Broken Crankshaft!

[topcat36]

Hi,
Have just introduced myself in the newbie section.
I have a 3 yr old Freelander TD4, which has 33,000 miles on clock and last monday engine seized whilst on holiday, after it being stripped down was shown where the crankshaft had sheared off!
I was lucky I was just starting off from a set of lights and not doing 70mph on the motorway,
Anyone else had any experiences with sheared crankshaft!!
Vehicle 5 weeks outside of its warranty but is currently at the dealsership we bought if from in the hope that they can get authority from Landrover to repair at no cost to me,
To say I'm a little miffed is an under statement!!

[Desert Warrior]

I have to say in my years on the Freelanders threads I have never heard of it.

[TEMPL4R]

I would say it's a crankshaft vibration damper problem ( Harmonic Balancer as they call them now).

We had a couple of 680 Leylands do it.

Chris

[topcat36]

Hi,
Thanks for the quick replies,
Landrover have said they will do nothing or pay nothing towards the cost of a new engine, as this is what is required. They have said, because the second service was late not only on time but mileage they would not do anything. Which I personally thort was a poor response, as it is out of warranty anyway, albeit by 5 weeks.... I believe this to be a fault from the outset, and have spoken to trading standards. They say I have to take it up with the dealership, whom my original contract was with, so thats thye route I am going to take, any other advice help would be greatly appreciated

[fergie2035]

You say the engine was "seized." Do you just mean it jammed as a result of the breakage or was it actually seizing up that led to the crank failure?

[topcat36]

No I was told it had seized as a result of the Crank breaking at piston 4. So many people have said its very very unusual,but landrover and the dealers don't seem too bothered and are not willing at this time to do anything about it. Thats what hurts the most. They say they care about their customers, only seems so when u have money to spend !!! Maybe I'm being a bit Harsh, but as u can imagine I am very disappointed

[WIZZ]

one of our customers had the same happen his had done about 120k but is still in warrenty as not three years old yet he had his fixed under warrenty.

[topcat36]

Hi Wizz,
Unfortunately mine is 5 weeks out of its 3 yr warranty, and at the moment nobody seems that bothered. But having read up on the Sale of Goods act I feel I may have a case for the dealers to repair it, I will have to see how they respond to my letter I sent last week

[TEMPL4R]

I got a gearbox out of LR, the layshaft had lost teeth. As it was a farm vehicle and we were busy in harvest so it couldn't go for a service on time, but had gone later ( new trucks were serviced at Rogers of Bedford during warranty years)

I explained to LR and Rogers were very helpful and pulled a few strings.We got the box.

We get the same problems when people take out extended warrantys, they will not pay out if there is no or a bad service history, it's in the small print. I think you will have a fight on your hands as they will just point out the service intervals and say IF you had kept to that, then the engine probably wouldn't have failed.

At a guess, if you have been to Trading Standards, they will advise you, but I bet they haven't/won't have taken up your case. It's all down to proving the engine failed for any other reason than lack of servicing.
My sister had to buy her Mini after it blew the engine, it was a lease car and her husband hadn't dropped it off for the service, even though he said he had ( they are now divorced) I got an engine delivered from Shefield to Fleetwood for £525, went in our truck to Derby, £70 in Diesel and changed it for her with the help of our service manager. Total cost of £780. BMW wanted £5000 for the engine and she would have had nothing to show for it. She has the car, bought for £8200 from the lease company, so it is still worth about what it cost to buy and change the engine, when she sells it.

So you see, I canot offer you much in the way of hope, someone has to pay a few thousand pounds for the engine and labour to change it, they will use every get out clause they can. All I can suggest is you try to get say, 50% towards the cost as a goodwill gesture. You could get an independant engineer to inspect the engine and report, but that will cost you a couple of hundred pounds. If he can't prove it failed to your advantage, then you incur more costs.

You need the Managing Director of the Dealership or someone high up in LR to make the decisions, it will be of no use shouting at the Receptionist, it will just upset them and you will get nowhere. Talk to the service manager and ask for a meeting with his/her Boss to try to get help in resolving the issue.

When people come into our showroom shouting the odds, they get nowhere, except asked to leave and come back when they calm down. Explain the problem and we try our best to sort the problem out. The Boss has the ultimate say though, it's his money we are spending.

Chris

[topcat36]

Chris,
A bit of good news today. I got a telephone call from the after sales manager at Guy Salmon, who had re-contacted Landrover re my case. They have now agreed as a gesture of goodwill to offer 50% of the costs!
Which is 50% more than they had before.
He further said that the dealership may also be able to offer me some discount as well, so fingers crossed, may be better news soon.
Will keep u updated with actual cost of it all

Tony :)

[TEMPL4R]

That is good news, Tony.

If you talk to the right people and try to be fair with them, they will usually do something. It is in LRs interest to help you. Just outside the warranty period or a few miles out on a service and they will contribute something, it just depends how you go about it. Firm, but fair works.

Chris

[topcat36]

Hi Chris,

Total cost for the engine is £4400 give or take, so we have to find £2000. A bit more than I wanted but its better than the full cost.
So I will be sorting it all out tomorrow when I get up..... And at least it will be virtually a new car again ! ;0)

Tony

[TEMPL4R]

My sisters was near £5000, so the price is similar, seems that's about the going rate for BMW engines.

(The Mini is a chrysler, AFAIK)

Chris

[topcat36]

Hi Chris,
Well they have ordered all the parts and should be ready by the end of next week. I was not gonna push my luck and ask for a courtesy car !!!!
My missus will just be glad to have it back,as will I so I can have my beemer back !!!

Tony