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I've had a bit of a mare with my car recently, some idiot put the locking wheel nuts on with an air gun, so after 2 mobile tyre fitters couldn't get them off I had to take it to a garage to get them cut off. On the way back from that garage, some idiot in a lorry rolled into the back of me while stationary at some lights. Thankfully very minor cosmetic damage only and the company admitted full liability, so after a few weeks it got booked into a body shop for repair.
They somehow managed to take 3 bloody weeks to fix it (I've had far worse damage repaired in 3 days at a body shop near me before), but thankfully I've got a hire car during that period. However, when I finally pick the car up from them there's something wrong with it - the revs keep dropping as if its going to stall every few seconds, and it happens in all gears as soon as the revs start getting between 1-2k. Body shop takes a look but can't find anything wrong with it, so tell me to take it to the dealer. The dealer thinks they know what might be wrong and say they can probably get the manufacturer to pay for a potential fix (a carbon clean). Probably stupidly, I don't get on to the insurance about it as the way the dealer is talking makes it sound like a known issue unrelated to the bump/body shop, so I'm without a car for the last week.
Now the dealer has told me the fix they've tried hasn't worked and they're going to have to investigate further, so I'll be having to shell out for a diagnostic (or something like that) and any further work that's needed (most likely).
I guess this is part rant, part WWSTWD - I need a car this weekend, so who are best to chase for one? I'll be paying for the diagnostic at the dealer, so ideally they'd provide a courtesy car, but they're dangling the carrot of Mazda paying for the work as goodwill so have said previously I wouldn't get both (when they were trying the carbon clean). I'll try the insurance company if Mazda come back and say they think it's likely related to the body shop work, but I reckon that'll be an uphill struggle as I've taken it to a dealer instead of letting them deal with it from the get go. I don't think it's related to the bump as it was a 1-2 mph tap really, and the car was fine to drive for 2-3 weeks afterwards.
I think the most likely option is that I'll just shell out for a hire car this weekend and cross my fingers that it can get fixed by next weekend when I'll need a car again...
thankfully I’ve got a hire car during that period
hence the 3 week repair - the other parties insurers are paying for it and there's a profit in hiring cars out during repairs.
re: engine issue. If you drove it after the bump probably not that, could be body shop have disturbed some electrics, though - guess it depends how much dismantling around the engine bay they had to do?
hence the 3 week repair – the other parties insurers are paying for it and there’s a profit in hiring cars out during repairs.
re: engine issue. If you drove it after the bump probably not that, could be body shop have disturbed some electrics, though – guess it depends how much dismantling around the engine bay they had to do?
It was all being done through the other driver's insurer though, so I'd have thought they would be wanting it done ASAP to minimise costs
They shouldn't have had to touch the engine as it was the rear bumper and boot panel, so it's a bit strange. I'm pretty annoyed that no-one said anything about it when I picked it up though, as there's no way they could have driven it out to the front of the building without noticing it.
Real long shot but could the minor bump have damaged any of the exhaust system?
they shouldn’t have had to touch the engine as it was the rear bumper and boot panel,
sorry misread the OP. a lot of the electrics for my BMW were in the boot area though, including the battery and fuse box.
Real long shot but could the minor bump have damaged any of the exhaust system?
I don't think so as the car was driving fine afterwards for several weeks, but my guess would be that - if the body shop caused it - it would be something to do with that as they'd have been doing work at that end of the car and may have done something to bugger it up.
If it is something clogged up, three weeks of no running / only being driven around a car park offers the opportunity for things to gunk up.
Do you have to go to main dealer for diagnostic? An independent world charge less.
If it is something clogged up, three weeks of no running / only being driven around a car park offers the opportunity for things to gunk up.
Do you have to go to main dealer for diagnostic? An independent world charge less.
