Woof999

Because I saw it with my own eyes and my wife was sent pics. I didn't expect to have to "prove" anything to someone like you. Are you available for hire for parties? If I have one that gets a little too fun I might just call you up.

I'd probably already have gone down that path if I'd found an engine. I've (only today) posted on a Pajero owners club FB group, and called a couple of possibilities in the Bang Na area of Bangkok. No luck just yet.

Wife is on the way back from the airport. I think she has some photos of the shells cable tied to the con rods and the state of the sump. If she does I'll post them when she gets back in a couple of hours or so. The last engine I rebuilt was an Alfa Romeo 3.2L V6 Busso. Loved those engines, but that was > 15 years ago and the knowledge is only slowly returning. On those I checked the oil every other mile !

You're right. I mentioned the state of what was left as that *might* explain the lack of warning lights.

Yep. Saw it with con rods disconnected from crank. Saw the state of the shells and the sludge in the sump. Didn't look too closely, it wasn't good.

Forgot to mention here but have in PMs. The dealer did offer me a quick fix so I could sell the car fast. I refused to discuss what that would entail. It's not something I would do.

I'm not sure I'll ever know the exact cause of events, but it would almost certainly be because of old oil. I would guess that the sludge I saw at the bottom of the sump might be enough to block a sensor / switch, but that is all it would be, a guess. I have some options: 1.) Let the dealer rebuild a new engine. Highly unlikely to happen unless the $$$ was so good that I couldn't turn it down. I don't really want this dealer doing any more work, not just because of the lack of oil check, but because they since presented me a bill to fix the engine without checking anything in the head, and they suggested using the old oil pump in the brand new short block - something I'd never even consider let alone suggest. If the engine is out and with a new short block, then the bare minimum would be new water pump, oil pump, cam oil seals, valve stem seals, timing belt, regardless of current condition. 2.) Take the car to another private garage and have them fit a used / recon engine. However I'd want to know the history of the engine and that requires faith in LOS (which as a scientist I don't have much of). This is an avenue I'm already pursuing and will happen early next week unless the dealer has come up with a miracle beforehand. 3.) Sell the car as is. 2 interested parties so far but no firm offers. This would lose me the most $$$ but that isn't my biggest concern. It would also be the least hassle.

You can do it yourself with a few different grades of liquid polish and a power drill / orbital sander after some very light sanding with very fine sandpaper. Takes a bit of patience and assumes the issue is on the outside. Meguires I think was the brand of the polish I used on my old Alfa GTAs. Worked wonders.

I can't. My wife drives the car much more than me but I still drive it regularly enough to have seen any warning light. There have been none. I've also instilled in my wife that ANY warning light while the car is running is bad, that she stops the car immediately and calls me. The car had a total respray a few years ago (it is almost as new from the outside). The spray shop did a fantastic job but disconnected the battery so the airbag warning light had been on ever since (resetting this was one of the tasks I asked them to do on the Friday visit). My wife reminded my of that warning light regularly, so she was at least heeding my advice to check for lights.

I likely wouldn't let a few people who prefer to be negative and basically accuse me of lying (without the balls to come out and say that directly) stop me from updating the thread I started. I wonder what they think I have to gain? The dealer knows what they did or didn't do, the dealer knows the current state of the engine, Nothing I write here will change what's already happened. I purposely haven't written the identity of the dealer because I want to give them every opportunity to come up with a solution. There is no pressure on them to do something in my favour because of the existence of this thread. Most people that I "meet" on the internet that like to see the negatives before the positives also don't have the quality of character to apologise once they find out they were wrong. I lose no sleep over them. I just wonder what happened in their life previously that made them so bitter. I guess I laugh a little too.

Thanks for your support.

Not many better looking cars in the UK in the mid 1970s at those prices.

I think you need a degree in "Asian" to work it out. I've been able to buy many (often in the many $100s) things from Amazon.com, including UPS 3 days delivery arrive without hassle, cheaper and faster than I can buy on Lazada and with no concerns of receiving fakes. Yet I've also ordered a low end ($200) 3D printer that was impounded on arrival pending me showing them my industrial import license and $100 worth of gel scar sheets impounded pending my providing a medical import license. Both fully refunded by Amazon even though they never made it out of customs. Someone in the know has a free 3D printer and someone else got some free Cica Gel sheets that they probably tried to eat. Never had any issue with 10s of purchases from China. All I know from my own and other's experience is that once it gets queried or held it's a painful journey to sort out and often not worth bothering.

They tend to be less picky than the main centres too. Eg my Pajero (the now infamous one with the seized engine) has a black vinyl roof. The main centre told us to either remove it or reclassify the car as black. The indie test centre down the road has never even mentioned it.

Yamama so big she....

Car is 2013 I believe +/- a few months. Mileage was < 120k km.

