What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
What caused crankshaft failure in my BMW 320d?
I have a 2002 BMW 320d SE Tourer, E46 I think, now with 147,000 miles. I bought it in Nov 2007. After a £1500 bill to get it though its MoT my wife was driving the car and just 50 miles later she heard a bang and the car stopped. The engine would not restart, indeed it would not turn over. The car was taken to the original MoT garage where the crankshaft was found to have broken. A brown deposit was found around one of the injectors and the theory is that the injector had failed and had been pouring neat diesel into the cylinder causing some kind of "hydraulic lock". In the ensuing internal mayhem the dual mass flywheel and the clutch have been damaged and heavens knows what else. A new engine is being suggested. The car, even with a new engine, is not worth anything like the sums involved. Have you any views?
Asked on 29 June 2013 by RW, via email
Answered by
Honest John
What seems to have happened is the same as what would have happened if flood water got into the engine. Too much liquid in the combustion chamber to compress and fire, so something had to go. I can't work out how the service and MoT could have caused this, unless an injector was replaced with a duff one. If so, the garage that replaced it is clearly liable.
Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.
The Good Garage GuideSimilar questions
Our daughter purchased a 3.5-year-old Land Rover Discovery with 40,000 miles on the clock six months ago, for which she paid £45,000. The car broke down last Friday, the RAC Recovery Technician could not...
I have just had my 2013 Volkswagen Touran recall part changed, it was an NOx engine control unit (23R7), and only 5 days later (I don't drive it much) two orange lights came on. Volkswagen say it needs...
I have a 2010 Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI and it won't start. If it does, it starts and is lumpy for a short bit then dies, does not get over 1000rpm. The fuel is fine, as is the battery. Any ideas?
.jpg)
