Hi,

I had a C5 2.0 HDi go for a 100,000 service (at a Citroen authorised garage), during which the timing belt was replaced. On the first significant journey, I noticed the vehicle performed oddly (while accelerating), and with not as much power as usual, but put this initially down to not having used it for a while and perhaps a bit of water in the fuel. (In hindsight, this is clearly crazy. Suffice to say that I now know much more about a HDi engine than I did a few months ago.) I also noticed the turbo didn't engage, and the cruise control didn't work. I continued my journey, but after 700 miles, the vehicle suffered another problem which lead me to call out the RAC.

I had booked the vehicle in back at the servicing garage to be looked at when I returned, but it didn't get that far.

It was taken to another Citroen garage who found the timing to be incorrect (about a tooth out; the timing pin wouldn't go in, though which way and on what gearwheel I don't know). The Lexia said there was a "synchronisation problem". Unfortunately they removed the belt in order to further investigate the cause, which they did not find. They did find a couple of failed rockers on cylinders 2 & 3. The other garage confirmed the water pump bearing had not failed, nor tensioner bearing.

Having transported the vehicle back to the Citroen garage that carried out the service, at their request, they are refusing to take any responsibility, and, as the belt is now removed, they refuse to believe it was in the wrong place anyway.

A consultant engineer suggested the most likely cause was the tensioner being set incorrectly, and the belt having jumped.

The servicing garage said they would have fixed it if they vehicle had been presented with the belt on, and the timing off. That indicates they would have warranted this work if it wasn't for the fact they don't believe the timing was off.

Given the belt has been removed, I think it's unlikely I'll get this resolved without cost to myself. Hence the following question:

The consultant engineer suggested, sometimes, if the vehicle timing is corrected, and the rockers are replaced, often the vehicle will be "fine". (Obviously I'll have that nagging doubt hanging over me for quite a while, but there's the chance it'll be okay.) Is that a reasonable course of action? Or is it far more likely that there'll be lots of other internal damage, which would require a full rebuild? The former work I've had quoted for around £ 550, which is potentially something I can contemplate. But the latter comes in at £ 1,800+, which I can not.

Couple of other things...

The lack of turbo ties in with a lack of power so that seems consistent.

But the Lexia saying a synchronisation problem indicates the vehicle itself knew there was a problem - wouldn't this have caused the STOP light to come on (which it did not)?

And wouldn't this have been checked by the servicing garage too?

The servicing garage also says they find it strange that cylinder 2 & 3 rockers failed, not 1 & 3 or 2 & 4. To me that's just chance that these rockers randomly failed first due to stress, which could happen in any order, but is there a good reason to think this strange?

Is it at all possible that the timing belt didn't jump due to the tensioner? Could it be that the servicing garage replaced it, and didn't time it up correctly in the first place? (I've seen the kits they use to replace belts, and they seem to have pins that would make an incorrect fitting impossible. But could they have missed something somehow?)

Thanks and appreciate your advice.

denty.