Took my car to kwik fit, driving home and the car cut out and leaking fuel.

[Rightboy91]

Please don't use this as an opportunity to mock, I too my car to a garage as many of you guy's tell me to do and this is the result, problems.

Please do not tell me the car is a lemon, this was not an existing fault I am extremely sure of it . So no matter what car I had gone in with it would have come out with this issue.



I asked the guy at kwik fit to investigate a noise from under the car for me, he put it in on the ramps as I waited outside about 50 metres away.
Next thing he gets a grinder out sparks flying everywhere ( cutting off an old clamp ) also the bonnet was open while he was doing this.

As I drive home the car loses all power and cuts out and I smell strong fuel from inside the car., it has never ever done this in the 3 . 5 years of ownership ( never leaked fuel and never cut out ) since I have had the car. I opened the bonnet and see a puddle of fuel under the injectors 1 ,2 ,3 .

I took it back to the guy at kwik fit he had excuses as expected saying it was definitely injector seals and was nothing to do with what he did, I did not believe him at all, it has never ever cut out in 3.5 years of my ownership yet 30 minutes after leaving kwik fit it cuts out and leaks fuel.

I then Went to a different garage he says it is possible they could have caused this by disturbing something such as a pipe, and that to correct it is a big job having to remove inlet manifold e.t.c. estimated cost £300- £400. (1.9 cdti fiat 120 bhp engine )


I plugged in my basic diagnostic tool and it showed injectors open circuit, I deleted the code and drove a few miles the code has not come back and the car has not cut out since.
yet the puddle of fuel came from somewhere and the car cut out for some reason....


What do you guy's think has happened and should I pursue this against kwik fit ?


thanks

 

[Mottie]

What did he actually do/charge you for doing on your car?

 

[Rightboy91]

What did he actually do/charge you for doing on your car?

Hello Motto, good to see you !

I wasn't charged anything, they do free exhausts check s and so I thought I'd ask him to check it out for me and ask him to diagnose the noise from the exhaust to check which part it was coming from .

As I am stood outside I see him get a grinder sparks flying everywhere he was cutting off an old loose clamp.
he also had bonnet open as I told him I had an MOT coming up so asked if he could check a few things under the bonnet that might be checked on the MOT.

After that I drove home and for the first time ever ( in the 68,000 miles I've driven it ) the car cut out, I could smell a strong smell of fuel from inside the car and upon looking under the bonnet I could see it was from under the injectors.

I have drove a few more miles since and the smell of fuel has not returned, Also since I have erased the open injector codes, the car has not cut out and the codes have not reappeared, why is this ??


thank you

 

[Burnerman]

Cutting an exhaust clamp off ( can we assume it had rusted through and he replaced it) can’t have any effect on the fuel injectors.
I’ve seen quite a few leaking injectors but it’s a slow process which usually develops over a while......they don’t give immediate issues unless they’ve been tampered with.
Did you ask him to fit new injector seals? They wouldn’t have those in stock.
Back to Kwik Fit to see exactly what was done.
John

 

[Rightboy91]

Cutting an exhaust clamp off ( can we assume it had rusted through and he replaced it) can’t have any effect on the fuel injectors.
I’ve seen quite a few leaking injectors but it’s a slow process which usually develops over a while......they don’t give immediate issues unless they’ve been tampered with.
Did you ask him to fit new injector seals? They wouldn’t have those in stock.
Back to Kwik Fit to see exactly what was done.
John

Hi , good to see you John.

I replaced an exhaust clamp and could not unscrew old one as it was cross threaded or something, so it was dangling on the exhaust pipe I was going to cut it off but he took it upon himself to do that.

I know cutting off the old clamp has nothing to do with injectors, but as I say he was doing some basic checks under bonnet too just simple things like checking fluids for upcoming mot. I didn't see what he did as I was outside as instructed.

The car has never ever leaked fuel, I check under the bonnet on a daily basic it definitely was not leaking, also the smell of fuel came into the car which has never ever happened before.

No I did not ask him to fit injector seals, there was no issues with leaking fuel, also they do only the basics at kwik fit i.e. exhausts, brakes.
As I say I took it in for an exhaust noise to be examined, and a few simple under the bonnet checks. that's all.

The guy is denying that he caused this ( as expected ) so I want to see the manager and have a word with him but I don't know what will happen I am sure they will deny all responsibility.


Why has the code not reappeared after deleting it, I've done about 10 miles since, there is no more smell of fuel and it hasn't cut out again since ?

