Did mechanic mess up

2003 Citroen C3 Desire, 106k, petrol

Hi - I would really appreciate your help - I'm a self confessed eejit where cars are concerned, I point them in the right direction & hope for the best!! The temp gauge on my car (Citroen C3) started flashing on intermittently so I took to garage, they advised it probably needed new head gasket. They changed the oil filter and oil and put it some sort of silicone they said may or may not buy me a bit of time, but unfortunately the intermittent flashing continued - I only drove it twice and took it back to them, It's been a good little car so I asked them to sort the gasket figuring better the devil you know and all that.


Picked it up Wednesday and the light flashed once on & off but didn't do it again so I figured it was OK. Have driven it about 40 miles (spread over 4 short trips) since then but yesterday the temp gauge flashed on, stayed on & the engine light came on too. I drove it for about another 500 yards, fortunately I was near my mother's house, & have abandoned it there. The fan had cut in and carried on for about 10 minutes, checking the engine there was literally no oil in it. I've been told either they forgot to put any back in or they didn't screw something up properly & that my engine will now be knackered.


I paid £580 for the gasket and various bits (including new cam belt & oil sump, whatever that it) as I couldn't afford another car. I guess what I'm asking is:
1. Is it definitely ruined?
2. What do I ask the garage to do when I call them tomorrow?
3. Could it have been caused by anything else?


I literally am clueless when it comes to cars and this is just my luck. Any advice or commiserations very gratefully received!!

Hi cleopatra65, welcome to the forum. You have mentioned quite a few things, but, this one;

cleopatra65 wrote:checking the engine there was literally no oil in it.

is one I wanted to respond to first, no oil is bad, very bad. I guess you are checking with the dip-stick. But without oil the engine can seize up and be uneconomical to repair. Don't run the engine without oil in it, even just a short trip.

cleopatra65 wrote: I've been told either they forgot to put any back in or they didn't screw something up properly & that my engine will now be knackered.

These are 2 of the 3 possibilities, the third scenario is that oil had been put in and it all came out from a leak other than the sump nut (the 'something' you mentioned above). None of them are good .


Are you a member of the AA or RAC? or a consume rights group? It may be a case of getting an independent review of the car by a different mechanic, see what work you were billed for and see if that work was done and if it was done correctly.


If you are not capable of doing the work yourself, I think these faults are enough to write off a 2003 petrol C3