need a new berlingo engine

Mr. Chrome

Hi guys, looking for some sound advice. Yesterday my gf was driving my 06 berlingo 1.9 straight diesel, 85k miles. The van suddenly lost power and conked out. It would not restart. She lifted the bonnet and there was a little bit of steam but not much. She rang a freind who collected her and she went to the nearest garage she could find. The mechanic said he would collect the van later and check it out.

Today he phoned her and told her a pipe going to the radiator had come loose, all the coolant spilled out and the engine over-heated and the van needs a new engine. He said the gasket (head gasket I presume) is probably gone and the best thing to do is just replace the engine at a cost of 850euro, 450 for a second hand engine, 150 for a new timing belt, 250 labour. Tbh I think the price sounds fair but I just dont know if a new engine is necessary.

Havent spoken to him yet but plan on calling into him tomorow. Dont want to p*ss him off by bringing another mechanic for a second opinion, plus it will only add more expense on me.

Any ideas what I should do?
Apologies for the length of this post!!

RealExpert

Its quite possible there is serious damage done if all the coolant leaked out but If he is not your regular mechanic you should get a second opinion,dont worry about p***ing him off or the extra cost.This could be a quick fix for the mechanic (tighten the hose clip) and an expensive lesson for you.

PS:I worked in numerous garages and I know some of the "tricks of the trade" so to speak.

Mr. Chrome

Cheers realexpert, thing is I dont really know any mechanics, moved house a couple of times in last few years and just use whoever is local, would 50euro cover a mechanic to come and check it out?

canhefixit

The mechanic says "the head gasket is probably gone" if he is any half decent mechanic he should be able to test the engine and know exactly what is wrong and may just need a new head gasket but if it has been driven for miles without a drop of water then yes more than likely looking at having to replace engine.

Mr. Chrome

Cheers, thats whats buggin me, he said 'probably', but he still wants to replace the engine. Think ill call to him tomorow and ask to see physical damage and take it from there. Is there an easy way to go find out if the engine is gone? I know nothing about engines!!

If the engine just suddenly stopped it's chance it's something electrical triggered by the escaping coolant (although I suspect there is not too much electrical on the 1.9D).

However, the other likely reason for the engine "suddently loosing power" is that early warning signs and lights were ignored and the van was driven until the engine seized with overheating. I would not discount this possibility unless your gf was really tech savvy. Rebuilding an seized engine is not really an option as pretty much everything will be scrap in it.

I would start with a compression test. If oil pan can be removed with engine in situ the cylinder walls and main/conrod bearings and crank could be inspected too (seizing engine can overload the bearings).

dgt

If anything like an XUD..... (yes yes DW8 I know)

The XUD has an alu head that can warp when overheated. Like in the aforementioned incident

As suggested by others get a compression test done first.

If getting a new hg get the head skimmed, new waterpump, thermo etc

shamwari

samih wrote: »

However, the other likely reason for the engine "suddently loosing power" is that early warning signs and lights were ignored and the van was driven until the engine seized with overheating.

Here's the thing about when an engine looses coolant like this: there's no water around the temp sensor and therefore the gauge actually falls instead of going into the red. So anybody driving would have little by way of a warning on their dashboard about how serious the situation really is.

Overheating problems are sometimes compouned by the fact that some Pugs and Citroens don't have a temp gauge, and instead have a warning light. By the time these illuminate though, the engine is usually barbecued - and expensively so.

shamwari

shamwari wrote: »

...when an engine looses coolant like this: there's no water around the temp sensor and therefore the gauge actually falls instead of going into the red...

Yeah, makes sense and chances are that the driver would not notice the trail of coolant left on the road. Also in this case where it was not the normal keeper driving any untypical smells or noises could have gone unnoticed until it was too late.

Mr. Chrome

shamwari wrote: »

Here's the thing about when an engine looses coolant like this: there's no water around the temp sensor and therefore the gauge actually falls instead of going into the red. So anybody driving would have little by way of a warning on their dashboard about how serious the situation really is.

Overheating problems are sometimes compouned by the fact that some Pugs and Citroens don't have a temp gauge, and instead have a warning light. By the time these illuminate though, the engine is usually barbecued - and expensively so.

That sure does make alot of sense cause she said she was checking her speed every minute or so and didnt notice any warning lights.
I presumed she was putting on makeup and texting while driving ;-)
Thanks for all the replies guys, ye really know yer stuff!
Called to the garage today but the boss wasn't there, the lads didnt know anything about it so ill probably have to leave it till Tuesday.
Thanks again, much appreciated.

GTDolanator

shamwari wrote: »

Here's the thing about when an engine looses coolant like this: there's no water around the temp sensor and therefore the gauge actually falls instead of going into the red. So anybody driving would have little by way of a warning on their dashboard about how serious the situation really is.

Overheating problems are sometimes compouned by the fact that some Pugs and Citroens don't have a temp gauge, and instead have a warning light. By the time these illuminate though, the engine is usually barbecued - and expensively so.

Some dont have temp gauge but a 06 bingo deffo does