Expert: Sean Halliday - 10/22/2008

Question
Several weeks ago I was driving my car around Ireland. Staying overnight at a Dublin Hotel I parked the car and walked round to visit a cousin. Unfortunately I had a cardiac collapse and was rushed into hospital for surgery. I had to have my car transported back to my home in the UK.
My car is a Nissan Almera 2.2 Diesel Registered in 2004 and with just 20000 miles on the clock. When I left it it had been driving normally,no odd noises from the engine and operating quite smoothly. When I arrived home I had to call out my Breakdown contractor for a jump start as the battery had run flat. The engine sounded like you had emptied a bag of ball bearings into a spin dryer. The upshot was it was taken to a garage where a damaged camshaft was diagnosed.On raising the matter with the recovery firm I was told when they went to collect my car it would not start and when they lifted the bonnet they determined it had a damaged camshaft - althought they did not pass this on to me.
My questions are :
Could I have been driving a car with a damaged camshaft without knowing? The noise it made on my path was deafening.
2.It was fine when I switched off so could something still have happened while it was parked and before the recovery guys turned up?
3. What possible action could cause the damage during the recovery operation,eg towing or lifting etc?

I would be grateful for any comment. THe repairs cost me nearly £1500 and I am finding it hard to beleive that having left my car in what seemed a normal condition,it could hve 'collapsed' without being driven any more.


Answer
A clue here is the fact that it wouldnt start for the recovery people.Im thinking they used easy start or ether because its a diesel and used too much,hence the damage.I have seen this happen on diesels.

The original problem was probably a flat battery and anyone not wanting to have the patience and time to let the glow plugs warm up etc,have gone to the easiest way,drench the engine with easy start and i am pretty sure thats how they did the damage.Theres no way youre ever going to prove this theory unfortunately.In this country we have the same situation,"cowboys"who dont know what theyre doing and i would say put this one down to experience.The car would probably have been ok if you had not left the keys with these people.Camshafts do not just damage themselves overnight.These people did it but proving it is another matter.Thats my opinion.