Hey folks, sad story. My 1.3 litre diesel 500L (Lounge) engine seems to have devoured itself. 96K miles, religious annual service, never any issues except the automatic start/stop stopped working at around 45K (would give a light) but as we live in a rural area, not a big deal. A couple of weeks ago, while driving, all at once I got warning lights for the ECF, hill start assist, steering position sensor, and ABS light. There was absolutely no effect on my driving experience or sound of the car at all so I was suspecting a wiring problem up front somewhere and planned to see my mechanic. These are the same lights I would sometimes see for about 5 min after a wheel alignment while the computer reset, so I was not super worried.
But nevertheless I was concerned, so I drove very little. The lights stayed on (they would come on a minute or two after starting). Two days later, the the oil pressure light came on, so stopped the car immediately. Checked the oil, all fine. Restarted car and the oil light did not reappear, so I figured I've got a bad bit of wiring or ground somewhere and really need to get it checked - drove home carefully, car seemed absolutely fine. Next day while driving to get it looked at the engine suddenly lost power, would not go over 10mph, only rev higher. Pulled over immediately, RAC rescued me and towed the car to the shop. My mechanic say lots of metal in the oil when he took off the filter to inspect, and reckons it is an new/re-con engine. He said something about a problem with the sump, but he was not sure, all the belts etc are fine. I am getting it towed to another shop for a second opinion.
What do you think happened to it? I thought these engines were good for 150k at least? It is so depressing as the car is otherwise in perfect shape. With its age/mileage I was expecting maintenance costs to increase and I have no problem with that, I drive my cars for 200k if they make it, but a sudden catastrophic engine failure (on a diesel) seems really odd.
Note that the first mechanic says used engines for these are very hard to find, if not impossible. Is that right? Based in the UK.
But nevertheless I was concerned, so I drove very little. The lights stayed on (they would come on a minute or two after starting). Two days later, the the oil pressure light came on, so stopped the car immediately. Checked the oil, all fine. Restarted car and the oil light did not reappear, so I figured I've got a bad bit of wiring or ground somewhere and really need to get it checked - drove home carefully, car seemed absolutely fine. Next day while driving to get it looked at the engine suddenly lost power, would not go over 10mph, only rev higher. Pulled over immediately, RAC rescued me and towed the car to the shop. My mechanic say lots of metal in the oil when he took off the filter to inspect, and reckons it is an new/re-con engine. He said something about a problem with the sump, but he was not sure, all the belts etc are fine. I am getting it towed to another shop for a second opinion.
What do you think happened to it? I thought these engines were good for 150k at least? It is so depressing as the car is otherwise in perfect shape. With its age/mileage I was expecting maintenance costs to increase and I have no problem with that, I drive my cars for 200k if they make it, but a sudden catastrophic engine failure (on a diesel) seems really odd.
Note that the first mechanic says used engines for these are very hard to find, if not impossible. Is that right? Based in the UK.
