mechanic advise needed****t25 worn cam shaft

[designerjo]

Hi, having a bit of a nightmare, and thought someone on here might be able to help me !!!!.I have a t25 and the starter motor was sticking so took the van to a garage with banging the starter motor with a hammer. We thought this might be a good time for a service as well.service and new parts £752,Then was quoted for removing rocker covers hydraulic followers found to be collapsing so replace followers,push rod tubes and seals and new rocker cover gaskets.£600 Then I had a phone call saying that the cam shaft was showing signs of wear may be due to being run low on oil in the past, and I should look at replacing the entire engine? shocked to say the least as all i wanted in the first place was a new starter motor and a service. the van had a recon engine in 2007. so a bit confused.Can anybody help with some advice.

[T25Convert]

Right,

First things first - Welcome!

Some more details would be good - air cooled or WBX (going with air-cooled as its a pain to replace push rod tubes on a WBX!)

I'm not sure how they would have easily assessed in the cam shaft is worn just by peering at it through the rocker tube holes. Heres mine with the case split (they didn't do this!) - even at this stage I'd no idea if the cam was any good, needed a good clean, which you couldn't do in-situ:



When you took it in was it 'clattery'? If the hydraulic follower was collapsing you'd have a persistent clattering noise - if not, chances are your followers were fine!

Plus, what did they service for £725?

More details please!!

Cheers,

Alex

[designerjo]

Hi,
the t25 is 1900cc water cooled dg/df engine.

for the service :
new oil filter/new air filter/new spark plugs/new auxiliary belt/ top up screen wash/fit new starter motor/ new o/s track rod end/fit new rear brake shoes and kits/fit new rear wheel cylinders/ top up and bleed hydraulic circuit/ fit new rear brake drums/ fit new n/s/r/ wheel bearing/ adjust o/s/f wheel bearing and 6hrs at 45hr £250 labour.
he couldn't have striped the engine???? could he in a service?
but he was quite sure that the cam shaft was worn and hence my best option is a new engine and a new clutch for £2700.??????????
please help have horrible sinking feeling ??

[kevtherev]

It is impossible to see camshaft wear with out an engine strip...which he absolutely didn't
I think this bloke is taking the Pi$$

Hydraulic lifters rarely break, but are often badly adjusted...

[camper]

Shocking prices these garages charge for all these repairs.I suggest you get a second opinion .If that was my van i would convert to a inline VW 2ltr engine agg/2e.Passat sharran or golf.Cheap aprox £250 easy to obtain from a breaker.Plus extras diesel bell housing and exhaust manifold to fit.

[BOXY]

These prices my not be entirely accurate but they're out of JK's new catalogue that I just happen to have handy.

new oil filter £9.75
new air filter £ 8.95
new spark plugs £3.50 ea
new auxiliary belt £10 ? (not sure which belt but they're all less than a tenner
top up screen wash £ 0.10
fit new starter motor £ 149.50
new o/s track rod end £13.50
fit new rear brake shoes and kits £24.95 + £12.49
fit new rear wheel cylinders £13.95 ea
top up and bleed hydraulic circuit £5.00 for bottle of fluid?
fit new rear brake drums £41.00 ea
fit new n/s/r/ wheel bearing £21.00 ?
adjust o/s/f wheel bearing ? no parts?

Any chance of an itemised bill for the parts from the garage?

and 6hrs at 45hr £250 labour.

[CovKid]

A garage that charges THAT much wants naming and shaming. Thats a disgrace!

[Smcknighty]

Hmmm - it says that the rocker cover was coming off to do the hydraulic followers? This is the camshaft not the crankshaft right? Wouldn't the camshaft have to come off to get at the tappets?

[kevtherev]

Hmmm - it says that the rocker cover was coming off to do the hydraulic followers? This is the camshaft not the crankshaft right? Wouldn't the camshaft have to come off to get at the tappets?

no they sit on top of the camshaft being a flat four.
as you can see in the photo...

Correct procedure for lifter removal requires the heads to come off

[Smcknighty]

That's if the dg is the 1.9 diesel - wiki seems to think so - I know nothing of petrol and their two headedness

Did the engine run ok before? Sometimes when garages reach the end of their knowledge they start to lie - new engine could be translated as don't know how to fix/don't want hassle of this

[Smcknighty]

Err - I'll get back in me box..

[designerjo]

It was running fine apart from the sticky starting motor.

Had to call the AA out when it first happened a couple of weeks before he didn't mention any clunking noises and I didn't hear any.
thought it could be the battery, but started as soon we hit the starter motor with a hammer.

I think maybe its easier to just say get a new engine ! maybe they making a bit more money.?

[BOXY]

Recon DG engine from JK @£1557.50, clutch @£119.95, that leaves about £1000 to fit? So £45/ hour works out at 22 hours labour. That's a lot of tea-breaks.

[jimpainter]

I would get it put back how it was apart from the starter motor and get a second opinion. I get the feeling the garage might be taking you for a ride (no pun intended).

Jim

[kevtherev]

It's a pity you didn't find this site and ask for some advice first... This sort of practice makes me very angry.
Preying on owners that put their trust in a garage, because they cannot repair things themselves.

name and shame