Dropped a valve ?

[chrisl]

My 1.5hdi 75 appeared to throw a cambelt a couple of weeks ago,it’s 11k miles out of warranty but did have a Citroen cambelt kit fitted at 96k.
Straight away the dealer suggested that the belt had slipped due to incorrect fitting and decided in their wisdom? To start taking the head off.They found at least one rocker had broken indicating a dropped valve. They got all head bolts bar 2 out but managed to round the 2 off saying that they were really tight!
I had to push like crazy for them to remove the cambelt cover to check the belt and engine timing and Voila they reported that both were ok and that “ there has been a new cambelt kit fitted” !
Repairs and a hire van will,hopefully be authorised tomorrow.
I’m wondering whatever could have caused a valve to drop?
I must stress that both the dealer and Citroen Customer service have been great so apart from inevitable delays due to the dealer being double busy I’m quite happy despite having a knackered van !

[chrisl]

About turn !
Citroen have now backtracked and said as the van has done 111500 miles they won’t offer any goodwill and the warranty is invalidated.
Tried to argue my case as the mileage is nothing for a commercial vehicle but their response was that I can get in touch with the motor ombudsman !
I’m far from happy as you can imagine !

[chrisl]

Copy email for info

Dear Mr Li

As discussed we are sorry to inform you that we can not assist you with any goodwill repairs/car hire costs for your vehicle on this occasion due to the fact that your mileage is in excess of 100K miles which in effect invalidates your 3rd year vehicle manufacturer's warranty.

Kind Regards

Citroen Customer Care Team

ref:_00D0OYvX4._500693dw0wS:ref

[cancunia]

Sorry to see that you're having problems with the Citroen dealer. When I read your first post, I did wonder how they expected to get the head off without taking the cam belt off but as they were helping you out, didn't mention it.
There are a few posts on here about twisting the arm of Citroen to get them to re think their decisions.

[chrisl]

Picked the van up today so here’s an update.

New engine fitted and a turbo for good measure- not a good ending as I had to foot the bill. I had a chat with the guy who did the work and he said that the timing belt and idler was perfect but the cause of the issue was a broken camshaft drive chain. Obviously not a serviceable part until it is worn and noisy,I don’t recall hearing any unusual noise but it broke and self destructed the top end , including at least one valve rocker and a couple of valves.
To be honest I only gave the go ahead because I thought there would be some form of goodwill offer forthcoming .
So K9 owners beware !

The van has always had oil changes at 12k intervals and driven at 67mph all day every day . This one was put in storage for a year after doing 28k in 3 months from new.
I hope my new one is more reliable….

[jj9]

I'm not up on the latest engines so I may be off a bit here. . .

Is the 1.5 hdi 75 not an 8 valve engine so only has one camshaft that is belt driven?

If the above is correct where does the camshaft drive chain come in?


.

[chrisl]

I understood it is a 16v and there is a chain which definitely broke.whether this is a secondary drive I don’t know. I thought it was the 1,0 3 cyl that had issues with the belt degrading and eventually snapping.
I will make enquiries about the chain and see if it’s been superceeded now.
It would help if I could find a schematic for the engine !

[jj9]

As far as I can see on the internet the 1.5 75hp engine  as fitted to the K9 berlingo is listed as being an 8 valve engine. (I can't find a diagram of the engine either)

The older 16 valve engines have two camshafts, the timing belt drives one pulley and a small internal chain links the two camshafts together.

You don't mention the year of your vehicle . . .  if you put your detail in your signature they will be displayed with every post so you don't have to remember to list them.

.

[chrisl]

It’s not the old hdi 16v, I’ve had 3 of those that all did 200-300k miles. When I bought this 19 plate I didn’t want the new 1.5 as I was sceptical about reliability, turned out I was right.
Info on the web is hard to fine, is there any relevant markings on the engine ?

[chrisl]

It’s not the old hdi 16v, I’ve had 3 of those that all did 200-300k miles. When I bought this 19 plate I didn’t want the new 1.5 as I was sceptical about reliability, turned out I was right.
Info on the web is hard to fine, is there any relevant markings on the engine ?