Vauxhall Astra F - cambelt

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Mon 5 Dec 2011 18:22
Vauxhall Astra F - cambelt - lucas2

hi there i bought an astra 1.6 16v cdx auto on a p reg 850000 miles on cold start i have a little rattle noise coming form underneath the cambelt cover and goes when engine fully warmed which makes me suspect cam belt tensioner i bought continental cambelt kit today for fitment tomorrow my first time would it be the tensioner at fault or nothing to worry about i checked the belt and it look good with the gm vauxhall writing clearly visible any advice would be greatly appreciated

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Mon 5 Dec 2011 19:00
Vauxhall Astra F - cambelt - RT

On the Vauxhall engines it's false economy not to replace the tensioner, idle roller and water pump at the same time as the cambelt - one of them will fail before the next cambelt is due and failure of any one of them will wreck the engine in the same way as a cambelt failure.

It can be a pain in the a**e to get the two camshafts in sync when putting the cambelt on - there is a locking tool available which makes to job easier but might not be cost justified for a one-off change.

It's worth checking the auxilliary drive belt tensioner with the engine running - I've had one where a cheap auxilliary belt varied in thickness which makes it's tensioner vibrate as the belt goes round.

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Tue 6 Dec 2011 09:00
Vauxhall Astra F - cambelt - TeeCee

>there is a locking tool available which makes to job easier but might not be cost justified for a one-off change.

Usually available for peanuts (when compared to the cost of the belt / pullies / pump kit) on eBay.....

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Mon 5 Dec 2011 21:56
Vauxhall Astra F - cambelt - Avant

Moved to Technical.

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Wed 7 Dec 2011 16:42
Vauxhall Astra F - cambelt - lucas2

changed the belt and tensioner as i thought it was this problem the tensioner is a gates plus belt and still i have the rattling noise i also have new continental belt kit and the cam locking tool just need to get the water pump which is on order but i still have the rattle which stops when the engine is warm could it be the cam belt tensioner ?

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