Engine Cuts Out after New Clutch Fitted

could anyone advise me if they may have come across this problem before.
My mother owns a 54 Plate C3 1.4 Petrol.
2 weeks ago she had the clutch replaced as it appeared to be slipping and over revving when driving through every gear.
i drove it home the 20 miles from the garage, and was fine, next day it started to cut out,
called the breakdown, they took it back to the garage, they looked over it, test drove, and couldn't find a fault.
it was then driven home the 20 miles, and was fine, but that evening broke down again.
it has been in the garage since, and they cant find the fault, but have said it will cost over a grand, and the car is not worth it.
My Mother is completely reliant on her car, and is pretty much housebound without it. it gives her some independence.

the fault appears in the forward gears only, doesn't matter what level of revs you have, once you try to move forward it cuts out, but it does not do it in reverse.
i only have a basic knowledge of engines, so relying on the garage, but feel they could do more.
they told her they ordered 'a part to try' but it hasn't fixed it.
has anyone come across anything like this before that could give me some advice.
thanks in advance.
Andy D.

aidefc wrote:has anyone come across anything like this before that could give me some advice.
thanks in advance.

Hi aidefc, I have not had this before, but you may consider taking the care to another garage, independent of the first.

If you wanted to check things yourself, I would suggest checking the battery terminals are tight. Then move on to the earth connection to the gearbox from the battery - but that's not so easy to get to.

aidefc wrote:they told her they ordered 'a part to try' but it hasn't fixed it.

It would be interesting to know what that part is.

You will need to keep a much more detailed log of what has been checked and what has been changed if you think the first garage may be liable or at least unhelpful.

aidefc wrote:it has been in the garage since, and they cant find the fault, but have said it will cost over a grand, and the car is not worth it.

I find this very suspicious and sounds like they are fobbing you off. Try another garage...

Thanks for your advice, have checked the terminals and do seem to be tight, only started happening after the new clutch had been fitted. I do get the feeling they are fobbing us off, they have said it needs to be out of there way in next couple of days. Going to try and get it to another garage, will ask them to give me a list of what they have so far attempted.

Hello aidefc

Firstly I'd agree with Arfur about finding a new garage.

You say the problem only occurs when going forward, that suggests to me that it could be connected with the engine and gearbox twisting or torquing on its mounts when it supplies power.

The first thing I would get checked is that all the engine mounts are fitted correctly and sufficiently tight. I'm not familiar with a clutch change on your model but often you have to remove mounts on the engine and/or gearbox to get to the clutch.

If all is well it could still be engine movement that's causing the problem.

I suspect that what's happening is that some wiring is either shorting out or becoming disconnected when the engine twists.

Thanks, i will suggest it to the next garage i take it to, i was thinking along the lines of electrics

We got to the bottom of the problem, when they fitted the clutch they damaged a wiring loom, and when attempting to drive in first or second gear the loom displaced causing the engine to stall, the new garage we took it to found it within a day of looking and had it fixed the following day, £185 to repair which was a lot cheaper than the £1000 the other garage quoted, shame the clutch centre has denied causing the damage, the main thing is the car is back up and running. Thanks for your help and advice

aidefc wrote:We got to the bottom of the problem, when they fitted the clutch they damaged a wiring loom, and when attempting to drive in first or second gear the loom displaced causing the engine to stall, the new garage we took it to found it within a day of looking and had it fixed the following day, £185 to repair which was a lot cheaper than the £1000 the other garage quoted, shame the clutch centre has denied causing the damage, the main thing is the car is back up and running. Thanks for your help and advice

Thanks for the update

aidefc wrote:shame the clutch centre has denied causing the damage

If it were mine I'd be thinking about taking the first garage to the Small Claims Court. If you're not sure, gather your evidence and ask the Citizens' Advice.

There's a few things you can do before going to Court. Firstly, write/email the garage and tell them you're not happy and what you intend to do, ie go to Court.

It's standard policy for many garages to deny responsibility, if you find one that will own up to mistakes, stick with them, you've found a gem!