Collected my car from the
garage after a major issue…
So last month I was returning from Goodwood FOS having taken the Cupra on its longest run out since I’ve owned it. Was running beautifully overall until I got to 5 miles from home. A bit of an odd noise coming from under the bonnet when car idling at roundabout after a few miles on M4 but seemed to still pull ok. Wondered if aircon clutch was rattling. Made it to 2 miles to go, at 30mph the engine died and we coasted to a halt. Very strange…
coolant ok
oil ok
Battery ok
nothing dripping out of/under car
cranked it… ooh man I don’t like that sound.
Cam belt was done 3k ago and moved the cover slightly at top and could see belt so maybe not that
Pushed car off of road into a kind soul’s driveway overnight until it could be recovered.
Next day got it recovered by mechanic mate to
garage. Initial assessment was cambelt issue, along with all the drama of it being an interference engine :-(
So it seems as though the tensioner had failed and bolt attaching it to head had sheared, belt partially shredded and I guess had skipped a tooth initially (when that noise occurred) and then went more than a bit out of time and boom.
Credit to my local VW group specialist
garage who have put the car right and it now has a shiny new head on it and lives to fight another day!