Lost all drive

italianstallion · Jul 6, 2009

Was driving along a dual carriageway when all of a sudden all power to the accelerator just vanished. Managed to pull up onto a side road where i then realised a dense white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipes. immediately turned the car engine off. Now the the car wont even start.

Any ideas to what this could be.The car has recently been asking for the engine coolant to be topped up more than usual which i found very strange considering the car is only driven locally.

Please help, need some advice

Shadders · Jul 6, 2009

I'm no mechanic but have seen threads on here talking about cracked heads. This may explain the white smoke & the need to top up coolant.

Worth do a search & getting more opinions before trying to start again.

Hope it's not to bad!!

italianstallion · Jul 6, 2009

Thanks for that shadders,
That has been the main thing that has been brought up again and again to what it could be by others ive mentioned it to outside of this site..

I'll wait abit longer and see if i get any other replies to this thread.
will also look up on the Cracked heads threads

Chan_P1_TDi_FR · Jul 6, 2009

wow, where did this happen? i spotted an orange FR parked in a lay-by of the A8 dual-carriageway section near edinburgh airport, just past the BP petrol startion west bound. looked like it was broken down, when i drove past as 2 occupants were standing next to the car.

Hope this gets sorted for you asap. it must be gut wrenching when your pride and joy breaks down. but, on the bright side it's probably covered under warranty if it's a fairly new car.

Btw, what engine is in your car?

Nath. · Jul 6, 2009

Do you have the correct fuel in the tank?

italianstallion · Jul 7, 2009

The engine is the 2.0 TDi, happened in Manchester....
I check the oil every week as the dealerships say these cars burn oil very fast. However its only done 5000miles since its last service.All local mileage, i.e school runs, shopping etc....

It has been asking for alot of engine coolant top ups which i find very strange...
Ive been told by the AA that the cracked heads is a common fault on certain engine codes, plus engine coolant leaking internally into the engine causing pressure.

Where can i find out about seat leons common faults...???

Can anyone tell me if the seat leon has a low oil warning light.???

Nath. · Jul 7, 2009

Common faults are found in the mk2 leon FAQ (frequently asked questions) section.

All leons have a low oil pressure light on the instrument cluster. the light will self check when you switch the ignition on and you have a dip stick for checking the level manually.

All this and more is in the owners hand book.

Low oil pressure doesn't directly mean low oil level but it is a good guide that if the low pressure light comes on during a drive, there is not much oil in there.

225 · Jul 7, 2009

Surely under warranty though?

Nath. · Jul 7, 2009

^^^^^YES, but if they suspect that the fluids have not been topped up as per the owners instructions, it may not.

I would be interested in the outcome of this. the engine won't start and the last time it was running it was making white smoke, Still sounds like petrol in the diesel tank to me.

italianstallion · Jul 7, 2009

I can assure you that no petrol has been put in the car...!!!...
The car's warranty has ran out, The oil warning light hsnt been coming on and the oil and engine coolant has always been checked on a regularly, in accordance with the manufacturers stipulated intervals and guidance.

n_olympios · Jul 7, 2009

White smoke means burnt oil. Not good.

JohnnyR1Red · Jul 7, 2009

Sounds like a blown turbo to me

Haddock · Jul 7, 2009

JohnnyR1Red said:
Sounds like a blown turbo to me

Blown turbo would explain the white smoke, but the car would still drive...

italianstallion · Jul 9, 2009

Well the dealership has just got back to me..!!!..
the verdict is that the Turbo has blown and it has sucked all the oil out of the actual engine. therefore the engine has seized up and locked itself out and cracked all the heads, hence the white smoke....

This is the second time the turbo has failed, the cars warranty has run out and it only has 35,500 miles on the clock with full seat service, only a couple of months ago was warranty work carried out on the turbo now all of a sudden its gone again.

Cost to fix the damage are shocking, put it this way i can buy a new car...!!!....
Would your car insurance cover this sort of thing...?????....
Have had the seat garage put a good will form into seat, see what becomes of it

luke07cupra · Jul 9, 2009

italianstallion said:
Well the dealership has just got back to me..!!!..
the verdict is that the Turbo has blown and it has sucked all the oil out of the actual engine. therefore the engine has seized up and locked itself out and cracked all the heads, hence the white smoke....

This is the second time the turbo has failed, the cars warranty has run out and it only has 35,500 miles on the clock with full seat service, only a couple of months ago was warranty work carried out on the turbo now all of a sudden its gone again.

Cost to fix the damage are shocking, put it this way i can buy a new car...!!!....
Would your car insurance cover this sort of thing...?????....
Have had the seat garage put a good will form into seat, see what becomes of it

Thats absolutly terrible, to have such problems on the car after that kind of mileage, surely SEAT should step in and do something.

I doubt your car insurance would cover it, unless your car got stolen......

Donnyboy · Jul 9, 2009

Surely the work they carried out is covered by its own warranty? There for its the work they carried out that caused the fault.

I'd speak to your local CAB and any other body that covers garage working.

seatstu · Jul 9, 2009

I agree with Donnyboy, I'd question the warranty work on the turbo you had done by the dealers.
Did they replace it or do some sort of fix on it?

italianstallion · Jul 9, 2009

The initial work was a turbo replacement where it was found that the turbo was intaking oil in from the engine hence failure, turbo replaced.
Then a recall on the turbo where some part was found to be faulty and replaced.

What i dnt understand is that i reported that the car was asking for the engine coolant to be topped up often which i found strange..!!...so now im thinking well if the turbo was seeking in the oil from the engine, the engine was burning the remainder of the oil, hence the engine was intaking more engine coolant than normal...!!!...does the philosphy make any sence.>!!!...any answers out there please

talking big money to fix the problem, and i'm p****d

robdf2 · Jul 9, 2009

Donnyboy said:
Surely the work they carried out is covered by its own warranty? There for its the work they carried out that caused the fault.

I'd speak to your local CAB and any other body that covers garage working.

parts that are changed under SEAT warranty are only guarnteed for the waranty time and not the actual part warranty , for example if 1 day before your warranty expired your dump valve failed and was replaced under warranty , and 6 months later it failed again you would have to buy a new 1 , the guarantee for the part is void.
but on the other hand if you have warranty work done on your car which is nearing the end of the warranty and you pay towards the part and repair then you will be covered for the work and the part out side the waranty period , strange i know but true.

At least they are trying to put a goodwill gesture through for you , it will probably be a 50 - 50 settlement unless you can prove the garage was at fault after all we are all human.

if i was in your position i would tell the garage they have 5 days to get you an answer , and that you will be hiring a car and passing the costs on to them , be polite , also ask for a report on the warranty work that was done last time , it will be on their system.
good luck and keep us informed.

italianstallion · Jul 9, 2009

I wouldnt even except a 50-50 gesture, i'd tell them to put the engine together and i'd sell the car for parts....
the money isnt the factor here, ur virtually driving a german car with german engines that are prob second to none at the moment, and at 35,500 miles for this to happen really does take the biscuit..

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