Hi all,
With perfect timing for xmas my 2003 passat has decided to have a strop and breakdown. Much clattering from the front of the engine and a VW specialists diagnosis of sheared viscous fan bolt/bolts resulting in the need for a new fan/coupling, new housing, bolts, pulley etc.
Two things - in the BR experience is this something you might expect on a 5 year old car having covered 47K and with full service history?
And has anyone experience of dealing with Car Care Plan as a warranty provider? They are prepared to pay for the fan and coupling plus the labour for this, but not the associated parts and labour resulting from the failure. Warranty does indeed not cover such additional work, but my thoughts are that maybe since I've had the car less than 3 months sale of goods act etc may come into play regarding recompense from the supplying dealer for the additional cost or indeed there may be ways of getting the warranty to pay out more.
Any advice gratefully received as ever!
Peter
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"since I've had the car less than 3 months sale of goods act etc may come into play regarding recompense from the supplying dealer"
In which case it's nothing to do with the warranty provider, and all the responsibility of the trader. Talk to Trading Standards if the trader does not wish to play ball, and take out a Small Claims Court case if they remain silent.
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Has this car had a recent cambelt change? These components are not noted for failure but have to be disturbed to change the belt. Shoddy workmanship, perhaps?
659.
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Just a quick update. Dealer has rung and offered to go half and half with the remainder of the bill as a 'goodwill' gesture after I called and mentioned SOGA. As I've booked into a vw independant specialist rather than a dealer the cost to me is only £100 or so - which I can accept as reasonable. (As an aside, dealer quoted FOUR TIMES the price of the independant just for a diagnostic !!)
Would still be interested on thoughts as to how this may have happened? Cambelt has not been changed to my knowledge - planned for next years service. Independant did mention he thought some clutch work had been done previously though I doubt this would have any bearing on the fan assembly....
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If it has had a clutch change, have a look and see if there is any damage to the radiator matrix on the engine side, caused by contact with the fan. It's easy to let the engine drop too far when removing the gearbox, resulting in the fan hitting the radiator. This in turn could damage the viscous coupling.
The quoted independent's price is not too bad for this job as things go - sometimes you just have unlucky failures.
659.
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When I had my cambelt changed the other week. I had a call from the mechanic to advise me that my viscous fan had some play in it. I changed mine just it case it went. I suspect some damage must have been done to it after the dealers changed 2 x radiators, 1 x gearbox, 1 x clutch and 1 x dmf. The price you are being quoted is a good price also VW advise that your cambelt is changed every 4 years or 40k. If the front of the car has to come off to replace the fan then I then I would change cambelt and all pulleys now as it will save you on the same labour charge next year.
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