[928uk] Thrust Bearing Failure

[TIMCOAGF at aol.com]

Hi Graham,
sorry to hear about this.
i always supply or specify a new bolt for the check and provide the torque  
figure.
Are you saying they refilled the diff with ATF??!!
It has been suggested that TBF can be due to incorrect oil, do you know  
what was used? It should be thick enough and have sufficient ZDDP.
There seems to be a movement in Porsche specialists to a generic 10W-40, i  
wouldn't even use that in the beetle.
Tim
'92gts
 
 
In a message dated 19/02/2012 17:20:03 GMT Standard Time,  
go928 at btinternet.com writes:

Late last year my S4 auto suffered terminal tbf -  the engine is probably a 
write-off.   
Briefly, I've owned the car about 10 years,  covering about 6,000 miles a 
year.  She has 130k on the clock.   Throughout the last 10 years she has been 
maintained and serviced annually by  the same firm and a flex plate check 
has been specified at each service.   Over the last couple of years I have 
had a series of problems with difficulty  starting, stalling and uneven 
running.  She has been back to the  specialist on a number of occasions and fuel 
pump, MAF and ISV among other  things have all been replaced.  Each time the 
immediate problem has been  resolved, but the car was not running quite 
right, although it was hard to say  precisely why.  I now suspect this was early 
symptoms of the pending  failure. 
My view is that the Porsche specialists who look  after the car should bear 
some responsibility, but they do not agree and have  washed their hands of 
my situation.  Maybe I am not being as objective as  I should be so I would 
welcome any thoughts. 
My reasons for blaming the firm who looked after  the car are:  
    *   Everything I have read about tbf seems to  suggest it is unheard of 
where the flex plate has been checked and released  regularly.  
    *   The engine finally seized only about 2,000 miles  after the last 
service/flex plate check.  
    *   When the tbf was diagnosed (by a different firm)  the pinch bolt 
was only finger tight.  
    *   The firm admit that they do not change the pinch  bolt when they 
check the flex plate.  
    *   The cam belt rollers are damaged due to  overtensioning of the 
belt.  (As they have changed the cambelt twice  since I acquired the car, to my 
mind, even if they didn't cause the damage  they should have spotted it and 
changed the rollers).  
    *   ATF in the diff. 

The last two points have no direct bearing (ha ha)  on the thrust bearing 
failure, but do indicate a questionable level of  care. 
My questions:  
    *   Is it fair to pursue the firm for a contribution  towards the cost 
or should I accept (as they claim) that the thrust bearing  can fail at any 
time, even if the flex plate is regularly checked?  
    *   If I do have a claim, any thoughts on how best  to get them to do 
the decent thing?  I will take them to court if  necessary but would prefer 
to avoid all the hassle if possible.  

Thanks in advance.  
Graham 
(91 S4  auto)  

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