Hello,
Some of you will recall that I should have picked up my new [to me] 2001 2.2 cd saloon last Saturday. The dealer, about 35 miles away in Barnsley, had taken my deposit and promised to do a few jobs e.g. cam belt [thanks forum for the advice re the tensioners]; correct a steering wobble [salesman said wheels out of shape due to standing]; exhaust repair and/or replace; deal with a ?misfire / ditherin’ when setting off– salesman said probably needs some new leads or somethin’[again thanks forum for the advice] + Full service and MOT, oh an’ some ‘chips-away.’ Me and the missus went to pick it up and asked about the tensioners i.e. had they / it been replaced with the belt. Salesman on holiday – mechanic said he hadn’t changed the tensioner/s because they had been changed at 40K along with the cam belt!
How did he know [I asked] – because they weren’t GM parts [tensioners] he replied. Why had he changed the belt if done at 40K? Because I’d stipulated it and the salesman had OK’d it.
The wobble? Mechanic said trackin’ was miles out and since he’d done it he couldn’t detect any wobble. I told him I thought it odd that I had never noticed it ‘pullin’ to the left’ on the test drive despite letting go of the steering wheel, even when braking.
Exhaust had been replaced on one side [you can guess which] along with the back box. Mechanic confirmed the cat and associated pipes had been checked during MOT and there was no problem detected. Any advisers on MOT? Mechanic advised only 1 brake pipe, going to back end, showing signs of corrosion – ‘cleaned up and copper-slipped’. Oh!
Some ‘chips-away’ work done but not everywhere and car definitely not prepped for customer pick up. Like the man said it’s an eight-year-old car [n’only £1595].
Undeterred I [missus attached] took it for a test drive – ditherin' at take-off? - gone! – pullin’ to left [a lot]?- wobble [felt thru steering wheel – a bit better but still there? On a short by-pass I took it up to 50mph – not bad acceleration but not really much, if any, better then my 94 2.0 GLS? Up to 60mph + couldn’t quite make out if the amount of engine noise warranted the speed attained but as I took my foot off the accelerator and slowed down an awful [?] reverberating noise became apparent. Repeated performance = same again so drove back to garage [1/4 mile or so]. My immediate thought was that the other half of the exhaust had give up. Back at the garage checked the exhaust – not that! About to take mechanic for a test drive to show but the noise appeared just as I started her up. Bonnet up and accelerator blipped – noise apparent with each blip and sounded as if it was getting worse. Mechanic all over it but could not find fault – took off auxiliary belt – noise still there when engine just revved – took off cam belt cover – all looked OK – at least mechanic still couldn’t say what was the cause. Jacked her up – good check underneath- still no show. Me and missus went for brunch – give mechanic a bit of space – came back about an hour later he'd still not found the fault but advised he thought it could be the tensioner – that fitting the new cam belt could have somehow caused the problem “cos they’re spring loaded an’ it might be that” he advised
Agreed action;- too late to get part today will order Monday – fix and give me a call.
Monday [today] – no call from mechanic so I called him. Mechanic advised he had ordered a cam belt kit but had not been able to fix her [or confirm fault] due to supplier sending wrong part. He’ll obtain right one tomorrow and give me a call when done. I reminded him that on Saturday I’d pointed out that the wobble was still a problem and that the tracking was now definitely pulling to the left and that these [2] needed to be done before I would pick her up. Mechanic advised he had no time to worry about those until he’d “sorted this one out.” Oh, he assured me that the previous owner had been in today and assured him that there had never been a problem before he traded it in.??
Sorry for the saga but it all wouldn’t mean much without the facts. I’d appreciate it if any of you have any thoughts what the problem could be or advice as to what I / you would do.
Thanks for readin’ all this - WAL
:question :question :question
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Topic: Omega Purchase Problem/s (Read 1424 times)