Timing Chain Snapped - Out of Warranty

[superkully]

This is worrying my '03 1.2 has done 84K miles now.

Did you have any signs of a possible failure before? A more clattery running or something?

I wrote a letter to SEAT about this in the summer when I first heard of this, but they re-assured me that there was no problem with the engine (even though the chain tensioner design was changed at some point to address this issue - no response given to exactly when this change was made).

I'm sure that you will be able to get SEAT to pay for the whole repair even if it is out of their warranty. They say that the chain / tensioner will last the life of the vehicle (and there is no replacement in the service schedule) - I'm not sure how the "life of the vehicle" would be defined in a small claims court (if it comes to that) but it's certainly not 50K miles, I'd say it was certainly no less than 150K miles (the service book has pages for 240K miles worth of services).

Whatever you buy has to be "fit for purpose" - that's why the say guarantees and warrantys state "in addition to your statuatory rights".

Anyway, let us know how it goes - good luck!

 

[Lordy]

Cheers for all your help chaps! If I get anything will let you know! Lordy

 

[Pigeon142]

Sorry to come on with legal mumbo but a warranty is not the main place to look to when things go wrong. Land Rover had a mass claim against them when because of a fault I believe with the oil pump, which was put down to an inherent design fault, caused engines to fail after more than 6 years.
Quote the Sale of Goods Act at the dealer/Seat which states that goods should be of satisfactory quality for a reasonable period of time. If unhappy get other examples of this and write to Seat. They are responsible at Law if there is an inherent fault which manifests after the warranty period.

 

[gemini2205]

well, the cylinder head had to be sent away and apparently some of the 12 valves had to be replaced - the car is now in the process of being put back together and I might get it back tomorrow - as for the mechanical breakdown insurance I took out when I bought the car just over 12 months ago have asked for a complete breakdown of what happened, why and how much etc... so still not sure they will cough up - it's a bit off that I have the car just over 12 months, haven't done 8k since I bought from a registered SEAT dealer and now faced with this problem which turns out was a known problem but not until I visited the site did I know anything about it. I don't have a dealer in my area and far too far away from the dealer i bought from plus the mechanical breakdown insurance clearly states that as long as the garage is VAT registered you can use someone local to you. Keep you posted.

 

[gemini2205]

timing chain snapped

well, my battle continues - car is now back in working order and I am going to collect it tomorrow - however, the mechanical breakdown insurance I was sold when I bought the car says they will not cover it as they say it's not a mechanical breakdown because it's not a component - if it's not a component which operates the mechanic of the car what the hell is it. They have however, offered to contribute - which in itself they are surely admitting it's a fault otherwise why offer a contribution. The dealer I bought from were far from helpful and said they had never heard of this problem before, stating they are a new garage and don't really deal with SEAT models of this year. Because there is no ryhme or reason why this timing chain jumped it must just be one of those unexplainable situations which looks likely to leave me out of pocket.

So I am paying for the repairs out of my pocket and then will continue to negotiate with the mechanical breakdown insurance company. This is a complete farse and mechanical breakdown insurance policys are not worth the paper they are printed on.

Understandably I am a tad p*ssed off. Any words of wisdom gratefully received.

Thanks for letting me sound off.

 

[SCB]

Timing Chain Snapped

Hi there... this is my first post so bear with me and be nice!

A couple of nights ago my car would not start. It has been towed to a nearby garge who have advised that they have stripped down the engine and think the problem is that the timing chain has broken/snapped/jumped teeth. Two of the three cylinders need replacing as a result and they have estimated £500 plus VAT to fix this.

The garage only thinks that this is the problem and have been quick to point out that I may instruct this work to be completed, have to pay for it and still not have a car that works. They have said that if there is another problem preventing the car from starting that further work will have to be carried out at further expense.

I should say that my car is an 02 1.2 Ibiza s. This seems to be a design fault and i wondered :

1) If anyone on this forum has been successful in pursuing a claim against seat for the problem and if so how.
2) If it would be better to take the car to a seat dealer. (I am aprehensive to do this as the cost may be higher and I would have to some how tow it the 30miles to the nearest garage.)
3) If the cost of £500 plus VAT seems reasonable. (I dont really know and my boyfriend is worse than hopeless.)

thanks for taking the time to read and help me with this.
SC

 

[st10587]

Timing chain is common, i doubt seat will be help full as to paying out. There is now a modified kit the you install to prevent it happening. i has a 02 1.2 done over 62k and never had a problem with the timing chain!

 

[SCB]

Just my luck.... Do you think the best thing to do is just pay up and hope that there is no further problem?

Also would it be this kit thats used to repair it?

 

[gemini2205]

I have had the same problem which has cost me greatly - I have currently been communicating with SEAT who do not want to know. They claim their technical department don't see this as a common fault, ie a few isolated cases and because I did not have my car repaired at a SEAT dealer which is approx 45 miles away they would not even offer me any goodwill gesture other than the V sign. Very unhelpful and basically said the year of the car had to be taken into account. I to have an 02 1.2 Ibiza which seems to be the model with the problem (although some of you are lucky in that you haven't experienced this fault) - my mileage is very low, 35k - I am the second owner from new and bought from a SEAT dealer who gave me 12 months warranty which ran out 3 months prior to my fault and still SEAT just turned their back. We should go to Watchdog about this as it's obvious there is a fault in this year of engine and the forum backs this up. I am not £1400 out of pocket so £500 sounds ok. Good luck.

