Automax Sheffield

Automax Sheffield We offer all aspects of repair and maintenance of vehicles of all makes and models. We are located in the centre of Sheffield.

We offer competitive pricing, high standards and there is a free collection and delivery service if required.

This Vauxhall Insignia came to us as a non-start. A quick diagnosis revealed the usual issue of a broken cambelt with su...
30/01/2026

This Vauxhall Insignia came to us as a non-start. A quick diagnosis revealed the usual issue of a broken cambelt with subsequent engine damage. Removing the camshaft housing revealed broken rocker arms, very rare these engine damage the valves so a much cheaper repair! New parts where necessary, we also decided to replace the oil pump seal due to common issues whilst the front subframe was removed due to corrosion. Back up and running and MOT'd, with a 12 month/10k warranty.

Whilst this Jaguar XF was in the workshop for wheel bearing issues, we noticed the prop shaft sitting at a very funny an...
12/08/2025

Whilst this Jaguar XF was in the workshop for wheel bearing issues, we noticed the prop shaft sitting at a very funny angle due to a collapsed centre bearing. Unlike most cars, you can only buy replacement bearing assemblies for these from Jaguar, complete with the driveshaft, for over £1500! A bit of head-scratching deduced the bearing/bush itself was the same as early Range Rover Sport, a readily available £50 part! A bit of jiggery-pokery later saw the Range Rover bush fitted into the Jaguar housing and reinstalled back on the car, at a total cost of less than £200, and eliminating the drive-line vibrations we were experiencing.

This MG TF arrived with clutch failure. After confirming there was no drive and consequent removal of the gearbox, it wa...
11/07/2025

This MG TF arrived with clutch failure. After confirming there was no drive and consequent removal of the gearbox, it was discovered there was no clutch fitted! Evidently it had been elsewhere for attempted repair, unsuccessfully, so the "new" clutch was then removed and returned to the supplier, the car put back together without and eventually ended up with us! Knowing these cars inside out, the issue was a seized clutch release arm. A new arm and plenty of ceramic grease, clutch kit and clutch slave cylinder and the car was back driving as it should.

This Ford Transit Connect came in with loss of reverse gear. Due to the relatively high cost of even a used gearbox, and...
08/07/2025

This Ford Transit Connect came in with loss of reverse gear. Due to the relatively high cost of even a used gearbox, and the fact all forward gears work fine, it was decided to remove and strip the gearbox to see if an economical repair was possible. Upon strip down it was evident to see the baulk ring had broken its lugs off and separated, allowing the vehicle to jump out of reverse when the clutch pedal was released. Genuine Ford part sourced from Sheffield Parts-Plus, reassembled and refitted. No need for a clutch on this one as we replaced that a few months ago. All done, warranted and fitted with updated parts for less than supplying and fitting a used gearbox of unknown condition.

This Ford Focus came to us after a trip to a local franchise of a larger network (say no more...) resulted in a sheared ...
08/07/2025

This Ford Focus came to us after a trip to a local franchise of a larger network (say no more...) resulted in a sheared front subframe bolt. Not sure why they had to mess with the subframe for the job they were doing, but hey-ho. Rather than try and extract the bolt, which was sheared below the surface so would have been difficult anyway, it was decided to gain access by cutting access panels to the affected area, repair and then reweld the pieces back in, dress the welds and apply a stonechip coating to protect. Couple of hours work and the customer collected the car the following morning.

Vauxhall Combo 1.5 diesel in for extensive engine repair. Apparently it had only missed one service. Hmmm.......The prim...
31/03/2025

Vauxhall Combo 1.5 diesel in for extensive engine repair. Apparently it had only missed one service. Hmmm.......

The primary cause of the breakdown was the common broken timing chain linking the two camshafts, which is an issue even on these engines with perfect service history and for which there are upgraded parts available. However, further strip-down revealed the horrors of thick, black, congealed oil within the engine requiring a full rebuild. Due to the cost of used engines these days and the unreliability of the sellers concerned actually supplying you a half decent engine, we always prefer to see how viable the original engine is as, in theory, the engine was running until it wasn't!

This engine was brought back to life with the upgraded camshafts, housing and chain fitted, full bearing set, piston rings, a replacement crankshaft and one connecting-rod, a new oil pump, full gasket and seal set and extensive, extensive cleaning! All warranted for 12months/10000 miles and a similar price to supplying and fitting a used engine, if not cheaper!

This is still not a cheap job or quick job, so our advice is don't scrimp on servicing. Modern diesels we recommend oil changes every 6months/5000 miles, regardless of use. Certainly a hell of a lot cheaper to be well up to date with your servicing than having to go through what happens if you don't, especially if it is a vehicle you depend on to run your business.

