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MOT centre wrecked my car



B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
i took my car to its MOT yesterday, and they managed to set it on fire!

they claimed they were warming it up for the emissions test, when some of the bulkhead sound deadening supposedly melted onto the exhaust manifold. they hosed it down and put the fire out, but not without causing some damage. he claimed its missing a heat shield on the firewall, but ive never seen one there, and it hasnt caught on fire for the 7k miles ive driven in it

the brake servo vacuum was melted, so i replaced that this morning. it looks like behind the sound deadening there is some melted plastic, but i have no idea what from. the trouble im having now is the revs at idle fluctuate between 1800-2200rpm. and there is a very very loud squeal coming from the front of the engine, i believe from the drivers side. i drove it a couple of miles home from the MOT without it making the noise, only upon going out again did it start. i limped it half a mile home, and the squeal fluctuated a bit, occasionally stopping, getting louder and quieter

the belts are about 9 months old so i doubt it is them. would something fuel related cause the squeal? there is no visible fuel leak. what would cause the revs to fluctuate at idle?
 
Harbinger

Harbinger

  Fiesta ST2 MP215
The tensioners are made of plastic, I wouldn't drive it or run it if they have been exposed to fire, probably melted / warped now. on drivers side too.
 
B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
Harbinger said:
The tensioners are made of plastic, I wouldn't drive it or run it if they have been exposed to fire, probably melted / warped now. on drivers side too.
Click to expand...

the fire was on the bulkhead. there is no damage whatsoever anywhere else apart from low down on the bulkhead. no signs of fire anywhere else around the engine
 
Harbinger

Harbinger

  Fiesta ST2 MP215
I know but the Squeal is a moving part mate, it would have gotten very hot during the fire and likely caused more damage than you would initially see.

I'd seriously get all the belts and tensioners checked.
 
mark123

mark123

Surely it is their responsibility to sort it if it caught fire while they were working on it/testing it?

I would be taking it back and telling them to sort it.

A fire like that normally will start smoking well before there are flames, if they'd been monitoring it they would have noticed before any damage was done.
 
B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
i forgot to mention, it sounded like something fell off just before the squeal started. i walked back up the road and couldnt find anything, but i definitely heard something drop through the engine bay
 
B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
mark123 said:
Surely it is their responsibility to sort it if it caught fire while they were working on it/testing it?

I would be taking it back and telling them to sort it.
Click to expand...

i initially thought it would be an easy fix. if its not, thats my next option! real pain in the ass when im relocating 3 hours away in 9 days!
 
Ryanph1rs

Ryanph1rs

  Clio 172 phase 1
could it have melted a bush some place arb bush or wishbone or even dog bone mount what about the sensor in the top of the box ... loads of things around that area that no fire but heat will damage .... by the time they realized and got the hose it probably done its damage... has it cracked the manifold? heat and then sudden cooling causes metal to become brittle " hard " but brittle could have possibly cracked..
 
B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
Ryanph1rs said:
could it have melted a bush some place arb bush or wishbone or even dog bone mount what about the sensor in the top of the box ... loads of things around that area that no fire but heat will damage .... by the time they realized and got the hose it probably done its damage... has it cracked the manifold? heat and then sudden cooling causes metal to become brittle " hard " but brittle could have possibly cracked..
Click to expand...

i really dont think there was enough of a fire to cause any damage to the bushes. as i said, it still drives perfect. its just the bad idle and the squealing noise that is the trouble

i had considered damage that could have been caused by pouring water on what was obviously a seriously hot engine. i have no idea what they were doing to get it so hot!
 
Dr HMS Derv Destroyer

Dr HMS Derv Destroyer

ClioSport Club Member
  MK1DTi/vivaro/corsa
VOSA will have their arses ringing if thy found out why it had happened under the MOT's places control.

Take it back and get them to sort it. I can't possibly see how it set on fire ' letting it warm up ' supposedly in the workshop unless they ragged the car around outside.

Smoke before fire, more than enough warning to put it out before hand.
Powder on engines not water. F4R's don't like water at all. Have you checked the vac pipe for the throttle body hasn't been melted ?
 
Ryanph1rs

Ryanph1rs

  Clio 172 phase 1
Harbinger said:
I don't think MOT places have a Duty Of Care.
Click to expand...

Id be inclined to agree the mot station round the corner from work were doing a fast idle emissions test on a focus and the timing belt snapped... they were like well its clearly not passing that lol.... but at the end of it they never set fire to your car it set its self alight " did they pass it lmao " so hard on on this..... is the exhaust jon to manifold still okay? is it a metal rubbing squeaking? bitta water got on summat made it rust?
 
B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
this thread has pretty much confirmed to me that i should give up on it myself and get them to deal with it. only trouble is i really wouldnt trust them with the repair

theres going to be a fun conversation tomorrow!
 
dmallett

dmallett

Same thing Happened to DannyR in his supercharged clio a few years back whilst driving it.
57457206.jpg
 
montana

montana

  Clio 197
bertieg said:
this thread has pretty much confirmed to me that i should give up on it myself and get them to deal with it. only trouble is i really wouldnt trust them with the repair

theres going to be a fun conversation tomorrow!
Click to expand...

Are they a proper garage or just an MOT place ? If not a proper garage they probably wouldn't know where to start with the repairs and could open a right can of worms once they start messing IMHO. Ring VOSA for advice and see what they say.
 
B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
montana said:
Are they a proper garage or just an MOT place ? If not a proper garage they probably wouldn't know where to start with the repairs and could open a right can of worms once they start messing IMHO. Ring VOSA for advice and see what they say.
Click to expand...
they call themselves an MOT centre, but by the looks of it they do their fair share of repairs too
 
S

SBV116

  Mondeo TDCI 130
Many moons ago my dad took his horse box for an mot and they jacked it up on the gearbox mounting. Bent it to s**t and the props shaft hit the floor.

took it straight back, rang vosa, they weren't interested in the slightest as we had removed it from the station and had no proof it was actually the testers fault.
 
B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
SBV116 said:
Many moons ago my dad took his horse box for an mot and they jacked it up on the gearbox mounting. Bent it to s**t and the props shaft hit the floor.

took it straight back, rang vosa, they weren't interested in the slightest as we had removed it from the station and had no proof it was actually the testers fault.
Click to expand...
my mot fail certificate states that there was an engine fire during the test, so proof is not an issue
 
S

SBV116

  Mondeo TDCI 130
My honest opinion is you will get no where pal, they have to have the car at certain rpm for a period of time for emissions etc and it will get hot, I feel it's just bad luck that it happened there, I doubt they did anything different than normal.

a friend of mine who is on here let another mate drive his punto gt, he pulled onto the garage forecourt and I noticed smoke, popped the bonnet and a vac pipe had dropped onto the manifold, total coincidence but we had to move quickly to put it out I can tell you!

Best of luck though!
 
G

Gaverick

  Clio 172
My guess would be water on the belts, wet rubber going around a pulley will squeal. Can you feel any moisture on the back of the aux belt?
 
SkidMarx

SkidMarx

  172
Mine caught fire on the rolling road on its first power run, was from the sound deadening at the back of the engine.. So these things can happen.. although a power run and an emmissions check are pretty different.
 
B

bertieg

  PH2 172 & 182
i think i have been very lucky. i took the upper inlet manifold off, pulled back some of the sound deadening and tidied everything up. re secured wiring, routed the vacuum hose properly etc. put it all back together and it seems to run absolutely perfectly. idles perfect, squealing noise has gone. hopefully i'll get it back for the emissions test and i might be okay!
 
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