Inspecting engine repairs

[mblake4u]

Thanks for your advice.. I'm really frustrated now because they apparently put new big end bearings in (and considering it was supposed to be a reconditioned engine from them they should have been replaced when it was reconditioned). If I take it back to them they may try to make more money out of me again, saying something else is wrong - and as I've realised it's very difficult to say otherwise..

Since getting it back I've only reconnected the automatic choke / c
arb body heater (which they didn't connect properly) and replaced the distributor / vacuum advance as the vacuum advance and the hall sender were a bit dodgy.

I'll have a look around for a oil pressure gauge.. I've also got a timing question but I'll start a new topic for it..

Thanks again, Michael

[ghost123uk]

Thanks for your advice.. I'm really frustrated now because they apparently put new big end bearings in (and considering it was supposed to be a reconditioned engine from them they should have been replaced when it was reconditioned).

If I take it back to them they may try to make more money out of me again, saying something else is wrong - and as I've realised it's very difficult to say otherwise..

When did they put new big ends in ? - do you mean like last week or summat ? Putting new big ends into a flat 4 VW engine is one of the biggest jobs to undertake and would cost a couple of hundred £s minimum. You say in an earlier post that it has had new big ends and presumably you have been charged for them and the labour charge, sounds like this garage may be ripping you off. Do you have the equivalent of the UK's Trading Standards Office ?

They can't keep charging you for stuff they should have got sorted correctly in the first place !
It would just like paying for your car to get a full service only to find they did not change the oil filter and when you take it back, they charge you do do it, then the same with the spark plugs, etc etc

[mblake4u]

Yeah they apparently put new big end bearings in a couple of weeks back. The engine was reconditioned last year December and then I bought the van in August thinking I was getting a good engine but I was having problems with it from the start. I took it back to where the engine came from but it was just out of warranty so they charged me for the repairs.

If I take it back to them again they might well say it's not the bearings but something else and try charge me again.

There's the Consumer Protection Act in South Africa which would probably be on my side if I took them to small claims court but I'd prefer going down that route..