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I have a Ford Focus Turbo Diesel 4 years old which I have always had serviced regularly. The car broke down in England on the motorway with a fire and black acrid smoke - the emergency mechanic told me the engine had seized and it was in complete failure. I need help on this I am not technically minded I want to know if this could happen to a diesel at such a young age after I always have it serviced regularly - there was a problem with the oil warning indicator and I have a strong reason to believe the mechanic removed the oil warning light wire as after I had it serviced the oil warning light kept coming which I told him about ut before I went on the trip he assured me he had rectified this. The emergency mechanic said yes he fixed it by unplugging it. Can someone help me and advise me what to do as the insurance will not pay for mechanical failure and this has been a good family car until the last mechanic serviced it. Thanks Catherine.
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I think you have a good case against the garage here. What kind of idiot fixes a low oil pressure fault by unplugging the wire? This seizure could have been a lot worse if wheels had locked at high speed. Get a solicitor now. There are more legal experts who frequent Discussion so this thread will probably be moved there. Have you got anything in writing from the mechanic or the breakdown service re: "fixing" the light and unplugging of wires?
Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer has to put the tape back on the engine warning light!
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you will need the emergency mechanic to vouch/testify that he found the wire off when he attended the breakdown.
If however the engine has just used all its oil up in the normal course of operation then you may be out of luck as its the drivers responsibility to check the level of the oil regularly (oil warning light or none)
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Bad luck! Engine seizures due to lack of oil do not usually result in a fire. It's possible that the oil leaked out somewhere and then caught fire on the exhaust or something.
Sadly I think you will have little chance of getting anything from the garage. They will shrug their shoulders, and say it was working fine when it left here, wire must have fallen off. I don't suppose you noticed if the oil pressure light was coming on before you started the engine between the 'repair' and the seizure? Or maybe my cynicism is misplaced.
It's also likely that your engine would still be wrecked even if the light had been working since a) you would probably have ignored it "There's a fault with it" and b) by the time it comes on in anger, it is usually too late for the engine.
You're probably looking at 3 grand plus for a re-con engine, maybe half that for a second hand one of unknown history. It might be better to try and sell this one spares / repair (might get £1k for it from a DIYer that could put a new engine in) and buy another car.
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Unlucky. I am no legal expert, but it seems to me that you have a clear case against the garage. Taking action like this can be very cheap in the small claims court (I did it myself in a similar case where my car was damaged by a garage). You can even do it online - www.moneyclaim.gov.uk. I was claiming nearly £1000 and it only cost around £80 to bring the case about (which was refunded to me anyway when I won). Just make sure you get as much evidence as possible in the meantime (expert reports from the emergency mechanic etc.). It is important to contact the garage first though and you should be able to demonstrate that you are willing to find a solution that doesn't involve legal action.
You may well find that the garage will offer some kind of settlement on receiving the claim notice from the court (but then again, don't bank on it - in my case the other party didn't even turn up in court but you still have to prove your case).
Let us know how it works out.
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From the sound of it the problem is going to be a lack of any evidence, other than your word and the garage's probable denial.
If you had had a witness present when you quizzed tha mechanic about the wire "repair" that would have been something. Even a statement from the call-out man that the wire was off doesn't actually prove anything, except that the wire was off when he saw it.
Maybe an expert could make something of the cause of the fire, but even if a cause were established, it would still be necessary for you to prove that whatever it was was the garage's fault.
I think this sad story illustrates the point that all the warning lights and servicing in the world are no substitute for a daily inspection under the bonnet and a manual check of the dipstick.
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While I agree with RF and others that there are few situations where the oil pump would fail and cause a catastrophic failure such as this. However as I am led to believe, the car was only serviced just before the failure, and while the oil switch wire falling off could be conincidental, it sounds very fishy to me. In any case the garage should have informed you of excessive engine wear which would have been aparant from blue smoke from the exhaust and maybe increased engine noise from the bearings.
If the problem occured due to neglect, then this is a very painful lesson I'm afraid. Do you check the oil regularly?
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Can I just clarify my query - I am unsure of this website and I would appeciate if you could let the 6 people answering my call know I have responded as I am unsure.
My car as I said has always been serviced by the same garage but because were decided to go to the UK they could not fit us in at work I asked if anyone knew of a reliable mechanic I was given a mobile mechnics number - he came out serviced the car and said I needed the brakes and clutch doing. I paid him then after driving the car directly after service an oil warning light came on I told him - he came out 3 times and said it needed a part but the suppliers Ford did not have that part and that he would clean the part - he mentioned sump and put it back and it would be o.k. I told him I had chidlren and going on the motorway he assured it would be o.k. I also had the brakes done by a local garage as I felt uncomfortable after the service. I then called him the day before going and he assured me he had cleaned the part and it was o.k. When the engine blew on he motorway the attending mechanic could not believe he had FIXED THE PROBLEM by unplugging the oil light he told me it was actually impossible for it to come away?? Now you have the full story perhaps you can give a bit more advice and I hope this also goes on to the people who have answered me -
{multiple replies of the same wording deleted. DD}
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to MRS REAGAN
i think your best bet is go to a solicitor...
pay for 1/2 hr's worth of chat,,,bout £60.and get real advice
also another good bet is the CITIZENS ADVICE PEOPLE
or even contact the AA they have a legal dept.
unless we have a solicitor who is viewing????
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Mrs R.
Can I assume the engine blew up on an English Motorway and was therefore seen by an English emergency mechanic?
Does this mean that your car was serviced prior to the trip by this mobile mechanic somewhere other than England?
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Interesting this. i've also got a focus with the TDDI engine and also luckily enough to have the ford maintenance procedure on CD-Rom. Please tell me if i'm wrong but the car was ok before you had it serviced by the Mobile Mechanic (i.e. no oil warning light on in the past????) You said he mentioned something about sump?? Can you think back to what he said more percific. Did he use genuine ford parts in the service?? I.e. ford oil filter??? Is the sump plug in one piece and not covered in fresh oil?? Covered in oil could mean he never used a new sump plug gasket or in a extreme case never tightened the sump plug. What can you remember about the oil pressure warning light being on??? Was it on for long or was it momentary before the engine seized. At motorway speeds with a engine getting no oil supply it would not take long very long before it locks up but that depends on the load and speed of of which the engine was running at. I maintain train engines for a living wich are Diesel so i hope the above information is to some sort of usefulness.
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