Yeah, I was kind of thinking that too, especially as it's a diesel. There weren't many options in garages tbh, the car wasn't safe to drive any distance IMO (had to keep dropping the clutch to prevent lurching/stalling at ~25 mph) and the dealer was just up the road from the body shop. Could possibly try and get it moved to an independent near me but probably as much hassle/cost involved in that as in leaving it at the dealer.
sorry misread the OP. a lot of the electrics for my BMW were in the boot area though, including the battery and fuse box.
Might be a possibility, Dr. google suggests they're in the engine and passenger side panel though. Don't have a clue myself tbh!
Did the garage check the engine codes? If not get a bluetooth obd2 code reader from ebay and see if the engine logs errors when the fault occurs. You can use the Torque Lite app to do this.
You open the app, get it connected to the bode reader then click the cog icon and go to Show Logged Faults or if nothing is there, go to Show Pending Faults (which shows faults that are intermittent).
Did the garage check the engine codes? If not get a bluetooth obd2 code reader from ebay and see if the engine logs errors when the fault occurs. You can use the Torque Lite app to do this.
Yep, the body shop as well, but nothing is coming up. It's the not knowing what's wrong that's really annoying me, the control freak part of me needs to plan for every eventuality so at the moment its spinning out of control a little...
ebennett
Yep, the body shop as well, but nothing is coming up. It’s the not knowing what’s wrong that’s really annoying me, the control freak part of me needs to plan for every eventuality so at the moment its spinning out of control a little…
Fair enough, then my suggestion would be to take it to an independent garage who actually understand your particular car/engine, rather than doing the trial and error approach that main dealers seem to take when they don't get an easy answer (unless you're under warranty or close enough to argue for a good-will contribution).
How handy are you with a set of spanners? My first thoughts are that it sounds like either an old/clogged air filter or the MAF sensor causing the car to over-fuel. You could check the air filter easily in the dealers car park with a socket set.
Potentially the car is starting with 'cold start' setting (a common safe mode if sensors are dodgy) but not exiting, this over fuelling.
I had the engine revs thing in my car (a Mazda 3) after fitting a new battery. It was because disconnecting the battery (which the body shop will have had to do) reset the engine management system to default and it had to relearn idle speeds etc based on current engine wear. I did a few things suggested on the interweb like switching the engine on and sitting with the revs at a certain speed for a certain time, stuff like that. After two or three weeks it settled back down, relearnt settings and is now 100% fine again.
Google found this (and probably many more)
BTW, have you tried the electric windows? Do they work from the driver's master control?
How handy are you with a set of spanners? My first thoughts are that it sounds like either an old/clogged air filter or the MAF sensor causing the car to over-fuel. You could check the air filter easily in the dealers car park with a socket set.
I'd give it a go, but they're a 20 min drive away so not a practical option!
it had to relearn idle speeds etc
That's interesting, I'd hope the dealer would think to check that but you never know with them. When yours had the issue, was it doing it while driving as well or just when sitting at idle? Mine is persistent across all gears once it drops to a cruising level, i.e. if trying to maintain 30 while in 4th. Haven't checked the windows. Might give the body shop a call and see if they disconnected the battery.
Actually, I remember now that the auto car seat adjustment still had my settings when I got it from the body shop, so I'd guess they didn't disconnect the battery.
Was there any welding work done as part of the repair? If the battery hasn't been disconnected before welding then stuff could have been fried?
Was there any welding work done as part of the repair?
I wouldn't have thought so, it was just a small crease in the boot door and a scraped bumper.
Don't they disconnect the battery when spraying the car to avoid risk of fire (aerosol spray is very flammable). Did you have to retune the radio?
And yes you would think dealers know this but in my experience they often don't (and Mazda seems to be particularly vulnerable to this issue).
Don’t they disconnect the battery when spraying the car to avoid risk of fire (aerosol spray is very flammable). Did you have to retune the radio?
No, it was still on the same station. The auto seat position thingy was also working, which makes me think it wasn't disconnected.