If there is one engine that gets people talking, it is the 1.2 PureTech which equips tens of thousands of cars from the Peugeot, Citroën, DS and Opel brands. Timing belt wear can cause numerous breakdowns, ranging from excessive oil consumption to engine failure. This is what happened to Julien, who contacted us via the orange “Alert us” button. His engine stopped in the middle of the highway, but his mechanic cannot handle the replacement. Explanations.
In 2012, the PSA group (Peugeot-Citroën) launched the 1.2 PureTech engine on a Peugeot 208, with a now well-known feature: a timing belt partially immersed in oil. Since then, other models of the brand have also been equipped with this engine, as have Citroën, DS and Opel vehicles. If the main objective was to reduce fuel consumption, this process mainly led to major reliability problems. Many owners notice excess oil consumption, loss of power or, worse, engine failure. The fault is small particles from the belt which come loose, clog the engine and prevent it from functioning properly.
This is what happened to Julien, who saw his vehicle, an Opel Grandland X, stop in the middle of the highway. “I was on my way back to pick up my oldest son from his scout camp, there were also my wife and my youngest son in the car. And suddenly, an error message appeared on the screen and the car went into safety mode, nothing was working anymore. It was as if the engine brake came on and it stopped. Fortunately, I was in the right lane and there was no one behind me because I just had time to get into the emergency lane. I turned the vehicle off completely and after a few minutes restarted it. Then I was able to go 30 kilometers, to the bottom of my street, and it went out again. It was neighbors who helped me push her to my house“, he says.
They told me there was no risk yet
Julien is all the more surprised by this breakdown as his car was not old, a little over two years old, with relatively low mileage, 60,000 kilometers, and the scheduled maintenance at 50,000 kilometers had been carried out two months previously. “They told me that my timing belt was starting to deteriorate and that I was suffering from the problem with the 1.2 PureTech engines, but that there was no risk yet“, he justifies.
No support from the brand
Naturally, our alert therefore turns to his mechanic, but he refuses to take charge of the necessary repairs. The Stellantis group (born from the merger between PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) has put in place a maintenance plan to which it applies a tolerance of three months and 3,000 kilometers. In this case, a maintenance delay of 4,000 kilometers was very real, but Julien can explain it. “I went to the garage as soon as the light came on, but was told there was no space at any approved garage for over two months. I was an independent salesman, I drove quite a bit, my vehicle was a work tool“, he explains before announcing that he had to stop this additional activity due to lack of means of transport.
We contacted the garage in question who confirms that the delays in obtaining an appointment are long. “In quite a few garages, we have long lead times, but the customers know that. They should not wait for their light to come on, otherwise it may be too late, especially for someone who drives a lot“.
Explanations which do not convince Martin Favresse, lawyer specializing in road traffic. “The professional is the mechanic. The customer is not supposed to know the garage’s deadlines. This seems a bit easy on the part of the mechanic.“, he clarifies, while specifying that it is difficult to express oneself on such an issue.
People close to Julien have advised him to launch proceedings to recover damages, but all he wants is “that the engine is repaired“, or replaced, which would cost half the new price of the car. To which must be added other remaining costs such as insurance, taxes and credit, without forgetting the financial loss linked to stopping of its complementary activity.
The Stellantis group has made modifications to its engine. Newer generations either have a timing chain or the rubber timing belt, but with some improvements.
Opel 1.2 PureTech engine failure car testimony
