my cars f*****!!! please help!

[fitzy]

ok so ive been out in the car today done about 70 miles or so, park up outside a restuarant, go and have a meal. i come back to the car, start it up as normal pull away and notice its reving a little low but dont take any notice, start driving up dual carridge way and realise i have no power and my exhaust gas ommisions light on the dash starts flashing ( i think its that one, its in the bottom right corner) i turn the radio off and its making a very loud noise. i pull over and go behind the exhaust and its giving off a bad smell, i check under the bonnet and its spitting oil out all over the place coming from the first cylinder out of the spark plug hole!!! i have no money and ive f****d it! managed to get it home, anyone know what the problem is and how much its gonna cost to get fixed? by the way its a new shape clio 1.6 16v done 30k



sorry its so long but i havent got a clue what it could be and i know its gonna cost a bomb to fix, funny thing was i was on my way back from looking at a 172 and was thinking of px mine for it!!!

 

[Mike@Rentech]

where you live mate, if local to portsmouth send me a pm

 

[fitzy]

Quote: Originally posted by Mike172sport on 22 May 2005

where you live mate, if local to portsmouth send me a pm

im in sheffield mate so no good. you know what it may be? a price to get it fixed? im thinking head gasket, piston, manifold something like that?

 

[LivinLegend]

head gasket? looking at around £400 if it is

 

[Mole]

if its spitting oil out of the spark plug hole surely youve blown a spark plug out of the cylinder head and its buggered the head?

If the bad smell coming from the exhaust is a rotten egg type smell, then your catalytic converter is buggered.

 

[Mike@Rentech]

Got a piccy of the offending area?

Could be as above.

 

[fitzy]

the smell from the exhaust is a bad egg smell, how much to fix it if it is a cat convertor gone?

spark plug is still in place and everything theres just oil seaped out the sides of it, its not really spitting out but its covered in oil all over

 

[fitzy]

its too dark for a pic tonight but i can probably get a photo tomorrow, which will actually be pointless as il be gettin someone out to look at it tomorrow anyway

 

[fitzy]

bump! anyone help???

 

[TheCake]

imho....

Incorrectly fitted spark plug is forced out due to pressure inside head, wrecked thread on the cylinder thread.

Car over-fuels to compensate for more air - remember with an exposed cylinder head its sucking un-filtered air staright into the engine - more fuel/air etc mixture totally wrong - ECU going ape sh*t means lots of unburnt fuel into the CAT - high temperature means CAT meltdown.

The smell is rotten eggs/aka sulphur - tell tale signs of a shagged CAT.

So youll be need a new CAT id expect and probably a new backbox if thats still ok, plus inlet off, head off (maybe) - helicoil on the head to re-thread it - then all put back.

Renault price - £2,000 at a guess.

 

[fitzy]

thanx mate for the input i was dreading it was gonna be that much, ok now im goin to go and cry

 

[White16valver]

Any possibility of a claim for negligence off the garage who fitted the plugs last time if this is the case?

 

[fitzy]

i was just about to ask that! last time spark plug was out was at renault garage about 1/2 months ago. if this really is the case is there anything i can do? wow im so angry now just at the thought that this could be whats happened!

 

[telford_mike]

take it back there and complain like a biatch Doubt they actually took the plugs out though, they only need replacing every 72,000 miles I think.

 

[fitzy]

i had an engine managment fault and it went back a few times because they kept replacing parts that didnt fix it so they pretty sure they took the head off to do something. it fixed the fault but im sure they took head off so they must have taken head off!!!! grrrrr by the way they also left it outside and it got broken into and now i cant get rid of the smell of distilled water as it rained that night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fitzy]

if anyone has any advise on what i can say to the renault garage tomorrow if this is the case it would be very helpful



im gettin mechanic out tomorrow to see what he thinks and if he says its the spark plug then im goin straight to renault

can i sue them for negligence if they have done this?

 

[TheCake]

how old is your car fitzy? I think its a new one, do the following:

1. Make sure your car is nice and standard

2. Call the AA Renault Assistance and tell them your car has a horrible missfire and making lots of horrible noises and its broke.

3. They then send an AA guy out who will try and fix the fault... shocking... but he wont succeed.

4. Hell tow you to renault

5.Renault inspect and diagnose and as long as its all been documented and serviced accordingly - will be done under warranty.

 

[TheCake]

Dont get anyonoe else to look/play with it. PLAY IT BY THE BOOK.

Ive been here before with my Cup 172... so dont panic. )

 

[fitzy]

not new its a 2001 y reg bought second hand no warrenty cos had it a year, but if it is what u think it is renault had it a couple of months ago to fix engine managment problem and took head off to do something with it. not touched it since then. is there anything i can do? im not in AA, and how can i prove to renault that i havent removed spark plug in last few months?

thanx for all your help by the way mate

 

[fitzy]

thanx for the help guys im off to bed now so il try and sort it out in the mornin

 

[bonza172]

happened to my old saxo mate. was driving along and my car lost power on the motorway bad smell and noise engine cut out. managed to get to the hard shoulder oil was everywhere underneath the car just before the cat con. The piston had blown through the head gasket and dun in most of the cylinders needed complete new engine in. hopefully yours is not this bad if you think its that then you need to get the whole engine checked over as one small thing even a nut etc could be causing you the problems.

 

[Djw John]

Surely if its about £2000 to fix it, it would be cheaper to source a new engine and fit that? If a complete 172 engine, box, ecu and loom go for £1500+vat then it must be cheaper than that for a 1.6?

Sorry to hear about it mate, good luck getting it sorted.

 

[fitzy]

well mechanic is coming to look at it in a bit and try and give me a diagonisis without messing about with it, if he thinks its what cupcake says then im goin straight down to renault and playing absolulte f**k with them and not leaving showroom til they do something abou it!

 

[DAVE_RSi]

you shouldnt have taken it back in the first place,. if it was broken unto under there care and they never sorted the smell, should have told them yo keep it until it was sorted

anyway, hopefully its just your cat youll need replacing but it doesnt sound gd, so hopefully renault wont be a pain about it and will accept that they buggered up, going to be hard to prove though i imagine

 

[fitzy]

it was the last time i took it in that it got broken into, i would never take it to them again but il have to if its there fault.

i know im not sure how i can prove i havent had the spark plug out, think im just gonna go ape s**t in the showroom and demand they fix it, throw sueing for negligence at them, it getting broken into while they had it must go in my favour and help to show they were negliegence surely. anyway fingers crossed!

anyone else have any idea what it could be or you think cupcake is most probably right?

 

[fitzy]

bump, mechanics still not been so still dont know what it is

 

[TheCake]

Ive already told you what it is...

 

[fitzy]

yeah i know mate just looking for a second opinion and see if anyone else has anything to say on the matter thats all

 

[BillyBhoy]

If your CAT is fooked would in theory fitting a decat pipe eliminate the problem?

 

[fitzy]

i dont know mate. just wanna get it fixed for a little as possible as i was looking for a new car anyway so am gonna be p/x ing it over the next month or so anyway so i can get a 172