Faullty garage service

GJE

Free Member

Messages
4
My local garage advised me that my cam belt on my 22 year old Hymer 564 needed replacing and I agreed to have this done. It was quite expensive to do this since a lot of labour was involved. On my bill the cam belt is priced at £161.01 ex VAT, so I assume this was a cam belt kit. After driving about 1500 miles we broke down and had to be recovered from Yorkshire back to the garage in Wiltshire. They confirmed what I thought, which is that the issue was to do with the cam belt. They said the cam belt tensioner had sheared off, but they said they had not fitted the tensioner and that this could have happened regardless of the cam belt being replaced recently. The engine, a Fiat Ducato 2.8 TD, was damaged and is currently being repaired by the garage. I assume a cam belt tensioner is included in the kits. Is this assumption correct? Even if it was not included in the kit, does the fact that it failed so soon after fitting the cam belt mean it is most likely that the garage made a poor job of it?
 
GJE said:
My local garage advised me that my cam belt on my 22 year old Hymer 564 needed replacing and I agreed to have this done. It was quite expensive to do this since a lot of labour was involved. On my bill the cam belt is priced at £161.01 ex VAT, so I assume this was a cam belt kit. After driving about 1500 miles we broke down and had to be recovered from Yorkshire back to the garage in Wiltshire. They confirmed what I thought, which is that the issue was to do with the cam belt. They said the cam belt tensioner had sheared off, but they said they had not fitted the tensioner and that this could have happened regardless of the cam belt being replaced recently. The engine, a Fiat Ducato 2.8 TD, was damaged and is currently being repaired by the garage. I assume a cam belt tensioner is included in the kits. Is this assumption correct? Even if it was not included in the kit, does the fact that it failed so soon after fitting the cam belt mean it is most likely that the garage made a poor job of it?
Click to expand...
One of the common causes of cam belt failures on this engine can be the tensioner failing in some way. You will find example if you Google search. No idea if included in the kit you mention. Maybe garage should have changed as a matter of course for this engine. Ask a Fiat dealer and then get back to your garage armed with "not serviced in accordance with OEM" kind of statement.
 
IMHO....

Changing cambelt without changing the tensioner
Would be like not changing a clutch as a 3 piece kit...

I'd get in contact with the AA/RAC if you're a member as a bit of extra leverage from them MAY be useful.
 
No one in their right mind would change the cam belt without also changing the tensioner and water pump,
So I cannot understand why the garage didn’t change it,
And yes the tensioner could have been weakened when they changed the cam belt especially if they used a pry bar of some sort to slacken the tensioner
 
Wrighpm said:
One of the common causes of cam belt failures on this engine can be the tensioner failing in some way. You will find example if you Google search. No idea if included in the kit you mention. Maybe garage should have changed as a matter of course for this engine. Ask a Fiat dealer and then get back to your garage armed with "not serviced in accordance with OEM" kind of statement.
Click to expand...
Thank you
RichardHelen262 said:
View attachment 64753View attachment 64753Here is a timing belt kit that clearly shows a new idler pulley and tensioner are included
Click to expand...
Thank you, that's useful information
 
Wrighpm said:
One of the common causes of cam belt failures on this engine can be the tensioner failing in some way. You will find example if you Google search. No idea if included in the kit you mention. Maybe garage should have changed as a matter of course for this engine. Ask a Fiat dealer and then get back to your garage armed with "not serviced in accordance with OEM" kind of statement.
Click to expand...
Thank you. The local Fiat dealer told me they would change it as a matter of course, but some people would ask for the cam belt only to be changed. My garage didn't offer me any options
 
mistericeman said:
IMHO....

Changing cambelt without changing the tensioner
Would be like not changing a clutch as a 3 piece kit...

I'd get in contact with the AA/RAC if you're a member as a bit of extra leverage from them MAY be useful.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Unfortunately no longer a member of AA, which I was until about a month ago with my car. For the motorhome I had breakdown cover as an extra with my insurance.
 
You,d only get what you ask for if you asked to have cambelt changed thats what you,d get. Some garages would advise to use a kit. But you only get what you pay for
 
Any half way competent garage should have fitted the idler and tensioner at the same time, the cost difference is minute and they are in there anyway.

Shocking, I do hope they don't expect you to pay for their incompetence.
 
Dunno where you'd get a new 2.8jtd engine from, new head possibly, & valves and possibly pistons.
 
What did it say on your bill wording is key did it say kit or belt could be useful, but thanks for the reminder as I have just changed my van so need to check if they did the belt and tensioners and when. 👍
 
Yes with current models but I don't think they still use the same engine as they changed to a different one in 2006>

It was an Iveco engine so maybe possible.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Yes with current models but I don't think they still use the same engine as they changed to a different one in 2006>

It was an Iveco engine so maybe possible.
Click to expand...
Same as mine, sofim engine, iveco, and yes you change the full kit, very simple to do once you have the nose of if its an inline donkey.
 
Transverse engine with front wheel drive.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Any half way competent garage should have fitted the idler and tensioner at the same time, the cost difference is minute and they are in there anyway.

Shocking, I do hope they don't expect you to pay for their incompetence.
Click to expand...
Being a local garage is the proprietor approachable ?
 
I worked in a very large motor factor at the tail end of my working life as purchasing manager. Invariably we would only sell cambelt kits, ie belt and associated rollers and tensioners, some including water pumps. Almost nobody would fit only a belt, and if they asked for a belt they’d be offered a belt kit as a matter of course. To my mind, if a garage has fitted a belt only then they have acted unreasonably to save themselves money as they won’t have saved more than 5 minutes work changing the other components. I’d like to know exactly what has been detailed on the repair invoice before calling it fraudulent.
 
Most likely not the actual tensioner assembly that has failed.
In the original description of the problem they said "They said the cam belt tensioner had sheared off", which to me suggests that it was the m8 bolt that holds the tensioner in place that had failed / broken.
They will not have been able to change the cam belt without at least releasing and re tensioning the unit, the manufacturers give recommended torque settings for all critical fasteners, if recommendations are not followed then bolts will come loose and fail if not tight enough and are likely to shear off with load if tightened excessively.
If a full kit had been used reputable quality kits include critical fasteners.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top