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So my car needs a new engine..

[Deleted User]

Howdy folks.

I have a 2009 citroen C5, 1.6hdi diesel. it's got about 270km on the clock and it's never really given any trouble.

Recently it developed a leak in the coolant department. but it was looked at and some stop-leak seemed to work on it.

On Sunday I was driving it and heard a sudden loud tapping/clicking. Engine lost all power and car was towed home.

Mechanic just sent me a text to say he stuck the car up on the ramp and it's bad news. Engine is gone as there's a hole in the back of it.

I'm trying not to dwell on it too much but now I'm curious about my next steps.

From what I gather (haven't actually called to mechanic yet) I'll be needing a new engine. My mechanic says he doesn't do work that big and as such can't give me a rough price. Although I'm hoping he knows someone who can deal with it.

In the meantime I'm looking to see if anyone has any advice or opinions at all? Or can anyone give a realistic idea on the cost of replacing a 1.6 diesel engine in a c5.

I paid 9k for the car 2 years ago, and i really like the cae, so hesitant to part with it. On the other hand, if the price is crazy then obviously it's something I may be forced to do.

Anyone able to offer any advice?

Cheers.

- A very deflated KKV.

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deandean

Sorry to hear about all your problems OP. In my experience, not a lot of people have the full-blown Citroen diagnostic software. People might be trying to diagnose the problems with ODB2 kit which does not give detailed-enough messages.
One highly regarded Citroen Indy is Noel Dolphin (Noel Dolphin Autos, Clontarf, Dublin 3). I know that he has the full set of diagnostic software and hardware. If you have run out of options, it might be worth getting in touch with him, although of course it will cost you more money. Best of luck.

[Deleted User]

So just so i know Im not being a dick.. it IS reasonable to ask them to fix it?

grogi

Deleted User wrote: »

So just so i know Im not being a dick.. it IS reasonable to ask them to fix it?

Yes. The car's electronics imploded after the engine fix. I doubt they will be able to fix it though...

Black_Knight

They'll push back with every excuse under the sun (saves them money at the end of the day), but stand firm and always know, these things were not an issue before they worked on the car. They surely didn't mean to, but they have caused these issues.

[Deleted User]

Ah to be honest, I don't begrudge throwing a couple of euro extra at the issue, but by the same token, i don't want to forking out for it on my own when it's an issue that was caused by them.

I believe the option of small claims court is open to me, if they tell me to get lost, but that's obviously a route I'd rather not have to go down, and seen as the lads seem sound in general, i don't think they'll be too unreasonable.

Plus there's an enormous amount of cars out there, and about 7 bays being worked in, so I'm assuming they're doing alright financially and this won't break the bank, but hopefully just be more of an annoyance.

raxy

I had an engine blow in a passat. Got it replaced for 2.5k. Vw garage said it would be 4-5k.
Had nothing but trouble with it after. Oil leaks, turbo failing & a few other problems. Wouldn't do it again.
Get some prices from scrap yards for the car as is & replace it. I

[Deleted User]

To be honest, the car is driving fine. If this electrical issue hadn't appeared, I'd have been the happiest chappy that ever did live. But these issues are just after taking the joy out of it a bit.

The good news is, the chap I'm dealing with in Daly's is being very fair and reasonable. Didn't put up any fight at all when I politely requested they fix the BSM/BCM (whatever title you prefer, fusebox in the engine bay). But we did both kinda come to the conclusion that this may well be the overall issue (ie; this could be why I've no air con, for example, rather than the air con itself being knackered).

I told them I've no need for the car until Wednesday, so i'll need to collect it on Tuesday at some point, and they seemed happy enough with that. I feel both sides are being very polite and reasonable and in fairness, although I've had some issues, they've been very good with taking the car back and doing all that they can to address the issues.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

I feel both sides are being very polite and reasonable and in fairness, although I've had some issues, they've been very good with taking the car back and doing all that they can to address the issues.

Goes to show that reason & being decent are more effective in resolving a problem than any other measures, fair play to you and the garage

jca

unkel wrote: »

Goes to show that reason & being decent are more effective in resolving a problem than any other measures, fair play to you and the garage

Something that seems to be getting lost in Ireland. Hopefully it will work out amicably, they seem to be a decent crowd and the op seems to be sound too.

