seanfgxr6
Hi guys
I own a 1998 S70 5SPD manual 20v non turbo,
I just had the car serviced by a dealer and picked it up and proceeded to drive 10ish kms when the oil light came on i shut the engine down straight away and coasted off the road,
Once i got out i saw oil dripping from the underbody and called the fire services as there was oil down the road and the roads were wet(recipe for disaster) they came and cleaned up and one of the fire fighters got under the car to check where it was leaking from,
He then told me that the oil filter was completely loose and sprayed oil out every where???
I had the car towed back to the dealer who put a new filter and put oil in, now the car wont even attempt to turn over just one click and thats it,
The dealer isnt accepting liability as they said the technicians double check each car before it leaves and on the roadtest afterwards there wasnt oil leaking anywhere,
So now they are saying its just a coincidence the engine blew up as its a 17yo car
The car has never missed a service in its life and normally serviced at porsche centre adelaide/euro cars adelaide
They are going to tear the motor down to make sure they are not liable for damages but will not let me supervise them to make sure they dont try and screw me over?
Sorry for the long first post
Thanks
PaddlerEd
Hi Sean, glad to see you got here, sorry it wasn't in better circumstances...
Ed
seanfgxr6
Yeah thanks for the link mate
egads
I have had that happen when there was a left over seal ring from the old filter still on when the new filter was put on. It won't leak for a while til a few heat cycles let everything loosen up a bit. Not being able to supervise or have a mechanic of your choice supervise stinks of cover up even if they don't intend it to look that way. Explain this to the service manager and if they still refuse explain this to the dealer principal.
seanfgxr6
Thats the first thing the service manager checked and the old filter still has the seal on it, ive spoken to the dealer principle and they all swear the technicians double check all cars before they leave the workshop...they told me they are not liable at all but are still tearing the engine down??
seanfgxr6
I explained the supervision issues to the dealer principle and he flew off the rails and told me i was accusing them of being crooks lol
egads
Sounds like you have step 1 here
http://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/wcm/consumers/consumer-advice/making-a-complaint/lodging-a-complaint/ covered so now get what you want in writing with a timeframe.
seanfgxr6
Thanks for the link mate ill get onto it now
egads
Sounds like you have approached it in the right way though. Are these guys the only dealer in town? Volvo Aus may be able to help with getting someone else to look at it if it was a Volvo service also and may also be able to come into bat for you.
seanfgxr6
Unfortunately i took the car to a nissan dealership to get its 220,000km service as it was due in 20kms and i was heading interstate that night for work and euro cars couldnt fit me in.... teaches me for using a dealership express service :(
PaddlerEd
Egads is good on this unfortunately... he's been through something similar recently...
Philia_Bear
A whiteblock would have been making horrid valvetrain noise the second the oil pressure dropped under 40psi
Light sadly does not go out until under 7psi
The motor will take multiple minutes of driving with no oil pressure to size
seanfgxr6
Yeah thats the thing there was no noise just the light came on and i switched it off instantly and now the car just wont even crank
Philia_Bear
Something very odd
Whiteblocks do not sieze easily like other crap would
seanfgxr6
Yep thats what i thought, but im just going off what the dealer told me... that its seized? Im not that familiar with the older volvos but i know with my last car that when i damaged the sump and lost pressure it switched off automatically and wouldnt start until i reset the computer after it was fixed, does the volvos have the same thing?
jaykenneally
I had a 96 850 sedan I bought from the previous owner, which uses the same engine as your S70. The car hadn't been serviced in 3 years and was very low on oil when I drove it home. i didn't know this obviously which is why I drove it home. The oil pressure light came on just near my house, but it was already too late. I heard, what I think anyway, was a big end slip and the motor started making horrible clicking noises. I turned the motor off and waited. Checked the oil and found there was none. Put more oil in but it didn't help. The car also smoked like no tomorrow. But it still ran. So I somehow doubt that in your case the motor could have seized. I had driven my 850 for over 30 minutes and 30 kilometres before it had any issues, so a 10km drive I don't think would have done it in my opinion.
In any case, I think the dealers realised they screwed up and are trying to cover up. If they do not come to the party I strongly recommend you take the car to an independent mechanic for an assessment and foot them the bill. Make sure you keep records and documentation of EVERYTHING, including what people say at times and dates. You may have to raise this to consumer affairs...
Vee_Que
Threats of legal action makes things happen fast, they have insurance/repair warrenties for this reason.
Slowbrick
Really you just need to answer a few simple questions to get the ball rolling.
Are you a mechanic? No
Did you take your car to a licensed mechanic? Yes
Was the car leaking oil before it went in? No
Has it been serviced regularly at a licensed mechanic? Yes
Does the licensed mechanic have a guarantee of all work and services? Yes
Did the mechanic remove/replace the part that failed? Yes
Looks like they are totally responsible and liable for ANY cost this will incur. It doesnt matter if the technicians work on Formula 1 cars or regular cars. It doesnt matter what caused the failure and it doesn't matter what they think. The FACT is that you took your car into for a service and it was in healthy state of repair. It was returned to you with a fault that may or may not have severely damaged it that it didnt have before you took it in.
They dont have a leg to stand on. Ask nicely to have it repaired free of charge and if they refuse go straight to consumer law and seek legal action.
seanfgxr6
Thanks for all the replies,
Quick update:
They are now taking liability as its been put through their insurnace company now as they removed the sump and found it was starved of oil and the bearings are seized in the bottom end,
What i still cant understand is how it caused so much damage even though i switched it straight off as soon as the light came on??
egads
Sensor caked with goo maybe? Took the heat to free the goo then light comes on? Hopelessly speculative though.