C5 Refurbished Rear Axle Gone Bad Twice?

[SamH]

Hi all,
Last July I paid for a Peugeot/Citroen axle refurbishers to supply and fit a refurbished rear axle for my 2007/57 C5 1.6HDI Estate. In October, the car failed its MOT on excessive play in the assembly. I took it back in to the refurbishers and they fitted a new mount bush and, as I understand it, also applied new bearing kits. 100 miles later it began cracking on raising/lowering again, and when I drive moderately over a speed bump it sounds like a box of spoons in the boot is getting airborne. There is no spoon.

The refurbishers didn't want to know. When I phoned, they said the problem was probably the rear spheres. So I had 2 new rear spheres fitted (Hydractive 3, no Sport button). No change to the strange noises, though I'm happy with the new spheres because I went for the comfort option.

The refurbishers still don't want to know. They say they fitted "all new parts" so the problem can't be theirs. Since they supplied me with a refurbished rear axle with 2 year warranty last July, and there is play in the nearside arm (side to side, not up and down, and the whole arm moves, so not the wheel bearing) and awful noises from both sides, I can't see how it can NOT be their problem. I have 18 months of a warranty left to run, I can't afford another £450 to get another refurbished rear axle fitted, especially having had to replace 2 rear tyres that were abnormally worn after 5,000 miles, and I'm stuck.

Can anyone who knows about these things tell me if I'm wrong or right? How can a refurbished axle fail after 6 months, and then fail again after 100 miles? How do I convince or compel the refurbishers to sort the problem out?

Any advice is gratefully received. I'm close to my wit's end.

[GiveMeABreak]

I'm not an expert on this particular issue - but are you sure it's not the trailing arms? - or were these also replaced? In either case, I would suggest getting it to an independent garage who have at least some experience in these matters and get them to advise you first - If it is is the parts that you had fitted which are faulty, ask them to provide a written report for you. At least you have had it independently verified and can then go back to the original garage and request they correct the issue - or get a refund etc. The Law was changed in October 2015 offering additional protection, so it might be worth you looking at the following, so you know your rights.

Some guidance:

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/ ... -can-i-do-
Have a look here for a letter you can use:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/ ... -a-vehicle
More guidance:
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/tradingstandar ... epairs.htm

[SamH]

The trailing arms were replaced as part of the rear axle assembly.

Thanks for the links. I'll take a look at them now

[Stickyfinger]

The rear Axle ?? there is no rear axle as such as the car mounts "Trailing Arms" onto a fixed cross member, the arms carry a Wheel "swivel" which carries the hub.

Not really sure what you had replaced. IF it was a complete refurbished trailing arm then this will of been fitted with new bearings (or should of been).

[SamH]

Stickyfinger, I paid for the full assembly - i.e trailing arms and rear suspension crossmember, with all new bearings and bushes. The price was £350 part exchange (my old assembly) plus £100 fitting charge.

[Stickyfinger]

I wonder if they failed to grease them or have used incorrect extension tubes.....I would take it down to Pleiades-Car-Services (https://www.facebook.com/Pleiades-Car-S ... 8294714268) and have them do a report on it.
There will be no arguing with their proven experience/history if it goes to court.

[GiveMeABreak]

Well, it doesn't sound right to me - I've not heard of many people having their suspension crossmembers replaced - mostly the trailing arms bearings are the cause of the creaking noises. The cheapest option is to get a report - here's Citizen's Advice on this very issue -
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consu ... ar-repair/
expand the bit 'If the repair didn’t work or it created a new problem' section. There's some good points there to follow - but you will be better armed if you can get the issue independently verified Sam.

[SamH]

GiveMeABreak, I think the reconditioned axle service is probably attractive to people who just want an expedient solution to the trailing arm bearing problem. Someone else does the bearings and bushes, you pay for the completed assembly and get it fitted. In this instance, I paid for them to fit the assembly as well. At the time I didn't know of, and couldn't find, any garages near me that were willing to take on Citroen suspension work - it seems to strike fear in the hearts of many - and getting the job done by a dedicated axle reconditioning company seemed at the time to be a really good option. Of course, with them being obstructive now, this is something I'm beginning to regret.