[Deleted User]

I've always found that treating people with a bit of respect will get you further than not doing so. Besides, if I went in ranting and raving, even if I got to the same place I'm at at the moment, I'd be on here calling them pricks, and they'd be calling me everything under the sun out there too. No point in having needless hostility.

So I rang them yesterday evening (when I left the car with them; they asked me to give them a ring before the end of the week). They said they changed the BSM/BCM (engine bay fusebox) but that the car was still the same, and nothing had changed.

So they said they sent it up to an auto electrician in Blanchardstown that has done work for them before, and who has 'never failed' them. Apparently this chap has a background in Citroen. So they asked me to give a ring Monday afternoon to keep on them.

I told them I needed the car for Wednesday, but to be honest, I'd have no real issue leaving it there for the week and living with the mild inconvenience, if it meant I had a properly functioning car. I don't want to rush them if they're starting to make some progress (I kinda need the car this week, but could work around it).

That said, in two weeks time, the car is back on the road again for work, so it'll be needed for 7-10 days of solid driving, and unfortunately I can't have the engine running all the time, and constantly jumping it won't realistically be an option. So I'm hopeful that it'll be back on the road and 100% by then.

[Deleted User]

Just as a quick update, 11 days later and I still haven't seen my car.

As said above, my car is with an auto-electrician in Blanchardstown i believe (organised by Daly's Engines). Daly's said they themselves replaced the BSM/fusebox in the engine bay and it was still the same (lights coming on after leaving car). So they handed it over to the auto-electricians, who said it's the fusebox in the glovebox at fault. Apparently, they have replaced the fusebox from the glove box (which isn't just plug and play, it requires a bit of programming).

I'm told there was a chap due to do that today and sync it all up properly, but i rang them at 2pm and they hadn't heard by that point if yer man had programmed the car or not. It was hoped that the car would be ready for tomorrow.

I'm working on Thursday for a week in a role that will see a lot of miles racked up. I'll be driving for about 12 hours per day for a week or so, I'd guess. They have said they have a VW Golf they can lend me, which is great, and lifts a lot of stress, but ultimately i'd rather have my own car, as the mileage i'll be doing means that if i scuff a wheel or the side of the car gets scratched from some overgrown bushes down some tight country lane, at least in my own car I don't have to present it back to someone. I'd have much more comfort. But sure look, such is life.

Either way, I'll be collecting a car off them tomorrow evening. Fingers crossed it'll be my own car, and it'll be back to 100% electronically.

[Deleted User]

So I came home this evening in a VW Golf (2002, hatchback, petrol). Looks like this will be my chariot for the next week of lengthy driving. Dunno if I'm happy or sad about it.

jca

Be sad, be very very sad.

wmpdd3

Well at least you won't have to worry about scuffing THAT!

I hope you're close to a resolution.

Black_Knight

I hope they at least gave you a full tank!

[Deleted User]

There wasn't a drop of petrol in it. They threw me €20 to put some in it, but i gave the money back. In fairness, it's not their fault I need it. If it was still getting engine work done, I'd be angry with them, and i'd be throwing the 'im entitled' attitude at them, but at this stage, the car is off to a third party auto-electrician, and they can't do much about it. They've been excellent to deal with so far in every capacity. Despite my few issues, I'd still use them again and again and recommend them to anyone. Customer service means a lot to me, and a company that are willing to help out every step of the way is a rare thing.

(That said, I'll see what happens when they get billed by the auto-electrician though..! I don't mind throwing a few euro at it but i wouldn't be anticipating having to pay the whole lot myself. I think that'd be unfair).

I had to go to my car the other day (wednesday) to get a sat nav and a few other bits that were in it. When I opened it to take the nav out, the glovebox was pulled out, there was a big fuse board on the seat (that looked too big to go in behind the glove box so not sure what it was), and there were a few wires pulled out here and there. So at least I know it's actually getting looked at.

