What happened here then?

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Wed 28 Dec 2005 17:57
What happened here then? - Roberson
Looking through the service history, there are 2 rather odd receipts regarding the past history of my car, more so its engine.

The first one:

DATE: 16/07/98
MILES: 56539
JOB INSTRUCTIONS: Remove cylinder head + skim and replace gaskets + timing belt

Quite straight forwards that one. Blown head gasket, a common problem on these Polos (poor mating surfaces) and I?m quite surprised it lasted as long, since they seemed to blow quite early. But the next one:

DATE: 26/08/98
MILES: 57785
JOB INSTRUCTIONS: Attend breakdown tow in
- Strip bottom end of engine
- Replace bearings + oil pickup strainer
- Service engine

So what happened there? The only thing I can come up with is, when the head gasket was changed, some of the swarf from when the head/block was skimmed ended up in the sump, and blocked the oil pick up strainer. What do you think? Surely it would have sufficed just to clean the strainer? In any case, I?m surprised the rest of the engine didn?t suffer, but since the its now done best part of 110,000 miles, I can?t say that?s the case.
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 18:08
What happened here then? - bell boy
the oil may have not been changed when the head was done and as a result there was water in the oil and it did the bearings in and it was easier to replace the oil strainer than clear it?
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 18:09
What happened here then? - richy
not very likely oldman, for the skae of a couple of quid's worth of oil that they would charge the punter about £15 for...
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 18:11
What happened here then? - bell boy
they may have forgotten?does tie in does it not.
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 18:15
What happened here then? - Pugugly {P}
Unless the strainer broke up and broke the engine.
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 18:25
What happened here then? - Altea Ego
Its clear the garage did something wrong. What bearings have they changed? Crank?, Thrust? Big end?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 20:20
What happened here then? - Roberson
oldman might not be far off. Looking at the first receipt for the head gasket, the then current owner was charged for:

- Head gasket set = £42.30
- Cam belt = £15.85
- Head skim = £25

NO OIL!

Some 1246 miles later (not bad considering the engine could have been running on a lovely mayonnaise-like oil), they were charged:

- Oil (they remembered) = £9.50
- Oil filter = £5.90
- Plugs = £12
- Bearings = £35.30
- Gaskets = £18.85
- Oil pick up = £34.85
- Air filter = £6.10

No strict mention of which bearings exactly. However, at those prices, I would assume main and or big end bearings only. I hadn't thought about the effect of water.


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