Help - my mechanic has failed me!

-Mike-

-Mike-

-Mike-

Soldato
Joined
22 Dec 2002
Posts
10,165
Location
Minehead
Hey all,

I had my car serviced on Monday with the mechanic I usually use. Today I've driven from near enough Penzance to Minehead.

Upon arriving I unpacked my stuff and went in quite happy to see my nan who thankfully has just got out of hospital. However......

I've been overjoyed to see this :

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The oil is plastered all under the car too as you can imagine given its swirled up around the rear of the car!


At first I thought it was engine oil, but a quick smell of a fine sample on my finger and it stank of gearbox oil. He added some gearbox additive to the oil on monday and so I'm wondering what on earth he's done as I opened the bonnet to find this :

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In the red circle is what appears to be the drain screw or perhaps the fill one, but it looks to be pretty large so I'm assuming the drain screw? It's currently sat quite happily in my engine undertray!

I apologise for the pics but it was 11pm when I took them!

Can anyone suggest what to do? I intend to phone him tomorrow and ask what he suggests as I don't believe this is my problem. I've just paid stupid money to have this box reconditioned which he was responsible for.

God knows how many miles it had possibly no oil for and what damage it may have done?? Could he have overfilled the box and its blown it out?

Mechanics is not my strong point, so can anyone who lives in minehead suggest a mechanic/garage that can put it back and fill it up? I don't want to get plastered in oil whilst I am here, but I will if it'll save me a fortune and get me home!

Thanks
 
ring the mechanic that did the job, tell him it looks like the drain plug isnt in and tha oil is spraying all over the place and ask for the car to be cleaned up and maybe towed to his garage..
 
I'd have a word with Dickie at Minehead MOT centre on Mart Road, or Lee Lamber at Beavers up in town at Quirke Street (just off Friday Street at the top of town). Either of them should be able to sort you out :-)
 
I rang him! Getting him to come and tow it is an issue! I'm in Minehead and he's based in Cornwall!!

I'm going to get the bung out and try and ascertain which one it is. Can you tell from its size whether its the drain or fill plug easily?

He thinks it may be the fill plug but its massive so I figured it may be the drain plug?

Thanks guys! Thanks for the garage suggestion too :)
 
If its at the same level as the Driveshaft going into the gearbox its likely to be fill. Drain emptying would be a bit more severe aswell.

How is towing it? Unless he lifts the front wheels off the ground it offers no benefit.
 
Its probably the fill plug, so when driving has sloshed oil out, just top it up and refit, then get it cleaned and bill him for both. Then never use him again.
 
All that oil underneath the car will stop it rotting over the years, The guy that buys it in 10 years time will Thank you for it. :p
I can't see it being the drain plug as it would have ****** out all over the garage floor as he topped it up, More than likely forgot to tweak the filler plug tight or may have just forgotten to put it back in, Easily done.
I'd have thought no damage was done as I think it was the filler plug rather than the drain plug.
We all make mistakes. :)
 
He has been very very apologetic. He's rang me back twice to see whats going on.

In the end I called the AA out. The plug was the filler plug and he said he has seen it happen before. What concerns me though, is the box holds 1.9L and it took 1.6L to fill it back up so it really has chucked it out!

When I get back to pasty land he said come in whenever I'm free, he will drain and refill it with VAG oil and that if the box goes bang he will just replace it for me.

Can't ask for fairer than that, just the 300ml of running oil thats concerning me!

Thanks again guys
 
You think that's bad Mike?

I had the same thing happen to my Civic Type-R. Took it in for a service, two weeks later it was making gearbox noises. Grinding etc.. looked underneath the thing, and the Gearbox fill plug was missing.

Got the garage out. There was an egg cup full of oil in the box :mad:
 
DannyW said:
it will be fine i drove for 60 miles in a car with no gearbox oil in all
Click to expand...

Just lol

-Mike- said:
He has been very very apologetic. He's rang me back twice to see whats going on.

When I get back to pasty land he said come in whenever I'm free, he will drain and refill it with VAG oil and that if the box goes bang he will just replace it for me.
Click to expand...

This is what makes a good mechanic tbh.. Everyone makes mistakes.
 
Some people go mad over things like this. I always think, if I made the same mistake I would offer to rectify it. Getting his back up by being abusive wouldn't help anything.

He's never been wrong or done anything wrong for me before, and he never charges more than is necessary for work. Small jobs he's done for free for my sister and so I'm happy!

Test drive to follow ;)
 
Seems like a decent bloke, as long as mistakes are not common place.

Does he do small jobs for free for you? :p
 
I don't have boobs mate haha! He hasn't charged me for some stuff but my sister gets away with a lot!

Just driven it and a few observations : Its 2.5 degrees here, second gear and third gear don't like being engaged when the box is cold. It has a rhythmic juddering when the clutch pedal isn't pressed which seems to occur once every five or so seconds.

When I let the clutch out there is a noise that starts up that I can't quite describe - perhaps like a washing machine motor? Its not that loud but I can hear it and my hearing isn't the best.

Any ideas? I'm wondering if input shaft bearings aren't happy? I wouldn't have thought any of it would be DMF related as thats only two months old.

Thanks :)

Edit : Also if you have clutch pedal pressed, when you engage a gear without lifting the clutch up there is a noise that starts up before you release the clutch (IE pull away change from first.... neutral has no noise but when you go to push it into second a noise starts up)
 
TaKeN said:
You think that's bad Mike?

I had the same thing happen to my Civic Type-R. Took it in for a service, two weeks later it was making gearbox noises. Grinding etc.. looked underneath the thing, and the Gearbox fill plug was missing.

Got the garage out. There was an egg cup full of oil in the box :mad:
Click to expand...

I had exactly the same happen to me after having the gearbox oil changed at a local Honda garage when I had my EP3. Driving along, then all of a sudden there was an almighty bang. I thought the car had backfired, but it was the drain plug clouting the bottom of the car. 15 miles later and the stench of burning oil indicated something wasn't quite right!

Honda were rather embarassed and apologetic to say the least.
 
When I picked up my first car - a new Volvo S40 R-Design Sport (Lovely spec, but appallingly weak 1.6), after driving home verrrry slowly I noticed the car would pop out of reverse and clutch would slip, then grinding noises when changing 2nd-3rd, 3rd-4th...

Turned out the car had NO lubricant in the gearbox whatsoever, requiring a complete replacement box and clutch... Absolutely gobsmacked that had been missed on the final checks before handover!

Still, managed to get a T5 C70 for the week as a courtesy car, boy did I not want to hand that back!
 
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