44k engine blown, warranty company not interested
 

Our 2008 XC90 was bought second hand with 22k on the clock in Jan 2015. It had been serviced prior to purchase and has a FSH. I had it serviced again this January (2016) -including oil and filter change. In September a knocking noise alerted us to the fact that something was wrong. At the time the engine had 44k on the clock.

Upon inspection, number 1 bearing was totally gone and has caused scoring in cylinder 1 as well as damage to the top of piston 1. Essentially we need a new engine. There was no oil warning light before any symptoms or knocking.

The car is within warranty, the warranty company (Mapfre Abraxas) has had an engineer to inspect the damage but the outcome is that they will not take the claim. They say that the damage is due to "low oil or heavily carbonised oil" and that this is not covered.

I am at a loss as to what to do. We have done what the warranty company require in terms of preventative maintenance, and no warning lights or other indications were given before the incident. As soon as any "odd noises" were heard we took the car to the garage.

Does anyone have any advice, thoughts, ideas or experience with similar issues? They would be gratefully received...

It's time for citizens advice or a solicitor, was the mechanic/engineer their own or was he independent?

Wouldn't low oil affect the top of the engine first, like turbo?
Did it run low on oil?
If not, gather up all your proof, including garage service paper work, hopefully that all ties up with the warranty requirements?
Get the main Volvo dealer to quote for a brand new factory engine including fitting and loan vehicle. When the quote is heavy enough copy it all off and write to the claims department of the warranty insurance stating you will have this work done and recover costs through the small claims court.
That should get it moving.
If not check your car and house insurance for legal cover and take them to the cleaners.
Log all calls in a diary btw.
Good luck, please post the results back here.

Thanks for the question. They say he is an independent assessor. They admitted on the phone that it was due to "heavily carbonises, sooty oil" and that it was probably because the car had done lots of short journeys. They also said it was not our fault, but they still don't and can't cover damage due to poor oil condition.

I had a similar problem with a previous 2.0D S40. The car was taken to a garage I chose and warranty covered it. I really think you need to take it up with the warranty company as they should be paying out for this.

If you have met all their terms then you are covered.

I'm not mechanically competent enough to know whether the turbo should have been affected first... Perhaps you're right and that is why they admitted to the fact that it was due to "heavily carbonised or sooty oil" rather than low oil?

They already have the service history, receipts from the garage who serviced it (these were provided before inspection).
Regards the quote from Volvo, I can do that.
Regards the Insurance options, they won't take the claim unless it's to do with an accident.

I've asked the warranty company to confirm the reason for the denial. The T&Cs they quote are under GENERAL EXCLUSIONS:
14e - lack of coolant, lubricant or hydraulic fluids
14g - ingress of foreign matter into fuel, lubricants or cooling system
They believe this covers low oil and also build up of soot in the oil...

They have passed the claim from "claims department" to the "quality department" as we raised a complaint, so the quality department will have the final say. I noticed a chap who had a similar issue over on Honest John - http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/posts/?t=105425

Feeling very worried about all this, they seem so confident that we are not going to get anything from them. FYI I bought the car from AvailalbeCar, and it's the Mapfre 5 star warranty we have.

I would be talking to citizens advice first then finding a solicitor to handle the case as whilst they can argue their Ts&Cs, they cannot argue the service history or that it is reasonable for a car of this age to not require additional oil between services. The soot and lack of oil could easily have been caused by the fault that destroyed the engine.

A decent solicitor should resolve this in your favour with ease- the very fact that you engage one will change their attitude.

Appreciate your input. I have no experience of handling this type of thing so will see what CAB say as well.

I spoke to the garage earlier, who are very experienced in 4x4 diesels and the owner says he challenged what the inspector was saying.

Low oil - why didn't the turbo go first?
Carbonised oil - he has seen much worse, the correct grade of oil was changed 6k miles earlier in January, the EGR causes some level of sooting in all diesels, and there was no evidence of anything unusual
Filter clogging - no evidence of this from the garage's perspective, other than bits from the bottom end bearing

So - low oil is out the question really. The contamination is definitely a speculative call but a good wriggle room clause for these guys.

After an oil change within a few miles of driving the oil will be black.

A visual inspection will not tell you the quality of the oil in the sump. Did the assessor take a sample of the oil for analysis? If not, they cannot make that judgement.

Examine all contract documentation clearly with from your warranty company. Get your facts together and get an independent report. Go through the s claims court if you've exhausted all other avenues.

I would argue that they have very little room to wiggle in.

An engine will run for a surprisingly long time without oil and 'carbonised' oil (I think they may mean dirty oil) will provide more than sufficient lubrication though wear would be greater. Even if the oil had been contaminated with diesel to the point of pure diesel that would provide enough lubrication to prevent the catastrophic failure you have seen. The oil filter discussion is completely spurious since if the filter is blocked the filter bypass valve ensures that oil bypasses the filter providing the engine with the lubrication required.

for your information I had a BMW engine collapse on me many years ago and they argued a little until they realised they had done the servicing, then accepted that it was mechanical failure and replaced it.

I believe, from what you say, they have little room to wiggle.