The results of continuing driving with bad tappety sound? (Corsa 1.2, 2002 plate)

JustAnotherSaver

I'm far from a mechanic so i don't even know what tappets are.

With that said, the wife has one of these cars (see thread title) & it sounds like a bloody tractor. We read it can be down to the chain on them, which was changed a couple years ago. We read the noise can come back, which it did.

I oil change it every 6 months, although before she bought it, it must've never had an oil change according to the garage who changed the chain, as they had to pull loads of black sludge out.

Recently the noise has got much much worse & a different garage has said it's very tappety & can cost a few £100 to repair.

Never asked at the time, but what can continuing driving result in?

It's been making a squealing noise lately..... http://snd.sc/1cH7z49

And then there's the tractor noise .... http://snd.sc/15Zr0TM

We noticed the squealing stops when she puts the clutch all the way in/knocks gear into neutral, but it started up again when she set off.

The car is getting really really noisy now & draws looks from passers by

spacey2012

vauxhalls of this era had problems on the 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6 petrol engines with small end bearings collapsing on the 3rd piston due to oil ways blocking, they run forever and a day with the piston rattle, but it can be a major job to silence them .
Some limited success with the old flushing oil trick and new oil.
Many mistake the noise for cam or tappets, but as they are hydraulic lifters, this is usually not the case on this engine.
It does sound like the dreaded piston rattle.

facade

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Never asked at the time, but what can continuing driving result in?

The need for a very very expensive engine rebuild, or just scrap the car.

The chain is rattling because it is loose on the cogs. Eventually it will jump some teeth on the crank and then the valves will hit the pistons bending them.

At the moment you need a chain, sprockets & tensioner, and best part of a day to fit them, between £350-£550 depending on where you go.

It had a chain before, and has been running with a worn chain, this wears the sprockets and you may find a new chain just jumps the teeth on the old ones, so they need changing too.

EDIT: seen the post above, if it is small ends, the engine will run until the rod lets go and comes out the side. Wear in the small end bearing causes the piston to hit the valves and bend them, losing compression on that cylinder.

Either way, drive it until it breaks, but make sure you have recovery, or get it fixed.

Retrogamer

If it's the same noise as before the timing chain was replaced and the noise vanished when the chain was replaced, chances are it's the chain again.

Were the sprockets and pulleys changed the same time as the chain?
Was it official Vauxhall parts that were used?

The main problem with these engines is Vauxhall set the service intervals too far apart. Ideally they should be done every 6k miles or 6 months, whatever comes first to keep the chain good.
If it's had the usually 10-12k (or longer) on the first few oil changes then chances are that's killed the original chain prematurely. They're usually fine for approx 100k miles.

Unless the chain was replaced by a correct Vauxhall one with spockets/ pulleys, they tend to fail again quickly so it's false economy using alternative parts.

JustAnotherSaver

As said, the mechanic who changed the chain said that he didn't think the car had EVER had an oil change due to the build up of sludge they spent a day scraping out. He even took photos to prove this to the wife as he'd "never seen anything so bad".

At that point in time it'd covered 55k & the year was late 2010.

The car i think has now done 75k miles. She only averages around 6k per year & i change the oil every 6 months on both hers & mine (i also only do around 6k. My engine is a Z18XE though, whereas hers is the Z12XE (mine's in Astra format)).

The parts used were in fact genuine GM parts.

She's read up on this & the feedback is generally that no matter how many times you get the chain sorted, the noise will come back, which it did & she lived with it, as it'd only make the noise after it'd been driven a while.
Now it's doing it on startup though & is much much louder.

Last time we looked, a car of similar condition, age & miles was going for around £1,500, so quite a bit of money down the pan if it goes kaput. Although can't really afford to repair.
Not sure how much she'd get for trade in though.

dannymccann

Depends what you need the car for I suppose. If it's a second car / isnt needed every day for important stuff just keeping running it until it lets go.

The alternative (if you dont mind buying from forecourts) is to go for a trade in. Ive no idea what the trade in price would be for an ageing and unhealthy sounding corsa, but at the end of the day you could trade it in for something a little bit newer and then after the 6 month warranty has expired it could fall to bits.

Better the devil you know I have learnt with cars...

JustAnotherSaver

Yeah it's the missus daily drive. She needs it to get to work.

She was wanting something faster, but not something that sups juice for fun. I know more about Vauxhall's than other motors. She was considering a Fiesta Zetec-S on about a 2005 year, though i know naff all about them.

Though she quite likes the acceleration of my car which is a 1.8 MK4 Astra. Not the fastest thing in the world, but she says it'd do for her.

I wonder if the MPG return might be a tad low for her though as i get about 36mpg.

Strider590

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

I wonder if the MPG return might be a tad low for her though as i get about 36mpg.

36mpg is about all you get from a 1.2 Corsa anyway

Weird_Nev

With a car like that, I'd just do very basic servicing and run it into the ground. It has practically no value, and is not worth spending good money on.

Start the hunt for the replacement now, you may be able to sell the car on or part ex it whilst it's worth something.

colino

That sounds to me more like a sticking cam follower than the chain and tensioners. If your really sick of it, it would be about the only time I would recommend an engine flush and new oil and filter. Otherwise sell it on, they are rarely quiet things at the best of times.

Axial

That doesn't sound like the chain, as the chain noise tends to quieten down when revved (unless its really bad).