The Golf is actually not as dreadful as I had anticipated. My brother has an 03 Megane, and the 02 Golf interior is very poor in comparison (probably nicer to drive, albeit not a lot in the difference). I've no doubt it's a paddy-spec golf with nothing of any spec level in it, but jesus it doesn't shout 'premium brand' when i sat in it. For a long time i spun around in a 00 Focus hatch, and a 01 Focus estate, and they both also seemed a little nicer inside than the golf. I don't get it.

The Golf has much better cup holders, I'll admit (they're hidden in the dash and you've to push them and they spring out.. I think it's still used in the back seat of the current day Passat). Same as the current Peugeot 508. Sensible design and should be on most cars.

Other than that, though, it's going well. It's been on the road for about 20 hours or so at this stage, over thursday and friday and it's not given any trouble, which is obviously good. Just have to get through a long day in Dublin tomorrow, and around the country on Monday and Tuesday and I can hopefully hand it back and sit into my own one.

Makes you really appreciate the C5. I know Citroen aren't marketed or touted as a high end, premium brand, but the C5 is miles ahead of pretty much anything I'e sat in (mind you, the C5's pricing was never 'competitive' either, so maybe they were trying to take a swing at the A4 / 5 series, etc? It's just such a solid car (I know that sounds silly, considering the thread is called 'my car needs a new engine', but you know what I mean.. the general build quality, etc.)

On the plus side.. my car has had some major trouble recently, engine and electrical issues, but at least when I get it back, it'll be as good as new. It'll have had an extensive look at by an auto-electrician, and the engine, clutch, gearbox etc. are all good as new and running great.

Now I just have to get the front bumper fixed, get it through the NCT and hope it lives another 4-5 years.

jdh1987

They said they can tow the car to their place and take a proper look. They reckon a reconditioned engine is the way to go. Said their engines will come with turbochargers etc. all done and a one year guarantee with it. He said it'd be about €3,000.

Can anyone comment on this? I'm not sure if I'm getting a good deal or not?

A place called Howard Engineering said it'd be 2k + Vat to fix the engine, or if the engine is 'punctured' (which is what he said after i mentioned the hole in it) he said it'd be 4k + Vat.

I tried to ring one or two others (IVI was the name of one) but couldn't get through to them.[/quote]

3000 seems like way too much. Plus you don't need a turbo just the engine. I've replaced 1.4 dti fiestas for €800 and gave my own cover to the customer.

raxy

jdh1987 wrote: »

They said they can tow the car to their place and take a proper look. They reckon a reconditioned engine is the way to go. Said their engines will come with turbochargers etc. all done and a one year guarantee with it. He said it'd be about €3,000.

Can anyone comment on this? I'm not sure if I'm getting a good deal or not?

A place called Howard Engineering said it'd be 2k + Vat to fix the engine, or if the engine is 'punctured' (which is what he said after i mentioned the hole in it) he said it'd be 4k + Vat.

I tried to ring one or two others (IVI was the name of one) but couldn't get through to them.

3000 seems like way too much. Plus you don't need a turbo just the engine. I've replaced 1.4 dti fiestas for €800 and gave my own cover to the customer.[/quote]

What car/year is your car? I would get a price from scrap yards for your car & weigh up your options then. I had a passat & would have got 4-4.5k for the car without getting it fixed. Spent about 2.5k getting the engine fixed. A few months later I got 7k trade in for it. Not worth the hassle in my opinion & if it happened again I wouldn't do it. Was warned the turbo was on the way out after, had constant oil leaks & also told the fly wheel was dodgy.
3k sounds OK to me especially with a year's guarantee if that is how you go but I'd only do it if the rest on the car was good.

colm_mcm

OP has already had the engine fitted to their car. Post #138 has a quote tag missing, but it's quoting a post from ages ago.

[Deleted User]

Well I've had the car back since Thursday evening.

I've still no reverse lights, but that's minor enough.

They re-progammed the car i believe with the new fusebox etc. in it so now i get some lovely new error messages. They are 'Parking Assistance System Faulty' and 'Anti Theft System Faulty'. Predictably they relate to the rear parking sensors and the alarm.

