Main Stealer's Service - now it's running hot!?

Post by **jb7_uk** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:51 pm

yeah i asked the service manager of the brighton dealership what i could do and he said not to worry as he'd get the guys who do the work on the car when they fix it to double check that evrything for the service was done and done properly which was nice of him

Just gotta wait until thursday now... cant wait to drive the beast again, I've been having to use my ma's N reg escort estate which while brilliantly reliable and wholey practical, isnt the most exhilerating car to drive

Post by **jb7_uk** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 9:01 pm

Ok... UPDATE TIME!

The car went into Brighton Audi this morning for a proper diagnosis and at about half 4 this afternoon i got the verdict....

Unfortunately, although there is some play in the viscous fan coupling, this is not the cause of the overheating. The water pump has packed up! apparently the fins of the drive wheel thing have collapsed

and also the thermostat is intermittently at fault. Ok, big problem. I asked the guy what the costs of this job would be and had he been able to get in touch with the RAC Warranty people to confirm that the work can be done under warranty claim. He said he hadn't been able to get hold of the warranty people but would keep trying. in the mean time, he passed on the costs to me ... to replace the water pump and thermostat, inc parts and labour and everything.... £890 !!! .... Ouch. So i check out some more contact numbers for the warranty people and pass on another number for the guy. He also mentioned that although not failed, the fan coupling wasn't totally right and could cause problems if it fails later and that now would be an ideal time to replace the viscous fan coupling as i wouldnt need to pay any extra labour. So i say to go ahead with that too.

He rings me back having spoken to the warranty people... mixed news. Yes the water pump / thermostat is covered, no problem there but as per the policy wording, they only pay the first 25 quid/hour of labour. and infortunately its the labour thats the lion's share of the cost of the job. so the RAC will indeed stump up for the parts and some of the labour but i'm gonna have to fork out £580 for labour (including the viscous fan bits as this isnt a warranty-able)

so, the work is going ahead as i need my motor back, but i'm still gonna have to whack best part of a grand on the credit card and then only get a few hundred back from the warranty

... deffinitely going to be some choice words put into a letter to Audi HQ and Audi Worthing about the shocking service, and fact that they failed completely to spot that a waterpump and thermostat was failing / failed. whether its their direct fault or not, they should have spotted this and a couple of other minor things the brighton techs told me about.

Should hopefully get the car back tomorrow eve or friday. In the mean time, the spanking new A3 2.0 TDi Sportback they gave me to run around in is actually proving to be bloody good fun

was most pleasantly surpised with this, especialy when having done 50 miles this eve i find the computer telling me i still have 500+ miles left in the tank

Post by **MarkB** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 9:44 pm

I've had similar with an RAC warranty. Would only pay the first £40 labour.

I had a window winder mech go and they wouldn't cover it, only the motor, which was still fine!

Wouldn't go near them again!

Post by **ZeroK66** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:09 pm

Well a partial result. Sorry it is still going to cost you though. Why not get the work done by a specialist though, half your labout costs?

Post by **jb7_uk** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:40 pm

i could do, but at the end of the day, i dont really have to time or inclination to go hunting for a reputable one. It's a pain in the @rse but its gone in broke and will come out tomorrow after work all fixed. The cust service i've received has been first class, everyone at brighton audi has been most helpful an understanding of the situation. just one of those things i guess, 580 notes is still far better tha having to shell out nearly 900 odd.

C'est la vie!

Post by **GrahamS4** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:37 am

Common fault I believe, unfortunately. I have also been given the advice previously that sudden fluctuation of temperature is an indication of this......sadly didn't remember for this post before now.

Post by **SimonS4MTM** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:09 am

Get them to do the cambelt at the same time, along with all of the rollers and tensioners.

Post by **TWH** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:48 am

And as a side note, might be worth seeing if any of the local press is interested in a small article about what's actually going on at the worthing audi dealiership?!!

Post by **Marlon** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 12:45 pm

The water pump has packed up! apparently the fins of the drive wheel thing have collapsed

When i had my cambelt service carried out i had the water pump replaced at the same time with an uprated one with brass fins instead of the standard plastic ones. Of course this was carried out at a specialist, shame main dealers aren't more proactive in recommending uprated parts.

Post by **SimonS4MTM** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 12:52 pm

Do you have more info on your waterpump Marlon, please share it with us.

Post by **Marlon** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:32 pm

Yeah -

When enquiring about the cambelt service, ensuring all tensioners/pulleys and water pump etc would be re-newed at the same time, the guy made a point of informing me of this uprated water pump they use instead of the original.

From what i can gather it is pretty much the same as the standard, apart from the plastic fins (which are evidently prone to snapping) have been replaced with brass.

The garage is Awesome near Manchester that i use, i'am sure if you give them a ring they'll be able to provide you with more information.

Tel: 0161 776 0777

Hope this is of use

Cheers

Post by **SimonS4MTM** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:38 pm

Cheers - Top Tip

Post by **jb7_uk** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:29 pm

to be fair to them, the guys doing the work did mention say that it would be worth them doing the cambelt while they were doing this work, but it was only done 18 months ago so i asked if it was worth doing it so soon and he agreed that as it was done recently ot didnt need doing again. It's having a couple of minor things done while their at it do save on future labour costs, didnt know about the uprated pump, work's almost finished now so a bit late to ask for that but it should be good for a while now its been done so that'll do for now.

Oh, i heard from the garage this afernoon, they weren't able to get the work finished for this evening so i should be picking it up after work tomorrow.

Good call about the local press TWH, i might send out a few 'feeler' emails, see if i get any bites

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Main Stealer's Service - now it's running hot!?

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