Hi everyone,

I need some advice please

I have had my Multipla for 5 years (it is eight years old, W reg) and have had no major mechanical problems. The whole family loves the car.

Recently, however, I heard a flapping noise under the bonnet. I stopped the car and found that the fan belt was starting to shred. I cut off the loose strips and turned round to head for home. A couple of miles later the car came to a stop.

When I took it to my local garage he told me that the alternator belt had got inside the cam cover and had caused a lot of damage by putting out the timing. The garage has estimated in excess of £1,200 (£700 parts, £500 labour)

Is this possible - has anyone else experienced this problem? I find it hard to believe that a shredding fan belt can cause such an amount of damage

The car had been serviced by the same garage only 9 days before this happened. The cam belt wasn't replaced, Is it possible that the cam cover was not replaced or that the garage were negligent in some way.

The engineer said that when he did the service he noticed that the alternator belt was slightly loose but would be okay for another year - he did not write that there was a potential problem with the alternator belt in his service report.

Thank you

Andy Grace

its a common problem on the 20v models. the timing belt cover catches on the aux belt, usually because the belt cover warps in the heat. it can happen on any model with a plastic timing belt cover.

if the cover was disturbed during the recent service then i would suggest that is the cause. considering the aux belt was inspected at the service and they said it looked fine, then it seems likely that the cam belt was also inspected and the cambelt cover was not replaced correctly, shredding the aux belt.

to be fair, driving it once you knew it was shredded like that is inexcusable. you should have cut it off and then drove straight home.