The car has no rear parking sensors, as whoever first purchased it obviously decided against them, but the wiring etc. is usually still in the car for them (i believe when they're making the car in the factory, it's cheaper to just put the wiring and such in, and just deactivate them at a later stage.. an example being that my car had no DRLs, but it only took citroen about 5 minutes to activate them, as the wiring, bulbs, etc. were all fitted to the car, but the option to use them was just removed from the menu.. i'm assuming something similar here) . So I need to either get an auto electrician to put in sensors, or get the message turned off (ie; tell the car there are no sensors). And the alarm I'm not sure about. It's just not working, for whatever reason.. It did work in the past. Again i assume it's just a case of turning it on with a computer connected to the car?

The other issue is that my spare key won't start the car now, or lock it, so i have to ring them in the morning and see can i drop out to them to get that synced up too (Im hoping that's a 2 minute job.. i tried to DIY it from a google tutorial but didnt work).

I'm not gonna go through the engine crowd anymore as I reckon they've done all they can at this stage, really, and i think this stuff is fairly simple. Perhaps I'm wrong, but i think that turning on and off those error messages is as simple as connecting their computer to the car and ticking boxes? (my car looks like it has parking sensors, as the holes are there for them, but they just have plain plastic in place of the sensors, so I'm presuming whoever was programming the car glanced at the rear bumper and just assumed they were actual sensors).

Yer man in the engine place said that my battery was useless as it had been drained. It was getting too hard a time with the lights staying on and constantly draining it, and it was old, so it wasn't holding a charge, meaning the car needed to be jumped all the time. So he changed out the battery too. All in all, all he charged me for was the battery itself, which he said was €100 ex vat (so €113.50) and I'd well believe that as these cars do seem to take big batteries.

So I can't really complain about that, to be honest. Considering Citroen wanted €800 to do the same job the auto-electricians did, and I'd have still needed a new battery anyway, I think i got off lightly, although I don't know how much the auto-electricians actually charged the engine crowd, so im not sure if i feel guilty about not contributing to that.

The car has it's NCT on friday morning, and it'll fail, I know. I need to try and get a new front bumper onto it this week, too. That'll be another pain in the ass. The horn also hasn't worked for the best part of a year now, either. I'm not sure if that's a mechanical or electrical issue though.

So it's all fun and games so far, anyway.

The gist of it is that I would highly recommend Dan Daly Engines though. I know I've had a lot of issues, all of which were probably caused by one person doing something simple out of place, and was probably a very easy mistake to make, but in fairness to them, they have made an effort to help every step of the way. They've really done more than I expected and have been a pleasure to deal with all the way.

I'm on the road to a clean bill of health! Off to partfinder I go! :P

[Deleted User]

Mate actually read your posts here, they have been nice, thats absolutely great.

Your car is ****ed, won't pass an nct and you have had constant problems that you are just brushing off because they are nice guys.

Don't recommend them to anyone, your car is in bits and now won't pass the next after you've spent a fortune on it

Actually add up your total costs at the end, you could have bought a new car for the money

You are too nice a guy for you own good

End of the day Dan Daly engines have made 5hit of your car but you'd recommend them to anyone?

Expert Plumber

To go against George Dalton’s advice was stupid.

[Deleted User]

Goose81 wrote: »

Mate actually read your posts here, they have been nice, thats absolutely great.

Your car is ****ed, won't pass an nct and you have had constant problems that you are just brushing off because they are nice guys.

Don't recommend them to anyone, your car is in bits and now won't pass the next after you've spent a fortune on it

Actually add up your total costs at the end, you could have bought a new car for the money

You are too nice a guy for you own good

Ah, i'd disagree. It has a fresh engine, clutch, gearbox etc. and is mechanically sound in pretty much every aspect at the moment.

Cosmetically it needs work doing to the front bumper, but that's from hitting a badger and nothing to do with the engine, just bad timing.

The electric issues i reckon will be an easy fix. I've a good idea how to fix everything bar the horn, but i can't see it being difficult and is apparently common (from googling it seems they install the horn quite low to the ground so it gets wet, damp etc. over time and can stop working).

