Berlingo recall?

[Alan S]

Someone had a posting on a UK board the other day & reckons that they are recalling Berlingos & the Pug equivalent.
Seems that they have had major problems in Europe & the UK this winter with the breathing systems on the cars creating enough condensation to fill Sydney Harbour. This in turn turns the oil into such a slimy pile of crap that it gives the appearance of mayonnaise. It has been so bad in some of the cars that the filler tube gets totally blocked & freezes, until in some cases it literally blows the dipstick out of the block. I actually read somewhere the other day where UK Pug service agents replace the dip stick every 2 years. With the newer vehicles in particular the Berlingo & its Pug equivalent, they seem to think that they are making enough water to contaminate the oil to the point where it will cause engine damage. Anyone else heard of this & if not & you own a Berlingo (like someone we all know ell)

may be an idea to mention to your dealer at the next service.

Alan S

 

[gibgib]

Man that sounds bad

At least we won't have the freezing problems here

If they are recalling them I wonder what the fix is? It doesn't sound like a simple adjustment.
They are recommended for a service every 10,000KMs but I personally think the oil needs to be changed every 5,000KMs in whatever car. Maybe more oil changes could taper the problem.

Our Pug 405 dip stick fell to bits just recently with most of the plunger seal falling in the crankcase. Just glad it's not metal dropping in there...but still

Don't remember ever changing a dip stick on my GS's & they were +/- 20 Y/O not just 8.

 

[Alan S]

I think you'll find that they are reorganizing the plumbing to the breather system. I used to have a BX 16 Trs which belonged to a Cit mechanic. The oil breathers/filler cap etc stunk like a clapped out motor & were full of sludge, so obviously this is a long term PSA problem, & when I pulled the dipstick & commented on the tar posing as oil in the sump he got quite indignant & said that the oil didn't need changing & was good for at least another 4 - 6,000 klms yet

I'm a bit like you in this regard. I change my oil every 5,000 klms & filter every 10K klms on my BX 16V & I'm presently using semi-synthetic. I have poblems with the economics of trying to save $25 of oil as opposed to $2,500 to $3,500 of engine repairs.

Alan S



[This message has been edited by Alan S (edited 10 April 2001).]

 

[DoubleChevron]

Hi all,

this is a long term problem. My BX19TRI acualy was full of water and this mayonese!! in the filler tube when I bought it. You see it'd only been moved around a car yard for 2years....

It generaly does 200km a day along the highway now and has never had the problem since. Not to mention a 40+degrees summer helping out

I don't think this would be a problem in our climate, especialy if the car actualy gets used long enough to warm up to running temperature.

seeya,

Shane Leviston

 

[David Cavanagh]

Hi guys, I've got an interesting story about oil changes.
A while ago a regular oil rep called in at work, he pulled up his new car, a Camry or Magna or some bloody thing and we got talking new cars and warranties, he said this new car of his has service intervals of 15000 km, now he is very fussy with it and will make sure its service every 15000 exactly and at 100,000 km the car will be traded in, now someone will be a 3 year old car with 100,000 on the clock. immaculate condition with full service history, exept that he is an oil rep and he knows for a fact that there is know way known any oil company is going to garrantie the quality of its oil after 7-8000km, in other words, at 100,000 km this car would have spent half of its life on old oil and in theory that motor is half worn out.
Rule one, be careful of manufactures service intervals, there only trying to sell new cars.
We get lots of cars, from old R12's and 504's right up to BX's and 405's with bad oil leaks caused by blocked breathers, we actually weigh BX breather pipes and if there overweight we replace them.
See ya's,
David.

 

[gibgib]

That's good advice David.
Do you know what the implications with warranty when the owner performs his own servicing?
I can do all that crap myself barr the computer analysis & emission test.
I don't like the look of that Lifelong gear oil either...

[This message has been edited by gibgib (edited 14 April 2001).]

 

[gibgib]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by David Cavanagh:
Hi guys, I've got an interesting story about oil changes.
A while ago a regular oil rep called in at work, he pulled up his new car, a Camry or Magna or some bloody thing and we got talking new cars and warranties, he said this new car of his has service intervals of 15000 km, now he is very fussy with it and will make sure its service every 15000 exactly and at 100,000 km the car will be traded in, now someone will be a 3 year old car with 100,000 on the clock. immaculate condition with full service history, exept that he is an oil rep and he knows for a fact that there is know way known any oil company is going to garrantie the quality of its oil after 7-8000km, in other words, at 100,000 km this car would have spent half of its life on old oil and in theory that motor is half worn out.
Rule one, be careful of manufactures service intervals, there only trying to sell new cars.
We get lots of cars, from old R12's and 504's right up to BX's and 405's with bad oil leaks caused by blocked breathers, we actually weigh BX breather pipes and if there overweight we replace them.
See ya's,
David.

Another thing, my girlfriends mum took her Volvo in for a service at the usual place (in Tamworth NSW) a few weeks ago & was given the run around.
First day she dropped it in, they had the car the whole day & when she picked it up they told her they didn't get time to look at it.
It went back in a couple of days later - same thing happened. This time however, they emptied the sump & didn't fill it back up !!!
She drove 5KM home without knowing.
It was very lucky she had a leak in the cooling system (one of the things she wanted fixed) because when she checked the water level she also checked the oil by habit & found there to be none.
This was right before she was leaving for a delivery run to Muswellbrook (450KM round trip). Makes me quiver

Of course this service place denied it all.
It did go back there again to get what was initially asked repaired, plus they did all this other unasked for stuff as well, were very rude to her & charged a heap, so of course she is never going back.

 

[David Cavanagh]

gibgib, I don't know about doing your own services, but you do know any garage can sevice any car without upsetting warranties, the dealers wont tell you that but its the law, only if there is any warranty work to be done the dealer must do that but any company can service it, I would suggest if your friends with a local garage ask for there service stickers and get them to stamp your book just in case you need any warranty work. By the way I never told you any of this did I.
Your girlfriends mothers Volvo, unfortunatly I here that story so often, when I was an apprentice a friend of my fathers bought a brand new Renault Virage and when he was going through her service cost he found she had been charged $90.00 to "balance the compression", so alot of dealers have alot to answer forand I can understand why people want to do there own work. I once read a survey taken in USA about what the people want most and it was an honest mechanic (maybe I should go there). You can tell the honest ones, there broke, if you dont believe me I'll show you my bank balance.
Finally, the recall on the Berlingo's, I been asking around and nobody down here know anything about it but I'll keep looking.
See ya
David.

 

[Alan S]

David,
I understand that the recall was done overseas after a fair amount of trauma to owners which, as a former Motor Dealership manager I realise is par for the course. Historically the motor industry seem to wait until they can "see the whites of their eyes" before they act. (Shades of early Falcon ball joints parting company as a prime example)
Over there it would appear that it took a few motors to clap out via moisture contamination caused through the cold weather in conjunction with the breather system, before they acted but as we can still experience the odd cold snap out here, it would be fair to expect that if we don't get a cold winter then PSA will mop their brows & say "well boys, we were lucky with that, it didn't get cold enough to cause a problem" & if we do get a cold one next year or the one after then it will be a case of "gee! moisture in the sump, you must have cooked your motor." Or "Ya know, that's the FIRST one we've ever heard of doing this"
If they know that owners are aware of the overseas experience, then whilst they probably won't go through the motions of a full recall, chances are that owners who press the issue will at least have some redress if the problem does arise.

Alan S