Stickyfinger, Pleiades appear to be a 260 mile round-trip for me. Not really feasible, tbh. The guy that replaced the spheres suggested that the reconditioners probably applied new bearings and bushes to trailing arms and/or crossmember that were "egged" - I think he means that they were worn due to long-collapsed bearings wearing them out of shape, I'm not technical and was struggling to keep up - but without performing a complete disassembly to examine the parts with his own eyes, didn't feel he could assert this without uncertainty. I can't afford the time on the guy's ramp for him to do it, and being a Yorkshireman I'm stuck wondering why I ought to pay in the first place. The thing's under warranty and it's gone bad - it's barely any better than it was when I paid £450 to replace the old assembly, and it's well within its 2 year "no quibble" warranty. If I had spare cash I could pay for an independent assessment and chance that I could recover those costs, but I don't have spare cash and can't chance anything

[GiveMeABreak]

I understand what your saying Sam, so back to original suggestion of unfit repair and pursue them for a proper fix or refund. You have the sample letter to use. I'm not suggesting you have the whole thing taken to pieces again, but at least get somebody to give it a visual and a recommendation or confirmation that it is the trailing arms / bearings. Most professional mechanics should be able to do that at least that. With this you can at least go back to the garage and or complete the letter in the link I gave you.

[Gibbo2286]

I'm wonder if their 'refurbished' stuff is just breaker's yard second hand stuff tarted up.

[GiveMeABreak]

It's possible, sometimes it's more hassle, risky and possibly ends up costing the same or more with returbs than with new parts. It's trial and error in that market.

[SamH]

GiveMeABreak, yep! I think you're right. I'll call them once more and see if they're willing to act, and if not then I'll start putting things in writing. The axle is noisy at the moment but it's not "squirrely" at the back yet, if you know what I mean. It doesn't head off in a different direction if I go over a bump like it did before they first re-repaired it, so I don't feel unsafe driving. I have some time to put them under pressure of the Consumer Rights Act and/or the Supply of Goods and Services Act if it's necessary.

Gibbo, I'm coming to the conclusion that that's the process. Perhaps under most circumstances this is adequate, but some of those breaker parts are going to be worn out, and new bearing kits just won't fit any more. I suspect this is what's happened in my case. Perhaps they *sold* me a reconditioned assembly but actually just put the bearing kits on my worn out trailing arms, who knows.

Thanks very much everyone for your help! I feel like I've some more that I can do!

[rory_perrett]

I've been in this game long enough to know that just because a component is "new" it doesn't mean that it is not the problem. Learnt the hard way. At the MOT there was evidence that either something was not fitted properly, a new component (a bush) failed relatively quickly or that element of the assembly wasn't refurbished and the original bush(s) was/were retained. On the rear axle there aren't a lot of wear items, bushes, arm bearings and wheel bearings.

The axle refurbishers could have received faulty new parts which have failed, well that is their problem, not their fault, but still their problem which they need to take up with their supplier after they have sorted you out.

In the past I have changed the arm bearings on a BX where all that was left of the bearing was a pile of rust, the arm was obviously damaged but it was still possible to fit new bearings (and the car ran a further 200k miles + without problems). However the damage was so obvious that no one could have missed it when fitting new bearings.

A failed new component, incorrect fitting, or reusing an old component if they are claiming (and charging for) new is their problem. The last option, that damage has been caused while driving the car over the last 6 - 7 months, for example by hitting a pot hole, is not their problem.

Having driven BXs and Xantias all well passed 200k miles I've never had to change a subframe bush and although I've changed a fair few rear arm bearings they've always lasted for 100k miles + before needing doing again despite the state of our roads.

[RichardW]

Malcolm at Savoy garage is not far from you. I would see if he will give you a status report on it for the price of 1/2 hours labour, that will give you something to go at the suppliers with.

Savoy Garage
Unit 5, Simpson St Ind Est Hapton Brnley
BB12 7LJ
tel: 01282 773466 07831 898573

[GiveMeABreak]

Sounds like a plan.