I have been let down by a local garage in Biggleswade and I seriously need help on how to resolve the issue. Without further ado, below are the details of my problem.
I have a 2009 Diesel 2.0 HDI 16V VTR+ Nav (140bhp) which I bought in February 2020 and has been running like clock since then. Even though it doesn't have any issue, I decided to service it for the first time since purchase just because it's the right thing to do. I took it to a local garage/dealer here in Biggleswade for the service.
Prior to this, I saw some few oil spots (not major) on the parking lot and I thought this is the best opportunity to check for any possible leakage. I took a picture of the spotting and I showed it to them at the garage, told them to check if there is any leakage somewhere. They told me they need to wash off all the sediments of oil before it can be trace and I said that's fine by me. I went to collect the car and I asked about the oil leakage. They told me it’s not included in the service, and it was not carried out (this is contrary to what I was told earlier. I was told they will check it out during the service). I let it slide and dropped the car off at the garage the next day for them to wash off the oil traces.
On picking the car up, I was welcomed with a check engine light and a beep with warning message "Anti-pollution system faulty" on the dashboard. I switch it off immediately and went back to the garage to complain about this. I was told that this is a normal thing when an engine has been jet washed. I was like really? Jet washed? He said yes, that the engine was jet washed, in order to trace the oil leakage; the underside of the engine bay was jet washed and water splashed in the engine, and they jet washed the whole engine! I have never had any light on the dashboard on this lovely car prior to taking it to this garage and they seem to have destroyed this flawless car
After a lot of argument, I was told it’s because the wire harness is still wet and that the message and the warning light will disappear when the engine is fully dried out. I was told to bring it back after one week if there is any light / warning left on the dashboard by then. I drove off and keeping my fingers crossed.
On the 4th day prior to the 1 week I was told to bring back the car to the garage, I was on my way to Luton and I dropped into a filling station for top-up. That was it. The car never started again. I cranked it for up to 70 times (total number of starting attempts made in about 90 minutes) but no luck. I eventually booked a car recovery to get me out of the middle of nowhere that I was. At the point of confirming the appointment with the recovery, I told myself that I will keep cranking it until the battery runs down, after all, I would be recovered. The car started after the second attempt and lucky me, the car recovered itself back home.
I drove straight to the garage and narrated everything that had happened. Without writing much about the conversations / raising of voice that went on, the garage did not take responsibility of these issues. They plugged their OBD diagnostic tool into the car and it returned the following codes:
1. P2148 - Permanent fault - Bank1 injector control voltage too high
2. P1351 - Intermittent - Pre-heating relay circuit Relay controlled and spark plugs not supplied
3. The check engine light is on the dashboard and the "Anti-pollution system faulty" message also comes up anytime the car ignition is on.
After a lengthy heated conversation, the garage still did not responsibility of what had happened and I eventually spoke with the manager. He told me that if I can show him evidence that it is the jet washing that caused the problem, he will reimburse me whatever it costs to fix the issue. They cleared the error codes but the check engine and anti-pollution message came straight back up before I left the garage. They cleared it again and it comes back immediately. I was told to bring the car back to the garage for injector cleaning. Really? I decided not to take it back there so that they don't create more non-existing faults and escalate the issue further.
Instead of going back to that garage, I booked an appointment with a mobile mechanic. He came yesterday and he was very disappointed at the fact that the engine was jet washed. He said the jet washing is definitely the cause of these issues but he said this is difficult to prove in terms of the evidence that the manager asked me for earlier. He found out that some parts of the wiring harness are still very wet. He dried it up a bit, cleared the codes and the car was starting up fine. 2 hours later, I went to the store and the car did not start when I was done shopping. I ringed the mobile mechanic again and he arrived at the store about 45 minutes later. He fired up the engine and it started once. Of course, the check engine light and the anti-pollution message still remain on the dashboard.
The mobile mechanic said this is a tricky situation because the engine doesn't start when warm. It starts fine when it has cooled down a bit and when it's cold. The mobile mechanic seems to know what he is doing but there is a problem. He wants to be swapping out different parts (like new injectors, new relays and worst case scenario, the ECU, all at my own cost) until the issue is resolved. However, I need someone that can help me diagnose the issue with the car without me having to buy a lot of part that are not faulty in the first place. Can someone recommend any diagnostic centre where this car can be fixed once and for all? Thanks for your patience and reading this to the end.