 

[Burnerman]

For sure I’m struggling with this one!
The exhaust clamp has gone, that’s fine and underbody checks for the MOT are few and far between - over here, anyway.....master cylinder checks, suspension mountings and whatever.
If the fuel was coming from the injector seals it will continue - if it’s been wiped away then it will be back.
I don’t understand why a fault code was thrown up - this happens when the injectors stop firing, not leaking.
Have you touched the fuel filter recently, or tampered with the injector feed or leak off pipes.....particularly the latter?
John

 

[Mottie]

As it is now back to how it was, if I were you I’d just forget about it. They are never going to admit to anything, you are never going to find out what it was as you have deleted any fault codes so just leave it. Over the years, I’ve had a couple of people try it on after doing them a favour on their car when I haven’t charged them. When it comes to a stalemate, I just offer then my open, empty, palm and tell them to take their money back and go!

 

[Rightboy91]

For sure I’m struggling with this one!
The exhaust clamp has gone, that’s fine and underbody checks for the MOT are few and far between - over here, anyway.....master cylinder checks, suspension mountings and whatever.
If the fuel was coming from the injector seals it will continue - if it’s been wiped away then it will be back.
I don’t understand why a fault code was thrown up - this happens when the injectors stop firing, not leaking.
Have you touched the fuel filter recently, or tampered with the injector feed or leak off pipes.....particularly the latter?
John

No I have not tampered with anything related to the fuel system.
As I said he was tinkering under the bonnet today and half hour later it cut out and leaked fuel and that's what I'm asking, has he likely tampered with anything ?

3.5 years, 68,000 miles never cut out or leaked fuel until half hour after leaving Kwik fit

 

[Rightboy91]

As it is now back to how it was, if I were you I’d just forget about it. They are never going to admit to anything, you are never going to find out what it was as you have deleted any fault codes so just leave it. Over the years, I’ve had a couple of people try it on after doing them a favour on their car when I haven’t charged them. When it comes to a stalemate, I just offer then my open, empty, palm and tell them to take their money back and go!

How do I know it's back to how it was ? It was leaking fuel and cutting out, I deleted codes about 3 hours ago and they haven't reappeared nor has the car cut out again but surely this can't have just appeared to disappear without any cause ?

 

[Mottie]

How do I know it's back to how it was ?

Well, it’s not leaking and it’s not cutting out - just as it was before you went in there! Just what are you expecting them to do? Rule number one if you think something had been damaged or broken on your car by a garage is to get them to look at it straight away. You don’t start code reading/clearing and mopping up fuel leaks. If it was something they did, you’ve just shot yourself in the foot!

 

[Rightboy91]

Well, it’s not leaking and it’s not cutting out - just as it was before you went in there! Just what are you expecting them to do? Rule number one if you think something had been damaged or broken on your car by a garage is to get them to look at it straight away. You don’t start code reading/clearing and mopping up fuel leaks. If it was something they did, you’ve just shot yourself in the foot!

Well it would reshow the fault codes wouldn't it, if the problem was still existent

I had to mop up the fuel, it's a fire hazard otherwise !!

I did take it right back the guy denied any wrongdoing so I will see manager about this to make a record of it

Do you think somehow the problem is now rectified ?

 

[Mottie]

Well it would reshow the fault codes wouldn't it,

You said it isn’t reshowing any fault codes, therefore, no faults.

Do you think somehow the problem is now rectified ?

Highly likely. May have just been a blip. It does happen on many cars - even low mileage ones. Chillax!

I'm going to bed now, goodnight.

 

[Rightboy91]

You said it isn’t reshowing any fault codes, therefore, no faults.



Highly likely. May have just been a blip. It does happen on many cars - even low mileage ones. Chillax!

Are you ok you don't seem yourself tonight ?

No it is not showing any fault codes since the 15 miles or so of the codes being erased but I'm worried the codes and fault might return again and sorry if so that the car may suddenly cut out again in dangerous circumstances

I'm going to bed now, goodnight.

 

[Mottie]

"No it is not showing any fault codes since the 15 miles or so of the codes being erased but I'm worried the codes and fault might return again and sorry if so that the car may suddenly cut out again in dangerous circumstances".

Well, as I see it, your options are: (1) Take it back and let the tyre and exhaust fitter look at it and tell you they can’t find anything wrong, (2) Take it to a main dealer or Bosch specialist, pay through the nose for them to tell you 'no fault found' or (3) Leave it and wait until it cuts out/leaks again and take it from there to see if the fault could have been caused by someone touching your exhaust, possibly followed by an expensive court case as Kwik-Fit just aren’t going to accept responsibility. I can’t think of any other scenarios I’m afraid.

 

[Bodgedbuild]

I'm surprised you don't have four new shocks and brake pads and discs by now, anyhow, I suspect the fitter may have simply given everything under the bonnet "the wiggle test" to see what was rattling. You injector seals are probably rock hard and cracked and leaked as a result. It would appear they may have found a fault rather than create one?