The standard one (at least the one I test drove) is a little lighter at the front and rear, and the lower side panels are fully silver. The changes on this car are subtle, but oh so nice. Standard GR in this vid shows the differences pretty well: In fact it looks like the customer car has a bodykit on it. The lower front bumper is definitely different, and black.

Dealer sent me these pics of the customer car that was awaiting delivery. Has non-standard black accents which look gorgeous and also make the slightly bland back end look better. A real head turner - which is why I insta asked for a test drive.

How dare you. I wash the car (well, pay someone else) to, every year, even if it doesn't need it ????

Indeed, there wasn't anything particularly positive about any of them. I spent most of my childhood years in such glamorous rides as: Austin Maxi Austin Princess Austin Allegro MG B GT Triumph Dolomite Sprint - boy did that go Triumph TR7 - they knew how to make a good looking car, just not how to make it well. Austin / MG Metro / Montego The wonderful but badly built Rover SD1 Vitesse. The oh so boring Rover 314 / 316 British Leyland et al were icons, for all the wrong reasons. All of this adds to the "what, an MG is now something to be impressed by?" feeling that the younger generation would not have nor probably understand.

I was hoping to be amazed by the Fortuner but ended up being totally disappointed. They brought round the 2.8 GR Sport - my choice would have been the 2.4 Legender 2.4 2WD. It looks great, the interior is pretty good but: 1.) It drives almost exactly the same as my old Pajero (when it had an engine that worked). Only the (very good) hugging front seat took anything away from the "you are driving a boat" feeling. 2.) The kickdown and lag is still far too noticeable - literally exactly like the Pajero. I would have thought a much newer car would have fixed these issues, but it's still a Hilux underneath sporting a tractor engine. They've done a good job removing road noise, which highlights the diesel noise. 3.) The in car entertainment is lacking. I don't want to have to rely on my phone for something as given as sat nav. The zooming / scrolling around on the map is more than painful and my phone is... my phone. My Android head unit is light years ahead but an aftermarket unit is not a good idea on a new car (if even possible). 4.) They have the market cornered and there are no obvious deals to be had. 5.) The 3rd row seats, when folded, take up a sizeable amount of room and just remind me of a Baht Bus. Pajero does this so much better with them sinking into the floor. Taking them out isn't a 5 minute job. 6.) The main dashboard is still mostly analog. I was expecting a full LED display. There is only a tiny LED (maybe LCD or whatever) section in the middle surrounded by two huge old style, always there gauges. I was VERY impressed with the Corolla Cross GR Sport though. Lovely car, although it suffers from the same in car entertainment problems. Drives so well though. Mrs is stuck on the Legender and she must always be obeyed. Much safer for her and the kids to be in it too and we can never have too much space. Also looked at a friends Honda CRV. Nice car, but I think the Cross trumps it. Was told to look at the Ford Everest but the interior is massively lacking and there is an all-new one coming out later this year that is totally different. Some deals to be had but too lacking for me. The new one is probably too far out to consider.

Almost wrote something like that myself. I read the post and it seemed like you were being blamed for my failures - which kind of reinforced the point you were making.

It does make me chuckle seeing the MG name back on cars. Brings back memories of the Midget and even the MG Metro and Montego Turbo (2 of which I owned). I chuckle more when I see many of the new owners going for the large "MORRIS GARAGES" decals on the side of the car, in the style of the "LEXUS" stickers that seem to be so common in Cambodia. I guess you can turn a brand around, especially with so much time passed and so far from the origin, but MG to me still shouts "mediocre British crud that will fall apart fast". Of course they share nothing now but the name, so not a real comparison, but the new company did choose to revive the old brand.

Even from a commercial point of view I think it was pretty lax from the dealer. It's the only place the car has been taken for mechanical work in the 6+ years I've had it. They know the service history better than anyone. They have computerised records. I have almost illegible scribbles in a service book. They took the time to list a whole load of stuff that I didn't ask for but didn't include a service, and, as discussed at length, didn't check the oil or comment that a service was overdue when asked if there was any other work needed. Remember that they did change the coolant pressure cap (and there were no obvious water leaks). Strange to do that and still go nowhere near the oil. With that, and details such as them suggesting to use the old oil pump on the new half engine, not checking anything from the head upwards before presenting me with a bill, and of course going nowhere near the dipstick (both dipsticks if you want to include me), then there are some serious flaws - all my opinion of course. Kind of reminds me of our pest control company. Paid for 12 months and they come like clockwork every month. After 3 months of not seeing them I say to the wife "what happened to the bug zappers?". She said she didn't know and gave them a call. The lady said - "12 months finished, you want more?".

I didn't have any work done on the suspension. There were several items on the "list of things we suggest you do". Remember that I specifically asked... is there anything else that needs to be done to the car now? and was told... no. If you think that means they did a great job then all fine and dandy, but I would disagree. Dude ????