Trying to find out common car faults for Vauxhall Astra (mark 5)

fannyanna

johnnyroper wrote: »

no cambelt on that model the 1.4 16valve is the chain driven twinport engine.

So do chains need changing like belts?

Sorry if that's a silly "girl" question

jase1

Eventually they need replacing, but they will usually give you fair warning before they go (NOISE!) and tend to last well over 100,000 miles.

So it isn't a "service" part -- you just fix it when it does.

The one thing I would say though is that, with any chain driven engine, you need to ensure that the oil is replaced regularly. I have always had an oil change done every 6,000 miles (i.e. one between each service) on my chain-cam cars, although some may see this as overkill.

As there seems to be some disagreement as to whether the Astra is involved with this fault, I would suggest speaking to a Vauxhall specialist to clarify the situation.

johnnyroper

unless there is a problem with tensioner or oil jet the chances of a chain failure are slim but as jase1 said they do give warning that they are in distress before failing unlike belts.