Right Ill start from the beginning. As many of you know my veccy 2.2 51 plate with 66k on the clock snapped the timing chain last Friday almost causing a nasty accident on the M4 in a snow blizzard So....... first point of call was the dealer (remembering I knew nothing about this website or any of the crap associated with this engine at this stage!) he told me it would take a few days to look at the car. i also called VX Customer Service, since being a qualified technician myself I knew a timing chain failure wasnt right and there may possibly be a reason for it.
I had Friday night and Saturday night to come up to speed with exactly what is and has been happening with these engines. I printed off hundreds of pages of info. On calling VX back and quoting Field remedy 1532 - I was immediately told by VX that my car was not in the affected range but I was given a case number and told that they would look in to it. On Monday i was called back and offered 60% of the cost of repair as a gesture of "goodwill" I didnt accept or reject at this stage and said I would come back to them. Needless to say I was pretty p'd off at this but kept quiet ! I analysed the list of chassis numbers on the Field remedy - and yes they were right my chassis no wasnt in that range (but this didnt show any Estate cars anyway???????? - what they didnt manufacture any estates between 2000 - 2002??). I did some further investigation on the web and was fortunate to find some very good pictures of what the defective part (oil feed nozzle) looked like and what what the modified part looked like. Right ............... now I knew what I needed to find out!
Since my car was in the dealer - I asked them to remove the cylinder head and timing covers to make sure there was no other damage When the dealer called to tell me he had done this I went straight to the garage ! I arrived and asked to see my car. they were a bit confused but didnt have any idea about what I was about to do !. I asked the head engineer for a 10 mm spanner - he looked at me very perplexed and said what for ? "are there any other bits you want us to strip off this car for you to inspect" - i think he was getting a bit irritated with me. Anyway i said this would be my final visit. I proceeded to remove the oil feed nozzle from my engine .................................................. ......................... and guess what. It was the old faulty nozzle - The engineers were totally confused and i am sure they thought I was some kind of loony ! I then explained to the workshop manager that this is what had caused the timing chain to fail and told him that the hole in the nozzle on the faulty ones were 1mm diameter and were known to block up and starve the timing chain of oil, i then tried to blow through the nozzle and guess what???..... It was blocked solid!!!! i then proceeded to place the offending part on the bumper of my car right beside the number plate and pulled out my camera !!! lol GOTCHA. Stomped out of the dealership and got straight on to VX. After calling VX from outside the dealership and explaining what i had found they said they would have a manager call me back..
This morning i got a call from the VX manager who as i tried to explain what i had found, stopped me saying that he had already spoken with the dealership and was prepared to give me 80% towards the cost of repair and guarantee the parts fitted to my engine for 12months.
I have not accepted the 80% and have now placed it in the hands of my solictor.
Can anyone who has had timing chain problems with there 2.2 engine and were told by VX that it was outside of the affected range of Field Remedy 1532 please contact me. I need as much info as poss to take to my solicitor next week.