MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER
Clutch catastrophe
► Just about making it under its own steam, the owner should have stopped driving this 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander Di-D 2.0 some miles back.
Doing so may have saved the cost of the gearbox which was now in an unserviceable condition.
It’s one of those mysteries which we will probably never know the answer too – did the clutch bolts come loose causing the problem, or was it the failing clutch which caused the bolts to become loose and then throw out.
Either way the looser was the gearbox which ended up with a nice hole in the bellhousing, and copious amounts of marks internally where contact had been made. In theory the gearbox was still operational, but its structure was compromised, and the owner was able to source a replacement unit, so the decision was easily made.
The job time on this one was 6.1 hours including the replacement of the now damaged flywheel, and so it made sense not to risk having to carry out the job twice by risking to chance the reliability of the gearbox.
BMW 6-SERIES
Escaping coolant found
► A coolant leak is not good on any engine, but when that engine is a 4.4-litre BMW V8 unit, the possibility of problems when overheating can be a little more expensive.
The owner had seen the low-level light come on and topped up the coolant on this 2004 BMW 645 Ci Auto 4398cc but the next day the coolant was down again. He was not going to risk