Toledo V5 seized engine

[pharmer]

Right, last weekend early morning drove the V5 for about 150yds before joining main road traffic. Put my foot down to join the traffic, into second gear, then everything stopped- engine died, steering went (obviously) no power coasted to a stop into a bus stop. Looked back and saw loads of oil on the road. Tried to restart the engine but only a click. Dead.
Bought the car on Dec 16th, full service history, new alternator and MOT the day before I bought it. Pushed the car home (only a third of a mile, engine could not have even been warm), up on a jack and saw the oil filter cover was broken open and oil everywhere.
Decided to replace the filter cover and filter and put in new oil carefully- it took only two litres of oil. This could mean there were still two litres of oil in the block/sump. Tried to manually turn over the engine with a socket on the crank but does not shift either way.

Burning question - is this something that anyone else has heard of - I have only found one reference to a cold engine losing its oil and seizing, but all others seem to happen on a motorway / hot engine / poor maintenance.

I am waiting for the warranty paperwork to arrive to see if they will cover this, but if not does anyone consider the engine is recoverable?

I am aware it could be crank main bearings or big ends or worse. Has anyone had the joyful experience of trying to replace these with the engine in the car or is it an engine out job (obviously easier - but don't have the space).

Or is there a magic fix for this - I only drove the car for about 100 miles in total and haven't even used the horn yet. Any guidance /info / help gratefully received as I can do a lot of mechanical things myself, but have very limited funds now.

Thanks

 

[chrismcl85]

Assuming you have taken the cover off to check the chain hasn't snapped and jamming it?

 

[pharmer]

Thanks, hadn't thought of that.....

Will check tomorrow

 

[Matt-V5-Duffy]

The oil filter cover on these engines is crap! I've had to replace mine and know of several others who had to as well. If the cover has been taken off with the giant nut on top they tend to crack where it moulds into the body of the cap - which is where mine and a friends went.

If you can't turn the engine over then odds are it's dead, don't get me wrong they are tough engines (mine has survived 2 busted sumps and the cap failure) but running at high load with no oil pressure won't have done it much good.

 

[Old Bloke]

I have been told that the chains go through a torture chamber of guides all of plastic fantastic and that there is an idler gear between the crank chain and cam chain. It has been known that the guides break up allowing the chain to thrash causing engine stoppage and heartbreak. Sorry to be of bad news but it could be you have had this occur, if it's under warranty then no worries.