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Good news for once...
Notmyrealname
Posts: 4,003 Forumite
in Motoring
With all the tales of woe about buying duff used motors from small dealers....
Parents purchased a 52 plate Astra Estate for £1500 from a local garage in November. Tidy thing and they had fitted a new camshaft kit and belt. It cam with a 1 month / 1000 mile warranty which has been and gone, it being over 2 months and they've done over 2k. In the first week the cam seal was leaking oil so it got replaced and they said they found a pinhole in it.
Anyway, mother phones in panic a couple of nights ago - engine management light has come on. I tell her to run it up to me as she's only round the corner. I check the oil and there's none. They check it regularly along with the water etc. I find a small drip on the subframe below the bottom pulley and signs of leaking from that end of the engine. When I went to top it up though, there was the mayonnaise of death....looks like headgasket has gone when they removed the cam carrier to put in the new camshaft.
Anyway, its well out of warranty now but she phoned the garage who said to drop it in. They had a quick look, were most apologetic and have given mother a courtesy car to run around in until they get it sorted.
Parents purchased a 52 plate Astra Estate for £1500 from a local garage in November. Tidy thing and they had fitted a new camshaft kit and belt. It cam with a 1 month / 1000 mile warranty which has been and gone, it being over 2 months and they've done over 2k. In the first week the cam seal was leaking oil so it got replaced and they said they found a pinhole in it.
Anyway, mother phones in panic a couple of nights ago - engine management light has come on. I tell her to run it up to me as she's only round the corner. I check the oil and there's none. They check it regularly along with the water etc. I find a small drip on the subframe below the bottom pulley and signs of leaking from that end of the engine. When I went to top it up though, there was the mayonnaise of death....looks like headgasket has gone when they removed the cam carrier to put in the new camshaft.
Anyway, its well out of warranty now but she phoned the garage who said to drop it in. They had a quick look, were most apologetic and have given mother a courtesy car to run around in until they get it sorted.
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Comments
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If they fix it ok I'd write a letter to the local press sayign so.
People are quick to complain but slow to thank as you've noticed and other people might appreciate the recommendation.
5t.What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?0 -
Notmyrealname wrote: »With all the tales of woe about buying duff used motors from small dealers....
Parents purchased a 52 plate Astra Estate for £1500 from a local garage in November. Tidy thing and they had fitted a new camshaft kit and belt. It cam with a 1 month / 1000 mile warranty which has been and gone, it being over 2 months and they've done over 2k. In the first week the cam seal was leaking oil so it got replaced and they said they found a pinhole in it.
Anyway, mother phones in panic a couple of nights ago - engine management light has come on. I tell her to run it up to me as she's only round the corner. I check the oil and there's none. They check it regularly along with the water etc. I find a small drip on the subframe below the bottom pulley and signs of leaking from that end of the engine. When I went to top it up though, there was the mayonnaise of death....looks like headgasket has gone when they removed the cam carrier to put in the new camshaft.
Anyway, its well out of warranty now but she phoned the garage who said to drop it in. They had a quick look, were most apologetic and have given mother a courtesy car to run around in until they get it sorted.
had they not skimped on the repair in the first place, this shouldnt have not happened, i'd make sure they fit a new timing belt along with a new water pump now! while the head is off.
classic example of reusing headbolts that you really shouldnt do when you take a head appart.
how could they deny this isnt their fault they did work 2K ago cam seals were the first to leak then headgasket shortly after.
if the previous cams were worn to excess, no doubt they didnt bother checking the valve seats for caking up either from lack of movement an oil build up.
i'd call them on mums behalf to see if their going down the route of a heaset, headskim and clean to put the mind at ease.0 -
Good news? - I don't see any in there. They've half heartedly done a job and when its been found they've agreed to further bodge it.
If you call that good news or good service then would you care to take my car off my hands? - I've actually done half decent work on it and it only needs a new cat to be good as gold!0 -
Notmyrealname wrote: »..........cam seal was leaking oil so it got replaced and they said they found a pinhole in it.
............... I check the oil and there's none. They check it regularly along with the water etc...........
Pin hole in a cam seal?
Sounds like you fell for a line there.
And for the car to lose all it's oil, and blow the headgasket, without anyone noticing until the light comes on..........
It'll be another quick repair, new headgasket, fill with k seal, add a tin of wynns to stop the rattle from the big ends, then at 3 months, that'll be the end of the dealer answering the phone.0 -
atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »had they not skimped on the repair in the first place, this shouldnt have not happened, i'd make sure they fit a new timing belt along with a new water pump now! while the head is off.
There was no skimping.
The camshaft is in a carrier which is seperate from the head and can be removed as a separate unit.classic example of reusing headbolts that you really shouldnt do when you take a head appart.
Sometimes when removing the cam carrier it can break the seal on the head gasket, usually it doesn't. Doesn't need to be a problem with the head.0 -
I didn't fall for anything. My comment to parent was it was probably due to pressure building up from a blown headgasket.Pin hole in a cam seal?
Sounds like you fell for a line there.It'll be another quick repair, new headgasket, fill with k seal, add a tin of wynns to stop the rattle from the big ends, then at 3 months, that'll be the end of the dealer answering the phone.
I notice from your posts in this forum you seem to be a bit of a know it all so your comment comes as no surprise.
Good job I'm a better mechanic than you seem to think you are.0 -
Notmyrealname wrote: »Good job I'm a better mechanic than you seem to think you are.
That being the case, how did you let your parents buy a duff motor? :rotfl:0 -
Notmyrealname wrote: »I didn't fall for anything. My comment to parent was it was probably due to pressure building up from a blown headgasket.
How?
the carrier isn't pressurised?
Or do you mean it pressurised the engine so much, instead of venting through the breather on the rocker cover, on top of the carrier, or blowing out the dipstick, it blew the seal from the end of the camshaft?Notmyrealname wrote: »There was no skimping.
The camshaft is in a carrier which is seperate from the head and can be removed as a separate unit.
Sometimes when removing the cam carrier it can break the seal on the head gasket, usually it doesn't. Doesn't need to be a problem with the head.
Oh dear.
The carrier is separate.
It's held on with the headbolts.
One - don't re-use them
Two - don't lift the head out when you lift the carrier off.
Three - don't just bolt it back down and sell it on to a mechanics mum.Notmyrealname wrote: ».................Good job I'm a better mechanic than you seem to think you are.
From some of the rubbish you've posted before, I doubt anyone would think you could find a spanner in a toolbox to be honest.
Still, it's fun to read, keep it coming.0 -
im finding it hard to find a cam carrier on the 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 16v's someone post up a pick?
all i can find is ecotec engine with the cams bolted to the top of the cylinder head!! no separate carrier in sight, even the 8v has no carrier on them ecotecs.
the old GM 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 ohv had cam carriers and the 16v's.
given that the head doesnt need to come off, it's better it does right from the start i'll let you ponder why it should.0 -
The 1.6 sohc has a carrier.
Held on with the headbolts though.
He'll have had the X16SZR engine in that.
Ebay 330666603430 is about the only picture I could find.0
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