I bought a car from out of town, it had an inspection etc happy with the condition so drove it 500km home. I noticed on the trip that the car had a rattle when sitting at idle in neutral. Knowing these vehicles ('11 Focus diesel) have a dual mass flywheel and it could be that I called the seller who arranged to have it inspected locally. It was deemed to be faulty and replacement was arranged at the sellers expense, courtesy car provided blah blah. I was really impressed with things up to this point, both the seller and the local workshop (sellers service agent) had been great. However the car went back together early last week and they now can't get the thing to start. I have been without the car for 3 weeks on Tuesday and I am starting to feel a little 'scratchy' about it. The workshop admit openly they really don't know what they are doing and it should have gone to Ford. I just want the damn thing back! My questions are am I being unreasonable? And who is my problem now with the workshop or still the seller? Thanks.
bitsy_boffin,
Apr 6, 4:24am
1. Did you buy from a dealer. Given the story so far, I'm assuming yes, but if no, tell us now. 2. No not being unreasonable (assuming 1 = yes), you need to ask the vendor to resolve the problem, or I think it's getting to the point where rejecting the vehicle and asking for your money back is not unreasonable (again, assuming 1 = yes).
tgray,
Apr 6, 4:43am
Do you still have use of their courtesy car?
franc123,
Apr 6, 4:46am
Three weeks is being more than reasonable I'd have thought, even if the parts weren't in the country. Assuming everything has been plugged in correctly following refitting of the gearbox I'd wager they've buggered the crank angle sensor doing it or if an aftermarket DMF has been fitted that has also interfered with the CAS signal. Have seen this before but admittedly not on a Focus, its a risk you take with aftermarket gear. Best of luck with it all and yes it should have gone to Ford agent, for these sorts of reasons.
tlharrex,
Apr 6, 5:42am
I bought through Turners off a lease company, so the vendor is 'in trade' and both have been great so far. I was expecting some resistance from either or both but I haven't heard the word no yet! Yes I still have the courtesy car, I have been taking it back when I haven't needed it but as you can imagine this is starting to get tiresome.
tgray,
Apr 6, 8:21am
I think it's too early to reject it under the CGA, You have full use a car provided by them free of charge and they are attempting to fix it for you. Perhaps it is time to 'up the ante' but you haven't suffered a loss as a result of this, apart from some inconvenience and in your own words, they have been very nice and helpful regarding this. Say something like you want this resolved in the next 2 weeks, or you are looking at your legal options.
tlharrex,
Apr 6, 8:33am
Thanks tgray, yeah thats the sort of direction I was thinking but wasn't sure whether I should be pushing harder now or not. These things seem to get more complicated when left to long in my experience. I am losing confidence in the workshop and am concerned they may cause more problems working blind as they seem to be!
unideck,
Apr 6, 12:51pm
Talk to the dealer not the workshop. Be sure to make it clear it should/shall go to somebody approved who actually knows what they are doing IE Ford. Firm but fair, like you say the dealer is treating you the correct way supplying a courtesy car but he/she also needs a push. In saying that I would give them one week given its back together. Could be a simple issue hell it could be the alarm system thats triggered and they have no clue how to re-set. Whatever the reason Id just make a civil call and suggest it be uplifted and taken to Ford for a diagnostic.
tgray,
Apr 6, 7:41pm
Yes, you should be liaising with the dealer only, NOT the workshop.
intrade,
Apr 6, 8:00pm
there is something to this have they unpluged some of the engine harness? i cant clearly recall but somhow something was out of phase with the cam , and knowing these modern cars use a relearn position they found out the cam injection timing was wrong timed. i think from all the stuff i did read and that is just my putting togather the thing needs to be put with a oem scanner in to relearn adaption mode . the thing is i remeber it as cambelt change on one of them fords not start after and they done some trick to get it to relearn but i know from reading all these usa diagnostic case studys that it likely is a problem with a timing relearn reset coding or similar or they done somthing to corrupt the immobiliser code relearning back to the car the transmission module. Something needs a relearn or is plugged in wrong A GOOD ford dealer with professional diagnostic know how about the system whom have euro ford oem programmers and oem scanner
intrade,
Apr 6, 8:20pm
another problem is they should not be cranked for long with no fuel if it does not get fuel from the tank because of a shared earth wire from fuelpump is not connected. it takes 45 secound cranking on no fuel to start damaging almost any commonrail diesel pumps. so the first thing i would have done is see if it has fuel pressure by mesuring on the commonrail pressure sensor, on a no start.
bwg11,
Apr 7, 12:12am
This is exactly the point I was trying to make about using franchise dealers in your flow chart post. OP, hope your issue is cleared up soon.
tlharrex,
Apr 7, 6:37pm
Thanks for the replies folks! Intrade I also read somewhere about the cam timing going 360 degrees out but while this would be possible with a cam belt change or if the cam position sensor was removed, I don't think it would be possible from just removing the flywheel? I am also concerned about the common rail pump etc. Despite having not opened the fuel system during the repair, the go to solution for the 'tech' when it wouldn't start was to 'prime it', so now the fuel system has been opened quite likely adding another issue. Part of me now wishes I had done the job at home, at least I can admit when I am out of my depth!
bjmh,
Apr 7, 7:40pm
I recently had a navara diesel engine out,on the bell housing it had a crank sensor . which triggers off the flywheel,i was told you need to put the flywheel back in the correct place. maybe your focus has similar ?
franc123,
Apr 7, 10:20pm
That's the sort of thing I was driving at above, you'd think it would be dowelled to the crank but who knows? They've ballsed up something along those lines mereckons.
tlharrex,
Apr 7, 10:24pm
The flywheel only fits one way on the Focus thankfully.
kazbanz,
Mar 20, 11:07am
Money back or car fixed
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