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mcnabby

Not sure if you can help me with this but just after some advice about recourse on this issue. A few months ago we had the cambelts replaced in our Citreon. At the time they identified that the crank pulley was damaged and needed replacing. They did some work with the existing one and were ordering a part. They said it was ok to drive. We had to follow up a few weeks later and they had trouble finding 2nd hand part. We said new was ok and decided to put car in for the week so they could sort this. After week was up they told us they got the wrong part so could take car away and ok to drive while they got the right part. We followed up again after few weeks and put car in again this week. We have now been told that they had damaged the wrong part ($90) and they could not get the correct part from the place in Auckland ($350) until we paid for the first part. We did not know they had put it in our car. Added to this is that they told us yesterday that our new cambelts have been damaged and we will need to pay again to have this fixed or they can put the damged ones back in! We are going to see them today and wondering if we have any recourse. We believe their failure to fix the problem when they had the car for the week has the allowed this damage to occur. Any advice appreciated.

Anon

Firstly, if the crank pulley's rubber damper (if it is this type) is damaged then the car should not be driven for fear of the rubber part collapsing and entering the cambelt area. The cambelt would jump teeth and cause mechanical damage to the engine.

If the replacement part the dealer supplied was incorrect then I cannot see why they are requesting you to pay for it. They damaged the part not you.

How did the new cambelt get damaged? If the faulty crank pulley has damaged the cambelt then I would question why the dealer said it was safe to drive the vehicle in this state.

You will need to replace the cambelt (as it is damaged) when the new crank pulley is fitted.

You should sit down with the dealer and highlight these points. Request they assist towards the repair amount.

Seeing that the cambelt is damaged you should stop using the vehicle, if the cambelt breaks the repair will be a lot more.

mcnabby

Thanks for feedback. That is great advice.