Well what a week.
There's no way of sugar coating it so I'll come straight out with it.
On the way back to the ferry last Wednesday the oil pressure light came on and within 10-15 seconds the engine had cut out and I coasted to the side of the motorway. Towed back to the nearest seat dealer in Abbeville, about 70 miles south of Calais, first thoughts are engine seized.
I left it with them to look at over the weekend and came back to the UK. They're going to have a quote ready for me tomorrow. Gutted doesn't even come close!
I've been in touch with my local dealer and they've put a worst case estimate at 3500-4000 as they don't know any details. I'm getting the garage in France to email specifics to my local dealer so they can then amend the estimate accordingly.
I've done a bit of reading on here about engine seizures and none of it makes for enjoyable reading! My heart tells me to get it fixed whatever the cost. I'd rather pay and have something to show for it than have to pay off a loan for a car I don't have plus buy a rust bucket until its paid off.
Does anyone have any experience with a seized BAM engine? Or French garages for that matter? Another option is that I stick it on a trailer and bring it back to the UK to either fix or sell. I haven't thought much about selling/breaking until I can count out fixing it but I've heard of a guy on here who breaks LCR's? If someone knows who that is so I can get in touch if need be that would be helpful.
I can't really give much detail on the state of the internals. I did see in the garage they jacked it up, stuck it in gear and turned the front wheel by hand. It would spin for half a rotation then stop dead like it was obstructed in some way. Also the oil level was fine. Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow and keep you guys informed.
seanaldo, cheers for the recommendation on the Milltek and dogbone. I'll keep it in mind for when this all gets sorted!
Ak, I've spotted your yellow cupra a few times in town. It seems like that's where you keep it so I wont say whereabouts