Astra 'R' Reg - Oil light came on then engine died

[jeffc]

6 weeks ago spent �1500 on car maintenance after my Astra 1.6 (R) was diagnosed with blown head gasket - oil had turned to coffee emulsion and overheating. Engine was rebuilt top to bottom - cam belt, serpentine belt, new rockers, rocker buckets, new valves, valve seals - the complete works ! Approx 1 month after work was completed, took car back for another oil change - recommended by mechanic. Car had a full service at time of work. I have had the car back for one month and the other evening the oil light suddenly came on, and the engine died. Car now with mechanic who did the work. He says - looks like oil pump has failed and your engine has seized !! This has not yet been confirmed until he drains oil from car and attempts to start it. Is it likely the car has seized ! My neighbour thinks he screwed the re-build, or it should not have been rebuilt. Help

[jeffc]

A reliable 2nd hand car would have cost more than �1500. This was my father-in-laws car - always serviced and rel. low mileage for the year. We thought better the devil you know !

[jeffc]

We looked at cars around the �1000 mark but they all had more than 100,000 miles on the clock ! Most had little or no service history. My wife is a nurse, so needs a reliable car - like I said - better the devil you know. Is it possible that the engine is not damaged - we paid extra to have oil stabiliser added - on the recommendation of the mechanic !

[jeffc]

Spoke to the mechanic about 2 hours ago. He said that it could be something we've done - the example he gave was we forgot to put oil in the car !!!! When the RAC were called out, they checked the oil, and it was OK. Mechanic is now telling me that these things happen. Yeah right - after you have just spent �1500 and serviced the car. He is saying that it will take some time to confirm if the engine is seized. Is it really that difficult to say if a car has a seized engine or not ? I just do not trust this guy anymore!

[mjwman]

Now, I am a hard b*****d and usually have a smirk at some of these threads. However I found myself strangely moved by your plight. I hope it all works out for you. Sincerely.

I am thinking that you may have a case against your "mechanic" but only if he is pukka and has insurance otherwise you are stuffed. A scrapyard engine would possibly hare been a better bet.

Doing a rebuild as big as this would mean that some items would naturally be changed. Cam belt, and oil pump to be sure. Why did it fail? Was it the new pump that failed? If so its down to your guy to sort it and clain from his suppliers. Did he not fit a pump ? If not its still down to him!

A recon engine from a recognised supplied wopuld have had more of a clear cut warranty though.