Hi - really need some advice on how to proceed with the following. Won’t hold anyone on their word, just opinion:
Recently broke down on the motorway late at night with failed alternator. Tow truck towed me back to our local Ford garage which services our Fiesta. We have been using them for nearly 20 years and only had our MX5 for less than a year, so seemed the safest bet at 10 at night. They duly replaced the alternator and before they did asked for a quote to replace the timing belt (car just coming up to 80K). Reasonable quote as some of the labour was saved with replacing the alternator, so I gave the go ahead. Since I picked it up 4 weeks ago it has had a very occasional random misfire, but only under a) hard acceleration at around 3000rpm upwards, or even more rarely when cruising around 3-4000rpm. Reported back to garage immediately and they suggested changing leads and plugs, which I duly did but still no better; then received advice to change the coil pack, but still no improvement. Went back to Ford and they tried to diagnose it with an universal diagnostic thingy, but still no joy. They suggested cleaning the stepper motor connected to the throttle, but mentioned this might be risky. At this point I started worrying they were a bit out of their depth, so impulsively drove it (I know I should have asked you guys) over to our local Mazda dealer to ask if they could recommend someone independent that might have the love and patience to work on our old car i.e. not at main dealer prices. But instead they offered an appointment to use their own special Mazda diagnostic thingy for 45mins at the price of £65, which they said could go ‘deeper’ into the engine to fault find. Seemed reasonable, so agreed to leave the car at Mazda dealer (car has been driven no more than 100 miles since cam belt change btw). Week later they get back to me asking permission to go further with diagnostic investigation, including getting the cam cover off. Apart from mentioning taking the cover off would cost £200+ at least (minimum of 2 hours work), the simple mention of timing belt cover starts to ring alarm bells… Have Ford garage set timing wrong??? Quick google search suggests this might fit the symptoms. Before agreeing to anything, I ring Ford garage to talk to mechanic we’ve trusted and known for over 20 years and he agrees to have a look at it again, but no admission of any guilt or responsibility. Despite repeated enquiry, still unsure why Mazda people garage want to look at cam belt, but at least they have agreed to produce a little ‘report’ to say what initial diagnostic threw up. At the moment planning to drive our beloved MK2 over to Ford, but…
Now wondering if I should pay £200+ getting problem diagnosed by Mazda, as they have no interest in ‘hiding’ the mistake. Or just trust Ford to admit they messed up the timing and agree to fix the problem free of charge. I have no real expertise with cars so feel I’m n the lap of the gods. Whole problem may be nothing to do with timing belts either. Except that car was running fine before it was changed (unless driving with broken alternator caused anything?). I could be out of pocket either way
Any advice/guidance most welcome,
Many thanks in advance,
John
p.s. our lovely little MX5 cost just £1500 so basically trying to run it on a budget. Already spent £600 at Ford (they did the MOT as well incidentally)
UPDATE 20/5/17:
Ford garage took our car back with no fuss, and no charge, and discovered that indeed the timing was a out a tooth (young mechanic was blamed). Timing reset and engine much improved, but still not perfect. Still has very occasional misfire - well more of a hiccup come heart murmur than a misfire, when cruising around 3000rpm; likewise on mild acceleration/deceleration, between 2500-3500rpm. However less frequent when engine has warmed up, also absent on hard acceleration. Could this still be a timing issue or something else? Any advice most welcome.
Cheers, John