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-   -   Ford Figo TDCi : Starter motor cap blowout (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/127944-ford-figo-tdci-starter-motor-cap-blowout.html)

My Figo Titanium TDCI happened to stall a couple of weeks ago when my brother was driving it. It had rained a bit some time ago and there was a bit of water on the road and was splashing.

RSA was calld up and the car was taken to the Planet Ford Pune service station and its been there, since.

The service center technicians(they call themselves that), say that water entered the engine through the filter and locked that engine which then blew out the starter motor cap. The insurance person from Bajaj Alliance inspected the car and was not convinced that there was any water in the engine. His theory is that the starter motor was faulty and should be covered under warranty.

The car has been lying in the service center for 2 weeks while the service center and insurance guys keep on disagreeing on what has happened. The service center guys are not ready to try out anything with the car as its a insurance case. They are making a case to open the engine and check if there are any other problems inside before replacing the motor and starting up the engine. They say that if there is other problem in the engine then starting the engine will be a big risk and may cause other damages.

A lot of time is getting wasted in this. Any advice on how to handle this situation is appreciated. It will be great if somebody with a technical understanding of the Figo diesel engine analyses the problem here.

TIA

Hi!

Did you/Ford mechanic check if the air filter was wet or had any signs of water when it was inspected for the first time?

The air filter assembly is tightly packed and IMO rain water cannot easily enter the filter.

I don't know if a faulty started motor can stall the engine, but if it's the case, then the problem might only be with the faulty starter motor.

You can suggest the ASC to replace the oil and oil filter?, replace the starter motor and try starting the engine. Experts can comment better on this.

If nothing works, you can escalate this issue to senior people at Ford about this situation. If it is really about a fight between the insurance guy vs ASC about covering the starter motor expenses, then writing to senior people at Ford might force the ASC to replace the starter motor and you getting your car fixed.

Experts on Team-BHP!, please help!

Here is the Update:

Service center and insurance guys are still at logger heads over this one. Apparently my insurance does not cover flooding incidents. But this was not during a flood really. The car just stalled on the road. I am still to sort this out with them.

Are there any diagnostic checks that can be performed to check if the engine is hydro locked without opening the engine. The technician did try to turn the engine and it did, but that's probably not the surest way to check it.

Mistake 1) The techs should have checked if air filter is wet or not. This is first step of checking.

Mistake 2) Turning engine. For a moment lets consider that water entered the engine. Next they try to turn the engine. Now this might result into more damage to engine. In case of any genuine doubt the engine must not be turned.

3) There are chances that water migt have entered via exhaust but this is very very rare. This can only happen if an attempt was made to start the car when car stalled in water logged road and exhaust was submerged in water. Very vey unlikely but just mentioning here as we dont know the situation in which car had stalled.

To the best of my knowledge, driving in rains and bit of water on road wont stall the car. Do elaborate in this area as to how the car stalled and was the road water logged ?

You really need to get someone at the top involved since this has been pending for quite some time now. Hope you have the Job Card with you proving that the car was taken in on a particular date with such and such symptom/complaint.

Call their customer care number and register a complaint. Also Write a letter to ford higher ups and ask for them to intervene and solve your issue at the earliest. Post this issue on Ford Figo page on facebook. [My experience is that they take it seriously]

From what you say it does not seem possible that water could enter the engine. I really dont think Water can enter the engine and go to the starter motor without causing severe damage to the engine components.:Frustrati

Edit:
Do confirm if your brother tried to start the car after the incident. Did he keep cranking for very long period. Probably that could have caused the starter motor to go bad. In what ever case the first thing they should do is replace the motor and try cranking. Even if things are as they say i dont understand what more could go wrong by trying this.

It might even just be the starter motor frying causing a fuse to go bust. I seriously think the logic should be replace motor, check fuse, try start and then move into further diagnosis / opening up parts.

I really dont understand why they want it to be treated as a water logging when they see a fried starter motor.

Hope things are sorted out without much of emotional/economic pain.