Hi. I've had my 2012 A7 for 3 years now and never had any issues apart from usual wear and tear. A few weeks ago I noticed there was a coolant leak. So I took it to my regular garage and they said it would take 2 hours of labour just to get to the affected area and see exactly what needs sorting. I agreed and next day they told me that the water pump and related seals around it need replacing. I told them to go ahead and carry out the work. I paid and collected the car after a few days. 20 minutes after leaving the garage the car turned off while I was sat on traffic. I turned it back on and the engine was very loud. I decided to pull over in a side road to inspect. As I drove the car was very jerky and shaky, making horrible noises. I opened the bonnet to see oil had exploded everywhere! Pictures attached.

I called the garage and they sent someone out who decided they needed to have the car recovered back to the garage. 2 days later they called and said the car was ready. I went to collect and asked what the issue was. They told me that the oil seal (they also used the word O ring) had been damaged and as pressure built up it broke and caused the oil leak. But they're not sure if it's their fault or not so they didn't charge me anything for this.

I switched the car on and waited for it to heat up before leaving the garage. I revved the engine and noticed there was a noise at the end of the rev. I bought this to the attention of the mechanics and they said that because the car had been starved of oil, it may be because the oil needs to fully circulate within the engine (or something to that effect). He suggested that I take it easy for a couple of days and see if the noise goes away. I wasn't convinced but thought I'd give it a go. I left the garage and within 15 minutes the car went into limp mode and the engine sounded louder than usual. I dropped the car back to the garage the next day and they said they'd have a look. A day later they called and said that their diagnostic machine can't pick up which fault it is and that I should take it to and Audi garage and get them to diagnose it. I asked if they'd be paying for this and of course they said that they only changed the water pump and the oil leak was unrelated and a coincidence that it happened 20 minutes after I drove out of the garage. They're also saying that they recovered my car and replaced the oil seal as a gesture of goodwill. 

Can anyone advise me of what I can do in this situation if they are refusing to do anything else? Also, is it just a coincidence?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 20214 yr by Ahmed2021

Hi Ahmed if they changed the water pump there is no real reason to be playing with oil seals as they are a separate entity to the cooling system, they changed the seal free of charge which suggests they knew what they had done, my advice would be to take the car to another garage and get another opinion as you are in for another fan belt, the one in the picture is shot also if the oil ingression has gotten in to the cam belt you are on very thin ice as if the oil degrades the belt the timing will slip, very expensive.

Steve.