Starting engine with leaking water pump and timing belt due replacement?

NORMMWAIN

MEMBER
2011 VAUXHALL OMEGA
104,000 MILES

I drove my 2011 Insignia Exclusive auto 2.0 diesel (104,000mi) for just 10 minutes (about 4 miles) to a garage, having booked to have fitted a new water pump and timing belt. Everything had been ordered for the work by the garage. I topped up the coolant before driving off, as the car overheated about 9 days earlier just as I was getting home. This was when I booked to have the work done. At the garage, I parked the car perfectly in the waiting area, the engine had started and run perfectly on the journey, the engine temperature was normal (90), the water level had dropped about one inch. I then left the key with the garage and went home to wait for a call to say it was ready.

Later that morning, the garage rang to say they couldn't start the car and had tried numerous times. I told them to wait for the yellow lights to go out. They said they knew that but wanted me to come. I said that the car runs perfectly, and that it had never given me any problem and to do the work, because I was sure it would go. They then told me that they pushed the car to the bay, opened it up and found that the timing belt had slipped, likely causing the camshaft lugs to hit the valves. They are not claiming responsibility for the damage to the engine. For me, it all seemed so unbelievable, but I had to use a recovery vehicle to get the car back to my drive. Question: Was the garage at fault?

Can anyone, with expert experience on this forum, offer advice as to what the garage should or should not have done?

I was only concerned about the engine overheating. I had told them that the water pump was leaking. Thanks in advance. (PS _ You don't list "Insignia")

2 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,244 POSTS

Hi,

If the timing belt was saturated with coolant, it may have slipped when they tried starting it. The thing is this. Did it cause internal damage to the engine? By chance, did they replace the belt and check engine compression to see if any of the cylinders are low or indicate a problem?

Let me know.

Joe

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Friday, October 6th, 2023 AT 9:05 PM

BORIS K

MECHANIC
762 POSTS

Hello,

As my colleague replied, the timing belt could have slipped on start-up if it was soaked in coolant.
As the garage stripped the timing covers off the engine to investigate is it possible for you to take some clear photos of the timing belt and upload these to our site? This will give us a better idea of what could have happened.

A quick way of checking is to line up the timing marks of the crankshaft sprocket with the lower oil pump casing, at about 6 o'clock, see image 1 below.
Also, the exhaust camshaft sprocket mark needs to line up with a very faint mark, hump, on the rear timing cover at about 1 o'clock. See image 2.

A good video, DIY without locking tools:
https://youtu.be/pfcVWeEi4RE?si=JOhs5WqF-iF6j_H3

The only, proper, way to determine if the timing belt has slipped, apart from missing teeth/physical damage, is to time the engine up with the 3 locking tools. See image 7
These consist of a crankshaft locking plate which is attached to the crankshaft front sprocket, requiring removal of the crankshaft pulley, and 2 crankshaft locking pins.

See image 3, crankshaft locking plate installed. Note that the crankshaft needs to be rotated off its TDC (Top Dead Center) mark to allow the locking plate to be installed.
The timing mark will move to the 9 o'clock position and the locking dowel moves from the 3 o'clock position to the 6 o'clock position.

Most technicians will only use the exhaust camshaft locking pin as both camshafts are geared together and only the exhaust camshaft is driven by the timing belt.
Once the engine has been locked at the crankshaft it should be possible for the exhaust camshaft locking pin to be installed, see image 4+5.
With the locking pin installed the timing mark on the camshaft pulley will move from about 1 o'clock to about 3 o'clock, see image 6.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Boris

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