Engine failure

[salhus]

My uncle (a car mechanic) replaced an oil filter, air filter and fuel filter on a Vauxhall Astra 2.0 turbo (51 model). After four days the owner returned claiming that his engine had ceased.

Apparently, at the traffic lights, the engine had suddenly reached 7000 revs and continued even though the key was taken out of the ignition. The AA assistant said there seemed to be excessive oil.

My uncle insists that he had put the correct amount of oil in the engine. Could there have been an "escape" of diesel to the engine to cause engine failure giving an apparently high dipstsick reading which the owner thinks is oil? Could this be the cause of engine failure? (I have heard the injectors or fuel pump can fail). What are the possible causes of such symptoms?

[The car drove normally for four days until the sudden failure].

[Batman7070]

I remember a similar thing happening to a vauhall Vectra on Sky TV "The garage" programme where the Vectra diesel engine ran at high revs for no real reason, the culprit was found to be the turbo charger - an oil seal had failed. I think the prognosis was that lubricating oil was getting into the inlet ports causing the engine to "run on" out of control.

[Twenty20]

Can we assume that the car owner is seeking recompense from your uncle for this? If so, your uncle needs to pass this to his insurance company for them to deal with - again, I'm making the assumption that he charged for this repair and has necessary insurance i.e he wasnt just doing it as a favour. The engine would need to be independently checked, which the insurance company should deal with if they think its worth it and dont just make a settlement with the owner.

[woodchopper]

Have seen this on a Citroen as well - the turbo " breaks " - sucks oil out of the sump and burns it instead of fuel and the car revs to destruction - spectacular to watch if I may add :o)

[david1702198]

if your uncle had not put the correct amount of oil in the engine i can assure it would have taken far less than 4 days for the engine to seize up. the person would have heard the shell bearings wearing first casuing a bottom end knocking noise and if they still persisted in driving the car then its their fault the engine seized.