 

[st10587]

Just my luck.... Do you think the best thing to do is just pay up and hope that there is no further problem?

Also would it be this kit thats used to repair it?

if you ask for the revised kit then you cant go wrong! most cases have the repair done normally around the £500ish mark and then dont have the prob. obviously im only going on what i have read on here! sorry to hear your having trouble!

 

[SCB]

I have had the same problem which has cost me greatly - I have currently been communicating with SEAT who do not want to know. They claim their technical department don't see this as a common fault, ie a few isolated cases and because I did not have my car repaired at a SEAT dealer which is approx 45 miles away they would not even offer me any goodwill gesture other than the V sign. Very unhelpful and basically said the year of the car had to be taken into account. I to have an 02 1.2 Ibiza which seems to be the model with the problem (although some of you are lucky in that you haven't experienced this fault) - my mileage is very low, 35k - I am the second owner from new and bought from a SEAT dealer who gave me 12 months warranty which ran out 3 months prior to my fault and still SEAT just turned their back. We should go to Watchdog about this as it's obvious there is a fault in this year of engine and the forum backs this up. I am not £1400 out of pocket so £500 sounds ok. Good luck.

I sympathise greatly with your position and totally agree that the problem should be highlighted to consumer groups if indeed cars which are not fit for purpose are being sold.

Can I ask how your total expenditure came to be so great? Im really concerned that the problem will not be fixed with the initial outlay of £500 and that to get the car running again will end up being much more expensive.

Thanks.

 

[SCB]

Timing chain is common, i doubt seat will be help full as to paying out. There is now a modified kit the you install to prevent it happening. i has a 02 1.2 done over 62k and never had a problem with the timing chain!

Hey could anyone give me a bit more information about this kit - I need to know what its called so i can order it and also if anyone knows best where to order it from.

Dont want to get it from the garage when i could probably source it somewhere cheaper myself!

Thanks!!!

 

[st10587]

your best bet is to get the parts from a dealer mate as they should know what your on about! there is a few threads on this issue so maybe a search will help you more!

 

[gijane]

i have had the same problem. 1.2 Ibiza 03, 50 thousand miles on the clock. cost me £80 to be towed home.
it cost me £450 at a private garage to repair and 3 weeks without a car.
thay dealt with VW as seat were unhelpfull.
VW said seat, VW and vauxhall 3 cylinder cars have all had the same problem with timing chains and VW and Vauxhall had done a product recall due to this fault.

It looks like seat have washed their hands with it and dont want to know.
I was thinking of wrighting to watchdog.
If enough of us do they might look in to it.

 

[Lordy]

Shortly I will be writing to the MD of SEAT uk regarding my timing chain problem. (anyone know his/her name and address?). If no joy i think that Watchdog might be a good idea! We need to get numbers of how many people have been affected and go from there. Also if i can get proof that they know of the design fault I will head off to the small claims court. anyone know where I can get this proof?

Cheers, lordy

 

[flossy]

I'll bring this back to the front page, found out my car jumped teeth on chain tried if seat will do good will gesture big no no, too much out of warrenty they say 47000 mlies. 2003 1.2 12v engine. Bickets at Kilmarnock i was dealing with took 9 day to get response from customer services got told 2-3 days for response they say it was submitted they say never recieved someone not telling truth eh? So going to get it back do it myself. Not happy 675+ vat quoted.

 

[Cotton]

hi, i had the same thing happen on my 1.2 it cost me 1100 just for parts, got labour free.

there is a kit like guiness said, mine cost the garage 25 pound,

hope you get it cheeper mate, becouse its gutting, i got rid of it now though, got a 1.9 tdi in yellow.

 

[chrissyb103]

Everyone has this problem lol, just incase people didnt see my post recently about my engine completely buggering up!!
i had a new engine put in though with a lower mileage cause there where also oil problems, so got an engine with 21k on it will run it for a while then sell it before it gets to timing chain snapping territory!

the last timing chain went at 61k btw.

 

[Kevin0407]

Hi All, this is my first post. I found the forums after searching timing chain problems in google!

My car wouldn't start on Friday and has been in the garage since, I moved it from my local garage to main dealer in Oxford as local gargage could not do the work. I have since been quoted £762 to do the timing chain but they cannot guarantee that there will not be further damage. Has anyone had experience of more damage than just the chain slipping.

This £762 seems excessive so I am going to contest it, does anyone know how much parts would cost to fit this?. Do you think it would be worth my while contacting Seat direct? The only problem is that a FSH is not in place from Seat dealers just local garages. I only have 52250 miles on the clock.

I wont get my car back until Wednesday next week that will be 11days to get the problem sorted. Grrrr. The dealer has admitted that this is a known fault but 'not that common'!!

 

[Oracle9I]

Seems to me that this is a common problem, if its with the 3 cylinder petrol engine its worrying that Seat are actually still selling it.
Recently watch Dog reported a problem with 02/03 Ford focus dash board cluster console going wrong leaving the whole console not working. it cost people betwee 300 and 500 quid to fix. Ford denied any problems , but watch dog got them to admit Fault (The console cluster should last the life time of the car).

I suggest some one with this problem opens a new thread and organanises a mass complaint to watch dog for them to investigate.

Oracle9I (bout to buy a Sport Rider 1.9 TDI)