Brand new timing chain slipped - 08 Passat 1.4tsi

andrisvl

Hi, i just had my mechanic replace and put in new Timing chain in 08 Passat 1.4tsi, which slipped/jumped just after 2metres of driving out of my driveway as mechanic who delivered car asked me to drop him back to garage.. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME IF IT IS POSSIBLE FOR TIMING CHAIN TO SLIP after just 5-10 mins driving?

P.S. after the car stalled, mechanic then opened a bonnet and we found the generator belt being completely off the generator and other engine parts to what it connects..

Long story short, he now has towed the car back to his garage and saying that valves are bent and its going to cost me..$$$

Is it possible that he done everything right and timing chain can still slip like that, or is it the case he has not done the job properly and that's what caused the chain to slip?

Toyotafanboi

It depends on a lot of different things.

A popular one with that car though, if the old chain was fairly far gone, they can wear the teeth on the cam variator but lads dont change the variator when they do they chain as it's a €5 or 600 part or they just dont know to inspect for excessive wear, then the new chain slips on the worn variator and you start all over again.

Depending on the chain that was fitted, the OEM chain is bad enough, some of the lesser branded spurious chain kits are pure junk and it wouldn't be unknown for catastrophic failures.

That said, they could have fitted a brand new VW timing chain kit and variator and if a bolt was left loose anywhere during the job it could have ended like this.

I'd be looking for a clear and defined answer as to why this happened. If they cant blame a specific component for failure, I'd be blaming the workmanship. But ideally he needs to tell you that the new chain has failed and is covered by the warranty on the job. Less ideally he needs to tell you it's possibly a variator issue and work with you on a resolution. I think it'd be very unfair to be just expecting you to foot the bill again.

Agent_47

Lad on Adverts has an engine for 1,100 available with 11,000 miles. I have an Audi A1 with same engine so no need to change timing chain I hope

andrisvl

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

It depends on a lot of different things.

A popular one with that car though, if the old chain was fairly far gone, they can wear the teeth on the cam variator but lads dont change the variator when they do they chain as it's a €5 or 600 part or they just dont know to inspect for excessive wear, then the new chain slips on the worn variator and you start all over again.

Depending on the chain that was fitted, the OEM chain is bad enough, some of the lesser branded spurious chain kits are pure junk and it wouldn't be unknown for catastrophic failures.

That said, they could have fitted a brand new VW timing chain kit and variator and if a bolt was left loose anywhere during the job it could have ended like this.

I'd be looking for a clear and defined answer as to why this happened. If they cant blame a specific component for failure, I'd be blaming the workmanship. But ideally he needs to tell you that the new chain has failed and is covered by the warranty on the job. Less ideally he needs to tell you it's possibly a variator issue and work with you on a resolution. I think it'd be very unfair to be just expecting you to foot the bill again.

on

Thanks for your response. As a side note, after opening the bonnet and seeing the black belt that would go onto generator completely off, mechanic mentioned that he may not have tightened the black wheely-thing properly on which the belt goes on.. He's saying it needs also new head gasket too now..

Toyotafanboi

That's not too big a deal, if valves are damaged, the cylinder head will have to be removed to replace them, you'll have to fit a new head gasket and head bolts etc when refitting the cylinder head, probably €40-50. Will be a drop in the ocean of this job.

SCOOP 64

andrisvl wrote: »

on

Thanks for your response. As a side note, after opening the bonnet and seeing the black belt that would go onto generator completely off, mechanic mentioned that he may not have tightened the black wheely-thing properly on which the belt goes on.. He's saying it needs also new head gasket too now..

Should you be paying the bill for this if this is the case?

andrisvl

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

Should you be paying the bill for this if this is the case?

That's what he apparently expects me to do, as if he has nothing to do with it..

andrisvl

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

That's not too big a deal, if valves are damaged, the cylinder head will have to be removed to replace them, you'll have to fit a new head gasket and head bolts etc when refitting the cylinder head, probably €40-50. Will be a drop in the ocean of this job.

Thanks Toyotafanboi, much appreciated. Will be meeting him later today, will see how it goes down.

andrisvl

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

Should you be paying the bill for this if this is the case?

Well, he clearly mentioned that perhaps he didn't tighten the black wheely-thing part on which the belt sits properly, after opening the bonnet and seeing the belt completely off. So go figure..

CoBo55

andrisvl wrote: »

That's what he apparently expects me to do, as if he has nothing to do with it..

Absolutely no way I'd be giving him a penny. A friend of mines daughter had the exact thing happen to her after collecting her car. It stopped about 5 km after she picked it up, it was a golf and it was done by a very well known Dublin main dealer. They tried giving her the shrug of the shoulders attitude, big mistake!! Needless to say the car was fixed, again, foc with a completely rebuilt cylinder head.

andrisvl

CoBo55 wrote: »

Absolutely no way I'd be giving him a penny. A friend of mines daughter had the exact thing happen to her after collecting her car. It stopped about 5 km after she picked it up, it was a golf and it was done by a very well known Dublin main dealer. They tried giving her the shrug of the shoulders attitude, big mistake!! Needless to say the car was fixed, again, foc with a completely rebuilt cylinder head.

Will see how things go once the job is done and we talk money, hopefully he's reasonable and fair.. Will post the outcome later.

TheBoyConor

I would not give this cowboy a penny. The neck on him to ask for more money after he clearly did a defective job and screwed it up resulting in the timing going after 5 minutes of run time. that just should not happen if the job was done correctly.
If i were in your shoes i would see red. I'd go down there and lift him out of it verbally and demand it is fixed at his own cost. I'd have no problem going down there at a busy time for customers and aggressively shouting the odds at him in front of customers and let them know he is an incompetent chancer until he agrees to repair the damage at no cost. Threaten him that you'll drag him to the small claims court unless he agrees to fix it for free. Threaten him that you will report him to SIMI and go on the radio and leave scathing reviews on google and that you'll blacken his name to everyone you know unless he fixes it.

I think it is very cheeky of him to try to screw you for more money to fix damage that was caused by his very own incompetence.

Montage of Feck

Is the reliability of German cars gone to pot? They seemingly cant design a decent timing system.

Titzon Toast

Did the mechanic supply the timing kit? If so, tell him to fix your car asap and you don't owe him another penny.

John.G

Here is a photo (courtesy, George Dalton) of a stretched chain with hydraulic tensioner fully extended.

LIGHTNING

LIGHTNING wrote: »

When something fails because of a bad repair its the manufacturers fault?

When that bad repair is a repair on something that should not need to be repaired, then yes.

9935452

TheBoyConor wrote: »

I would not give this cowboy a penny. The neck on him to ask for more money after he clearly did a defective job and screwed it up resulting in the timing going after 5 minutes of run time. that just should not happen if the job was done correctly.
If i were in your shoes i would see red. I'd go down there and lift him out of it verbally and demand it is fixed at his own cost. I'd have no problem going down there at a busy time for customers and aggressively shouting the odds at him in front of customers and let them know he is an incompetent chancer until he agrees to repair the damage at no cost. Threaten him that you'll drag him to the small claims court unless he agrees to fix it for free. Threaten him that you will report him to SIMI and go on the radio and leave scathing reviews on google and that you'll blacken his name to everyone you know unless he fixes it.

I think it is very cheeky of him to try to screw you for more money to fix damage that was caused by his very own incompetence.

SIMI will do nothing.
Its the car dealers own organisation

TheBoyConor

Then down to the garage are rage into his face.