Broken Engine Mount: Causes & Repair

Hello,
It seems like my engine mounts broke on Friday.
http://www.thuneon.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=My_eGallery&file=index&do=showgall&gid=8 Photos...
'An expert will be coming this afternoon to inspect the car. Approximately 100,000 kilometers ago, the head gasket and timing belt were replaced. A few hundred kilometers before that, it started showing signs of trouble with rattling and clinking noises. Unfortunately, no workshop could identify the source of these noises. Now, it has finally happened. It's a Seat Leon 1.9 TDI 81KW, a standard model with a Digitec chip tuning kit. The car now has approximately 70,000 kilometers on the clock.'
What do you think? Could it be that someone made a mistake when replacing the head gasket? Or could it be a material defect?


THUNEON

Hi,

It went wrong. I'd say the entire bill is the workshop's responsibility.
In order to replace the serpentine belt or timing belt, the engine mount needs to be loosened, and the one that's broken off on your car is the one responsible for that.
If the timing belt wasn't replaced at that mileage, that would be poor maintenance. Why was the head gasket actually replaced?

Best regards, Rainer.

'Is that the AFN engine? On the right rear side, there's the hydraulic mount, which rests on the engine cradle and is connected to the engine block via an aluminum profile with 4 screws. It's likely that this aluminum profile is cracked; otherwise, your engine wouldn't sag so much. I suspect a material defect in this aluminum profile, such as a casting flaw, often referred to as a 'lunker'.'

While it's quite a mess, I can't see any connection to the timing belt replacement or the head gasket replacement that the workshop did. There's no need to investigate that. At least, not with a Golf III AFN.

Hello,

@thuneon: What is the engine code you have?

@Varianti: For the AHF model in the A3, the engine mount needs to be loosened, but you're right, my generalization about thuneon's car was a bit premature.
However, the "ringing sound" that thuneon heard while the engine was running also suggests a faulty installation. Was a screw forgotten or not tightened properly?

Best regards, Rainer.

Hello,
I just had the inspection. The bolt is broken. It's an AFN engine. The head gasket was replaced because I was using a lot of coolant... Prolonged periods of high RPMs contributed to this. According to the workshop foreman, 3 of these bearings were loosened during the replacement of the serpentine belt and the head gasket.

The ringing sound, etc., clearly indicates a fault caused by the workshop.

Basically, I don't care whether it was a manufacturing defect or a material defect, all I want is for it to be replaced. I had nothing to do with what happened, and I'm not going to pay for it. Something like that shouldn't happen.

Unfortunately, the workshop is unwilling to cover the costs... we'll have to see what we can do about that.


THUNEON