This little Fiat 500 came in with a misfire and poor running. After a quick diagnosis determined the cylinder head requi...
21/03/2025

This little Fiat 500 came in with a misfire and poor running. After a quick diagnosis determined the cylinder head required removal to inspect low compression on two neighbouring cylinders, it was quite evident why after inspecting the head gasket! Skimmed and refitted with new gaskets and bolts and cambelt kit, and removing the usual Fiat 500/Ford KA snapped exhaust manifold studs that a previous technician left leaking exhaust gasses everywhere.

Another one from another garage that had aimlessly thrown the "parts-cannon" at it in the hope it would fix it rather than some methodical diagnosis work, which was more than likely quicker than the "fit-and-hope" option tried elsewhere!

The old adage of "they don't make them like they used to" is certainly true in this case. Yes, we mainly do the modern v...
17/03/2025

The old adage of "they don't make them like they used to" is certainly true in this case. Yes, we mainly do the modern vehicles but we are a retro-friendly garage through-and-through.

This absolutely lovely Rover 825 Sterling Coupe came in for a cambelt replacement recently, and a couple of other smaller jobs. 3 belts on these in total, 1 main front belt and 2 rear link belts. All the correct special tools used, some snapped water-pump bolts easily dealt with and some new spark plugs had it running silky smooth once again. Absolute pleasure to work on compared to some of the modern stuff!

Ford Focus in for a head gasket replacement. Found the likely cause of the failure to be a recently replaced (elsewhere!...
25/01/2025

Ford Focus in for a head gasket replacement. Found the likely cause of the failure to be a recently replaced (elsewhere!!!) coolant expansion bottle, which are known for splitting and losing coolant. A quick check confirmed combustion gasses present in the cooling system. Removal of the cylinder head soon revealed the failure point in the gasket. Reassembled after the head had a skim, with all new gaskets and seals, cambelt kit and water pump.

Citroen C3 in for running issues and a very rough sounding engine. Yet another vehicle with what is known as a "wet belt...
05/09/2024

Citroen C3 in for running issues and a very rough sounding engine. Yet another vehicle with what is known as a "wet belt". The pictures show just how bad of a condition the belt was in, and with 89-thousand on the clock it was overdue by a good 20 thousand miles. Wet belt replacement intervals are much lower in the real world than what is often recommended as early failures are a common occurrence, the repair costs of which are significantly greater than the costs involved to do a routine replacement.

This Ford Transit came in after the customer broke down in London with brake failure. The actual cause of the fault was ...
07/08/2024

This Ford Transit came in after the customer broke down in London with brake failure. The actual cause of the fault was because of cambelt issues! These 2.0 Transits have what is called a "wet belt", meaning that the cambelt is constantly bathed in the engine oil. Over time this breaks down (a lot sooner than the recommended replacement interval!), and either snaps, causes oil pressure issues and bearing damage, or an early sign is a hard brake pedal and very little braking effort.

This is all down to the fibres falling away from the cambelt and blocking the engines oil pump pick up pipe and oil passages, which in turn causes oil pressure issues, or luckily in this case, a very hard brake pedal due to the vacuum pump being starved of oil and failing. To rectify this, the cambelt kit was replaced, a new oil pump pick up pipe fitted, and a new vacuum pump to rectify the loss of brakes ensuring the oil feed passage to it was clear of any blockages.

It isn't just Transits that suffer from this. Ford also utilises this design on the 1.0 Ecoboost engine fitted to Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo, Connect models. It is also in certain Peugeot/Citroen models, too. If you have a vehicle that has this you really need to be on top of your maintenance schedule and almost halve the recommended interval to change the cambelt to avoid very expensive repair bills.

Apologies for a lack of updates, been super busy since moving to the new premises. This 2018 1.5 diesel Nissan Qashqui w...
03/08/2024

Apologies for a lack of updates, been super busy since moving to the new premises.

This 2018 1.5 diesel Nissan Qashqui was brought to us after a 9 month spell at another garage who failed to find the cause of the engine overheating (although charged £1100 to change the cambelt and water pump 😳). A quick ten minute inspection found a failed head gasket due to a coolant leak from the thermostat housing. With the engine removed and stripped down, it had evidently been extremely hot as it had warped the cylinder block as well as the cylinder head.

The necessary machine work was carried out to the surfaces and the engine rebuilt with all new gaskets and seals, reinstalled and delivered back to the customer.

Address

Unit 1E, Nursery Works, 100 Little London Road
Sheffield
S80UJ

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday 9am - 12:30pm

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