Other than a general once-over from a mechanic the car is fine. I reckon if i could get the front bumper before the NCT, then it'd go through no bother.

In regards to not fixing it in the first place, I'd never have scrapped it. That was never going to be considered an option. I'm down about €3.5k on it all in all I'd say, which wouldn't have bought me anything anyway.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ah, i'd disagree. It has a fresh engine, clutch, gearbox etc. and is mechanically sound in pretty much every aspect at the moment.

Cosmetically it needs work doing to the front bumper, but that's from hitting a badger and nothing to do with the engine, just bad timing.

The electric issues i reckon will be an easy fix. I've a good idea how to fix everything bar the horn, but i can't see it being difficult and is apparently common (from googling it seems they install the horn quite low to the ground so it gets wet, damp etc. over time and can stop working).

Other than a general once-over from a mechanic the car is fine. I reckon if i could get the front bumper before the NCT, then it'd go through no bother.

In regards to not fixing it in the first place, I'd never have scrapped it. That was never going to be considered an option. I'm down about €3.5k on it all in all I'd say, which wouldn't have bought me anything anyway.

I can guarantee you one thing with modern cars, the electrics are most definitely not an easy fix and might not be fixable at all mate with a replacement engine and it will not be cheap.

It shouldn't need a once over by a mechanic, they should have done that

Expert Plumber

A non working horn can be a problem mate.

[Deleted User]

Goose81 wrote: »

I can guarantee you one thing with modern cars, the electrics are most definitely not an easy fix and might not be fixable at all mate with a replacement engine and it will not be cheap.

It shouldn't need a once over by a mechanic, they should have done that

I mean once-over by mechanic in terms of NCT prep. I am missing a few bulbs and such, and want to make sure the rest of the car is alright, though I'm confident it is.

My biggest concern to be honest, is just the bumper. I'd say getting a replacement will be a nuisance.

[Deleted User]

Expert Plumber wrote: »

A non working horn can be a problem mate.

Tell me about it

thierry14

Expert Plumber wrote: »

A non working horn can be a problem mate.

Haha

Reading about the Citreon from hell and then that nugget

KKV feel for you

Reading since the start, man how much have you spent on this Citreon from hell lol, I'm lost

Every post is 100 here, 800 here, 3k here, another 200 there and Nct still to do and you think its going to fail, laughed at that comment.

Panel beater and 1k for cosmetics got me too, as did keeping it for 5 more years lol, you'll be the cars slave lol.

It's good you don't you take the situation too seriously and still having a laugh

I was watching John Candys planes, trains and automobiles last night, reminded me of this thread, all that was left was for the car to catch fire in the end

Hope everything works out KKV, have a happy christmas you and your C5

zilog_jones

Deleted User wrote: »

They re-progammed the car i believe with the new fusebox etc. in it so now i get some lovely new error messages. They are 'Parking Assistance System Faulty' and 'Anti Theft System Faulty'. Predictably they relate to the rear parking sensors and the alarm.

The car has no rear parking sensors, as whoever first purchased it obviously decided against them, but the wiring etc. is usually still in the car for them (i believe when they're making the car in the factory, it's cheaper to just put the wiring and such in, and just deactivate them at a later stage.. an example being that my car had no DRLs, but it only took citroen about 5 minutes to activate them, as the wiring, bulbs, etc. were all fitted to the car, but the option to use them was just removed from the menu.. i'm assuming something similar here) . So I need to either get an auto electrician to put in sensors, or get the message turned off (ie; tell the car there are no sensors). And the alarm I'm not sure about. It's just not working, for whatever reason.. It did work in the past. Again i assume it's just a case of turning it on with a computer connected to the car?

Sounds like the BSI needs reconfiguring to reflect what accessories are present in the car. You can do this with Peugeot/Citroen Diagbox software and cables - DIY job if you're handy with computers (PM me if you're interested, I have the cables but no more PSA car). You may be able to reprogram the spare key with this as well (not certain).

Reverse light could just be the switch, or maybe also a configuration issue (BSI configured for wrong gearbox or something?).

jca

No reversing lights is an nct fail too.