Worst Possible News?

[GooglyBear]

Fan belt snapped on Friday night, i wasn't far from home, so got home in one piece.

Called the garage (a local indy) on Monday morning, the said they could supply and fit a new one for around £45.

Went to take car in, but it wouldn't start. Seemed to me there was enough charge in the battery, it was turning over, just not firing up. I wondered if it might have just frozen the diesel in the fuel line or filter or somewhere like that, as it was bitterly cold in the central belt of scotland over the weekend.

Had to get recovery to take car to garage, and got the dreaded phone call just now with the bad news...

1) The reason why the fan belt had snapped was because of the power steering pump pulley AND the temsioner pulley had both seized.

2) Car wouldn't start because the fuel pump to the engine has failed. Guy says it's a coded part (does this mean only Citroen can do it?) and i'm looking at £2000 for a replacement.

 

It's a 2003 2.0 Hdi LX hatch, i've had it 2½ years now and it's in pretty good nick besides this, but i can't see me spending this kind of money...

Is the part available from somewhere else at a more reasonable price?

 

Any help or advice appreciated...

[coastline taxis]

Sounds to me like they havent got a clue what there doing.

Done hundreds of snapped belts well they shred then snap and the bits of belt get everywhere. tell the garage to look between the pulley and the body of the power steering pump there they will find bits of old belt. remove them and itl free off and probally be fine. iits the tensioner that needs replacing

 

None starting

 

Firstly the pump is NOT coded in fact its not even timed to the engine its just a pump thats all and europarts do them new for £200,

the problem you have is that bits of the fanbelt mite have getting caught in the timming belt. i have seen this a quite a few times, So print this of and give it to them heres what they have to do

 

1 remove the timing covers and make a visual inspection for bits of fan belt and remove any found if none there thats a good sign.

2 using timing pins check the timing (crank pin goes into hole behind the starter motor and the camshaft mark is the hole in the cam pulley into the hole in the head.

3 If they all line up then thats good new if not then its not that bad as youl will of just snapped 1 or 2 lifters.

4 Assuming they all line up then replace the covers and the tensioner and belt give the battery a good charge and i would be very surprised if your car dosnt fire straight up.

 

If the timing marks dont line up then let is no and il post how to change the lifters. theres nothing hard or awkward and quite a easy job to do. I have never know a high pressure pump to sieze it just dosnt happen and unless theyve removed the timing belt it would be impossible to tell as the timing belt would stop you from spinning it with your hand.

Also a repair bill of 2 grand how. lets say you replace all the parts suggested it should be as follows

1 x high pressure pump £200 (europarts)

1 x tensioner £36 ( discout autoparts)

! x timing kit £60 ( duscout autoparts and there gates belts) you need timing belt changed when replacing pump

1 x water pump £30 ( discount autoparts)

1 x fan belt £13 ( disount autoparts)

1 x gallon antifreeze and thread lock £20 ( discount autoparts)

1 x power steering pmp £25 ( scrapyard)

So total for parts is £375 then labour of 4 to 5 hours at say £50 a hour comes to £625

[GooglyBear]

Cheers m8, but if they don't know what they're doing, i'd rather they didn't do it...

It did seem to me like a fuel starvation problem, there definitely was enough charge in the battery for it to start, although on the way home after the belt snapped i got a battery failure warning in the central display, i presumed it was because of the alternator not being operative due to belt snapping.

If only i lived next to you.. :-)

[coastline taxis]

where are you at then is it far from newcastle

[coastline taxis]

where abouts are you

[GooglyBear]

yeah m8, i'm miles away... West Lothian, near Edinburgh. Too far.

Don't worry about it, you've been a great help, but i should find someone a bit more local.

Just out of interest, i had a look at Europarts, i don't see the pump for £200 there...their site doesn't appear to be working right now, but when i looked earlier their cheaper pumps seemed to be the sender units located in the tank, whereas the one i need (i think) is the one for the injectors...

[coastline taxis]

I really really cant see you wanting a pump. but if you phone up europarts and speak to them weve had 3 or 4 pumps of them theres 2 versions and yours is the cheaper one at $200 the other one is for a 16 valve engine.

 

In order to say its a pump the youd be looking for the management light to be on then when plugged in youd should be getting a low rail pressure fault code. If a c5 dosnt have a fully charged battery then youl get all kinds of ghost fault codes.

 

Your way forward with this is to check the timing then fully charge the battery and see if it will start

[GooglyBear]

cheers m8, much appreciated.

The battery is sufficiently charged, even despite driving a couple of miles home after belt snapped.

I didn't get back to the garage today due to health problems, but i'll be there tomorrow with a printout of what you've said, see what they think.

[GooglyBear]

called a mobile mechanic, explained what you have said about bits getting into the timing belt. He's tied up until next week and can't do the job until then, but was talking about the possibility of bent valves...

Would i be right in thinking that if i'd bent valves the car would have stopped there and then? Or would i still have been able to drive it home? I didn't hear any audible difference in the engine, but that's not to say there wasn't...

Much appreciated

[coastline taxis]

havnt seen a bent valve on a 8 valve engine yet. what happens is that the hydraulic lifter arms snap and saves the valve. sounds bad but its not its very easy to do and dosnt need the cylinder head off. And to be honest if your car drove home ok after the belt went then the valves and timing are ok. the trouble you have is people are scared of citroens.

[GooglyBear]

the trouble you have is people are scared of citroens.

you're not wrong there, 3 other mobile mechanics all declined the opportunity...

been in contact with main dealer, he's wanting to see it first, but i've asked him for a quote for worst case scenario... waiting for his email reply.

 

When i collected the car from the local indy, i asked if they had removed the bits of belt from the pulleys, they said yes. of course, they haven't... they've also left a fuel line off, diesel leaking out over the road.

Recovery guy dragged car of his truck too, i went ape, he left without even asking for payment.

cowboys!

Edited December 6, 2012 by GooglyBear

[coastline taxis]

are you capable of doing the work yourself. If so could talk you through it

[GooglyBear]

afraid not, don't have the tools, the knowhow, or the fitness

[GooglyBear]

Got the car back yesterday, the suspension is down and the display says economy mode is active.

Is that normal or have the garage done something else to it?

[coastline taxis]

yes its normal. once the engine is fired up the economy mode will go off and all will be restored. the car is designed to do that when it senses a power drain and no power going in. So dont worry about that