Thread: opinions please

Short version of events,
Ute purchased from dealer Oct 10th 24
Report squeaky belt and told to just use crc, which worked. As it was only the aircon drive i was not concerned.
Boxing day evening heading home from work, come out of roundabout at low speed and BANG.
Belt snapped and car wont start. Towed to dealers workshop for appraisal.
They find broken belt plus blade broken off of cooling fan and a sensor broken off ( cause of non starting).

They are saying the FAN broke and, and cut the belt, so not a warranty issue and I have to claim on mechanical insurance.
I find it hard to believe the fan blade would of cut the belt and feel the belt was the primary issue .

What say the experts in the field please.

Because I know someone will ask

Holden colorado, 2010 with 214km on clock

Fans don't just break, and auto-tensioned belts shouldn't squeak, "Use CRC" is not a fix. Blade could have been damaged as belt said cheerio

Belt came off likely from misalined pulleys (often the cause of the squeak)

Then it lasoos a fan blade and holds it ransom, then the blade breaks

But as it’s all flying around it takes out sensors etc


The belt will have come off first

Seen it happen before when the early 3.8 Buick v6 in the commodores fooled lazy mechanics into thinking they could refit alternators without checking pulley alignment with a straight edge

I’m pretty sure the 2010 Colorado has chain driven cams so maybe snapped alternater belt? Highly unlikely it was the fan breaking off that caused the belt to snap so I call bullsh** and the dealer is trying to cover their tracks. Could get it evaluated by a seperate company and start getting together some evidence that it might not have been caused by fan then go back to your dealer and tell em to sort it lol. Edit, just read it was a sensor causing the non start, as said by another member quite common for misaligned pulleys to make the belt spit off and destroy everything in its path

Any dealer that claims

"crc will fix" is full of shit.

would have asked him to fix, or returned the car then...

Originally Posted by STC

Any dealer that claims

"crc will fix" is full of shit.

would have asked him to fix, or returned the car then...

As I said, I am not mechanically minded in the least, so took it as job done once squeak stopped. My bad

Well if you already notifies them about a squeak issue and they chose not to look at then I reckon you have some ground to stand on to get cranky

There is a duty of care issue here. If a person holds themself out to be an expert or professional they have a duty to act accordingly.

If they don't provide a remedy for you you could argue this in the Disputes Tribunal (AKA small claims court). Basically, objectively viewed by an ordinary person, it was shit advice.


What is an ordinary duty of care?
Due care, also referred to as ordinary care and reasonable care, is the standard of care where a reasonable person would exercise in the same situation or under similar circumstances. This standard of care is used in a tort action to determine whether a person was negligent.

Ask them if you can have the vehicle and the parts because you are taking it for a second opinion. You are not, you are just asking them that to see what the reaction is. Mention that the place you are taking it to would have very definitely not suggested the use of CRC for a squeaky belt. String it out get them talking (Do it all in writing, email or the like) they will dig their own hole. You will find some inconsistency at which point just threaten court action. You may have to go through with the court action, it is 50/50 with most of these dealers. There are a heap of things that would be taken into account, what you paid for the car, how many k's you have put on it etc etc, but there would be a reasonable expectation that a 14 year old car would keep going for longer than 3 - 4 months. DO have have the crc in writing? If you don't that won't help.

Basically, with everything, with everyone, get everything in writing. Tell them you are deaf and it is the only option for communication.

Anyways, there may be some ideas there for you.

They need to fix it...can argue the fine print afterwards... CRC will fix it!!!! Yip I did that years ago on forks of motorbike,rode from Hamilton to marton. Then spotted the wee plate that holds front axel onto said fork was missing completely...tyre had been changed. CRC is not a fix.they should have looked for issue.

theres many different crc products, ranging from lubes, water displacements theu to paint and everything between.
if you have squeaks it means friction of some sort.

Originally Posted by inglishill

Ask them if you can have the vehicle and the parts because you are taking it for a second opinion. You are not, you are just asking them that to see what the reaction is. Mention that the place you are taking it to would have very definitely not suggested the use of CRC for a squeaky belt. String it out get them talking (Do it all in writing, email or the like) they will dig their own hole. You will find some inconsistency at which point just threaten court action. You may have to go through with the court action, it is 50/50 with most of these dealers. There are a heap of things that would be taken into account, what you paid for the car, how many k's you have put on it etc etc, but there would be a reasonable expectation that a 14 year old car would keep going for longer than 3 - 4 months. DO have have the crc in writing? If you don't that won't help.

Basically, with everything, with everyone, get everything in writing. Tell them you are deaf and it is the only option for communication.

Anyways, there may be some ideas there for you.

Dealer has fixed the ute, despite me not having lodged a claim on mech insurance, so I think they have put themselves in a tight spot.
Will see what happens on Monday when I try to collect it

Originally Posted by Pengy

Dealer has fixed the ute, despite me not having lodged a claim on mech insurance, so I think they have put themselves in a tight spot.
Will see what happens on Monday when I try to collect it

First thing you need to do when you get it back, is get it looked at by someone else. If their initial recommendation was CRC, then they could well have boogied it up as a 'repair'. Not saying they have, but it's worth checking they haven't

Ask to see the old belt and see what condition it is in. If its super cracked it probably broke and took out the fan .
You should be able to see if it had been slipping and causing the squeek.
CRC actually makes a 'dry lube' which is a stick of soap like material which lubes the belt but in no way is a permanent fix , the belt either needs to be replaced or tightend if it making a noise.