective , bearing in mind the service interval is 3 years or 36,000 miles for the Aux belt which it should easily out last.

 

[RichieJA]

I tell you exactly what happened,
Your pas pump is fucked, the shaft moves in and the belt slowly moves until it comes off, wraps round the crank and boom.

If your belt was dodgy or done wrong it would of failed before now,

This happened to me twice, luckily I caught it before it came off and the second time it was a recon pump that failed after 2k miles.
I lost an engine before because of the aux belt so I check my aux belt weekly, better safe than sorry.

Just buy an engine off here or ebay and have the timing belt water pump and dephaser done fling a new clutch in while your at it, cost about 800 fitted, and get a new pas pump and crank pulley, the you can kick its arse without worry.

 

[Marky_]

^
All i know is half the aux belt is missing and now the engine doesn't turn over.

Shock. They've not called me back.

So bearing in mind I'd have to get it towed 120+ miles to get it back to the dealers for them to investigate and the chances are that they'll wash their hands of it..... Do i just cut my losses and try to sort it out myself?

 

[Budgie]

If you want rid of it cheaply and hassle free, give me a shout.

 

[JB21]

I tell you exactly what happened,
Your pas pump is fucked, the shaft moves in and the belt slowly moves until it comes off, wraps round the crank and boom.

If your belt was dodgy or done wrong it would of failed before now,

This happened to me twice, luckily I caught it before it came off and the second time it was a recon pump that failed after 2k miles.
I lost an engine before because of the aux belt so I check my aux belt weekly, better safe than sorry.

Just buy an engine off here or ebay and have the timing belt water pump and dephaser done fling a new clutch in while your at it, cost about 800 fitted, and get a new pas pump and crank pulley, the you can kick its arse without worry.

How do you check aux belt?

 

[RichieJA]

How do you check aux belt?

The belt will be off a rib on pas pulley takes less than second to check, I also mark crank pulley with tipex I check that whenever I clean my wheels

 

[RichValver]

How mine looked after it shredded a rib

 

[Marky_]

How mine looked after it shredded a rib

Not good

 

[Marky_]

I've now spoken to the dealership who were surprisingly sympathetic. They've offered to "look after me" if i can get the car to them.

Renault UK are not willing to help me recover the car back to them.
So now I just need to sort transport 150 miles [emoji52]

 

[MRBILLYUK]

So what did the dealership actually say or mean when they said they'd look after you ? Are they going to fix the engine or just investigate what went wrong ?

 

[bloke]

where has the car got to go from and to? guy on another forum i'm on is going to the lakes from down south to collect two cars and is going up with an empty transporter.

 

[Marky_]

So what did the dealership actually say or mean when they said they'd look after you ? Are they going to fix the engine or just investigate what went wrong ?

They've said they'll investigate FoC and carry out repairs "at cost". Still sounds like it will be expensive.

where has the car got to go from and to? guy on another forum i'm on is going to the lakes from down south to collect two cars and is going up with an empty transporter.

Thanks for the lead! Car is in east London and needs to go to Mansfield (east midlands).

 

[LeeRS]

So they will tell you whats wrong for free (which is quite clear already) Then charge you for the priviledge?

Sounds a bit suspect :/

 

[Matt e]

try on here for recovery

https://www.shiply.com/

 

[DrR]

Gutted!

Wouldn't be impressed if a item designed to last minimum of 5 years 36k failed that soon!

 

[chris79]

Back in 2003 I bought a 172 Cup brand new and on 20k miles / 2yrs the same thing happened... aux belt shredded and took out the cambelt... i was accelerating and suddently a bang and all lights on the dash came on and complete loss of power.

As it was in warranty (the whole car) they fixed the head etc.. but when it was done I could always hear a rattling under high revs etc... 2 weeks later I traded it in for a scenic (had a newborn etc)...

Just goes to show it can happen without warning in any age/condition.. must be some misalignment causing it to frey/wear then snap surely... from memory at my 12k service they had changed the PAS pump saying it had a leak... had anything done with yours recently?

 

[RichieJA]

Back in 2003 I bought a 172 Cup brand new and on 20k miles / 2yrs the same thing happened... aux belt shredded and took out the cambelt... i was accelerating and suddently a bang and all lights on the dash came on and complete loss of power.

As it was in warranty (the whole car) they fixed the head etc.. but when it was done I could always hear a rattling under high revs etc... 2 weeks later I traded it in for a scenic (had a newborn etc)...

Just goes to show it can happen without warning in any age/condition.. must be some misalignment causing it to frey/wear then snap surely... from memory at my 12k service they had changed the PAS pump saying it had a leak... had anything done with yours recently?

They most likely used the same belt when they done the pas pump hence the failure

 

[chris79]

They most likely used the same belt when they done the pas pump hence the failure

Hmm possibly.. come to think of it, I'm pretty sure even before the PAS was replaced the belt had already once been replaced as it was fraying down one side... 12-13yrs ago now, trying to remember exactly what happened.....

 

[Marky_]

So they will tell you whats wrong for free (which is quite clear already) Then charge you for the priviledge? Sounds a bit suspect :/

I take it they mean strip the head and then give me a quote for rebuilding it.

try on here for recovery https://www.shiply.com/

Cheers Matt. Will give it a go.

Chris79 - No work has been done on the PAS pump. Nothing has been touched since they changed the belts.

 

[Marky_]

A little update for anyone who's interested:

I had the car trailered up to the dealer at the beginning of the month and left it with them.

Just had a phone call this morning from them saying that having spoken "extensively" to Renault UK, they will now NOT be covering the cost of investigation due to the age of the car. I was then quoted £600 just for a diagnosis!

When I asked to speak to the service manager I was already dealing with, they told me that he no longer works there!

I am fuming. Wasting a few hundred quid getting it trailered around the country.

 

[Louis]

That's f**king horrendous especially after being told at least diagnostics would be free... I'd get it written all over social media to be honest! Just because a manager doesn't work there anymore doesn't mean it shouldn't be honored.

 

[Stay Puft]

That's awful. Surely they can't go back on their word?