Hi all,
this is my first post so please be gentle with me.
I recently bought a 1.4 petrol Astra G with 117000miles on the clock. seeing as my 1.4 Astra E had just clocked 201000miles but died of terminal body rot i thought a G would be just as reliable. However, it's turning into a epic saga of 'war and peace' proportions...a bit like this email!
There were a few oil leaks, no probs, just replace seals gaskets etc. but i realised all was not well when the engine number...under 1/2 inch of crud... didn't match the V5 and noticed the water pump looked very new. Also a shed load of silicon sealant had been used to seal the old rocker cover seal and the 3 sump bolts that bolt into the oil pump were in various stages of having been stripped etc etc. You got the idea, the previous weilder of spanners on this poor car was a much closer relation to our neanderthal ancesters than ourselves.
Anyway i decided the reason for the different engine number was that the unforetunate previous owner probably had the classic seized waterpump/valves hitting pistons scenario and got a reconditioned motor which itself had a new waterpump having suffered the same fate before being 'reconditioned' by our knuckle dragging friend....'torque wrench?....wot that then'.
After changing the rocker cover+sump+camshaft+crank seals, cam+ancilliary belts, waterpump, coolant, plugs, filters, fluids etc i thought we were good to go with perhaps the possibilty of oil leaking from the pulley end of the sump,, which i'd remedy with helicoilling the oil pump sump bolts. On start up all seemed fine and i let it warm up until it got to fan switch on time, i took a gander underneath and to my dismay there was coolant leaking from the pump area. on inspection it was coming from one of the holes which are machined into the aluminium body near the seals/bearing. i presume this is done so if the inner seal leaks the coolant doesn't get forced through the bearing and spew out over the belts but is channeled straight onto the floor. Ok, a pain, but after fitting a new pump i was strutting my stuff thinking i'm the mutts...
However, after just 100miles there's a fair oil leak from the pulley end which may start at the crank seal, admittedly it didn't go in as well as i'd hoped and shaved off a thin layer of rubber from the outer circumference. ok i'll change the £12 seal again and heicoil the sump bolts, but the thing that worries me the most is that i noticed the signs of dried glycol on the waterpump an the same place as the previous newish looking one. The coolant level's gone down a bit, understandably, the oil on the dip, filler cap and that dripping on the floor looks spanking new, clear and un-mayo like, the coolant in the header looks ok, a smidgeon dirty but i'd expect that after been spun around a 117000 motor. So you know what i'm going to ask....... do you reckon the head gasket is blowing into the water jacket, pressurising it and causing the inner waterpump seal to fail???? I remember when the head gasket went on my E the waterpump failed a month or 2 later in exactly the same way but the replacement was fine. If it is being over pressured why isn't the cap on the header tank blowing off? or is it only there to let air in under vacum? Any advice would be much appreciated....other than 'drive it off beachy head'....i couldn't do that to the environment...tho admittedly there'd be little oil left in the sump to contaminate the sea due to the leaks ;-(.
Do i:
a) change the header cap in the infantile belief that everything will be fluffy bunnies after...and while i'm at it, hang out my stocking for father xmass?
b) put yet another water pump on and pop down to the bookies and put a tenner on kilmarnock winning the champion's league in 2015
c) bite the bullet and change the head gasket???? bit wobbly about this one because the 8valve carb motor was easy peasy but the 16valve head without any room around it and enogh cabling and hosing to fit out a carrier seems a tad daunting.
cheers all!!
Edited by Pugugly on 11/10/2009 at 22:21
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To be honest sounds like the previous repairs have been badly bodged, and there's little prospect of getting the car working reliably.
You could and up replacing the head gasket, and then finding further problems.
(And I speak as an Astra fan. My wife's now drives what was my diesel Astra, and its still going strong at 220,000 miles).
Where did you get it from? Any chance that a dealer will have to fix it under the Sale of Goods Act?
If not, just put it in an auction as quickly as possible. You may end up losing money, but it could be the best thing in the end. Part of running a car economically is knowing when to stop throwing time/money at it.
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i would agree with the above, the car hasnt got its original engine and the one in there has been badly repaired then i would get rid its not worth the hassle
the Astra G IS a reliable car if its got (and i would be looking for one) with a original engine and a FULL service history
personally i would sack this one of as a bad mistake, and buy one thats got a FSH and has a proper owner history and most of all its original engine.
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If the rest of the car is good & i mean good why not put another engine in? there is plenty about & i.6 would fit too.
But if anything like the engine get shut grab your cash and run fast.!
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