Excessive end float - Vauxhall Astra

Annie1960

Last year I bought a Vauxhall Astra.  See thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6249940/negotiating-on-a-used-car-deal/

Recently it started making a high-pitched whistling sound, fairly loudly, when I had driven for about 15 or 20 minutes. I took it to the garage, and eventually they said it had excessive end float, and needed a new engine. They are sorting that out under the manufacturer's warranty.

However, I've done an online search, and it seems that many Vauxhalls have this problem. I'm not sure whether, once I get the car back, I should trade it in for something else. Maybe a Ford or another brand?

Does anyone have experience of excessive end float, what causes it, and whether it's likely to happen again? Obviously I don't want the cost of having to replace the engine in a year or two at my own expense.

What modern brands of car (about 1-2 years old) are reliable? I don't want anything too fancy. Something about the same size as the Astra that is fairly economical to insure and service etc.

Suggestions welcome.

Mutton_Geoff

Annie1960 said:

However, I've done an online search, and it seems that many Vauxhalls have this problem.

In my experience Google is your worst enemy when making decisions like this. You can find anything wrong with everything if you search long enough. The time to have researched was surely prior to purchase?

facade

I'd take out the official Vauxhall extended warranty- you would only need the lowest level to cover the engine, and keep the car, this will be cheaper than changing the car, and the Astra is quite a nice drive when it is working.

Excessive endfloat is when the whole crankshaft moves out when you press the clutch, because the thrust bearing has gone- it just needs a new bearing cap I believe. The symptoms are usually a floppy clutch pedal, and sometimes you get the EML coming on as there can be a loss of oil pressure which stops the cam phaser working.

Otherwise you want to get something reliable- look for something where the VIN number starts with a J.  Suzuki are quite good.

Annie1960

facade said:

I'd take out the official Vauxhall extended warranty- you would only need the lowest level to cover the engine, and keep the car, this will be cheaper than changing the car, and the Astra is quite a nice drive when it is working.

Excessive endfloat is when the whole crankshaft moves out when you press the clutch, because the thrust bearing has gone- it just needs a new bearing cap I believe. The symptoms are usually a floppy clutch pedal, and sometimes you get the EML coming on as there can be a loss of oil pressure which stops the cam phaser working.

Otherwise you want to get something reliable- look for something where the VIN number starts with a J.  Suzuki are quite good.

Thanks, Facade, I'll look into the extended warranty.

I agree that the Astra is a nice car, I've had Astras for the past 20 years and have always found them reliable. 

Vauxhall is replacing the whole engine under their warranty, not just the bearing cap.

Is this problem likely to have damaged the clutch?

Annie1960

Mutton_Geoff said:

 The time to have researched was surely prior to purchase?

Your comment is passive-aggressive and serves no useful purpose.

facade

Annie1960 said:

Is this problem likely to have damaged the clutch?

I wouldn't expect it to. I still can't think why it would whistle though, whistling is more like a bearing, vauxhalls are notorious for gearbox bearing noises. (gearbox will be covered by that extended warranty ) 

Make sure it is the official vauxhall warranty if you get it, not some cheap third party one.

(Of course, if you extend the warranty and it doesn't break, you've wasted your money, but swapping the car for another would waste money too)

Annie1960

facade said:

Annie1960 said:

Is this problem likely to have damaged the clutch?

I wouldn't expect it to. I still can't think why it would whistle though, whistling is more like a bearing, vauxhalls are notorious for gearbox bearing noises. (gearbox will be covered by that extended warranty ) 

Make sure it is the official vauxhall warranty if you get it, not some cheap third party one.

(Of course, if you extend the warranty and it doesn't break, you've wasted your money, but swapping the car for another would waste money too)

Vauxhall took quite some time to identify the problem. I had an appointment where I waited, and the mechanic originally came out to speak to me and said he couldn't find anything wrong. He said he'd take it out for a ride. So I went home, and the next day they phoned me and said it was excessive end float and it would need a new engine. The whistling was very loud once it started, but it didn't whistle on short journeys, so I suppose it took a while to heat up. Anyway, I'm sure they wouldn't be replacing the whole engine unless they thought it was necessary, as they are paying for it!

I phoned the Vauxhall number for an extended warranty, and they said I can't buy one yet as the original warranty still has seven months left. I'll need to leave it until nearer the time. But I think that's a good idea as it will give me peace of mind. 

Thanks for your useful suggestions.

npowerckd

hi there, appreciate this thread a little old but i have encountered a similar thing. My Astra had the engine changed in October 2023 at 16,000 miles (before i bought it) but DVLA were not notified. So i then bought the vehicle in Feb 2024 not knowing about this change and the V5 also does not reflect it. however my EML came on and began loosing power and its very intermittent. booked it in... guess what end float issue and needs another new engine! finance company are saying i need to prove that i have been mis sold the vehicle or that the issue was there before i bought it.. how hard is this to prove? also interestingly enough i have done 16k miles! how can a year old engine break! im not a mechanic by any means so need guidance as to how best to go about this and not have to fork out for a new engine on a car i would not have even bought had i known!

Goudy

End float is when a shaft moves back and forth (axially) in it's bearings rather than just turning around and around.

So if you could get at the end of the shaft, grip it and pull/push it, it would move in and out as well as around and around.

There is usually a small amount of float engineered in to a crankshaft to allow for expansion when everything is running and hot but excess float is usually a sign of a worn out, worked hard engine.

On say a less temperature prone part, like in a gearbox, they might take up this normal float with thrust washer/bearing, but that's not really possible with a crankshaft.

Excess is obviously too much float.
Normally the bearing surfaces gradually wear away over the years, not just in diameter but axially which means the crank can move about in it's bearings, in and out, side to side and up and down.

I'm not sure why certain engines suffer more than others but the hotter an engine runs usually equals more wear to those bearing surfaces.

Then again poor engineering when it comes to the normal built in float tolerance is probably more likely on such a low mileage engine. 

paul_c123

npowerckd said:

hi there, appreciate this thread a little old but i have encountered a similar thing. My Astra had the engine changed in October 2023 at 16,000 miles (before i bought it) but DVLA were not notified. So i then bought the vehicle in Feb 2024 not knowing about this change and the V5 also does not reflect it. however my EML came on and began loosing power and its very intermittent. booked it in... guess what end float issue and needs another new engine! finance company are saying i need to prove that i have been mis sold the vehicle or that the issue was there before i bought it.. how hard is this to prove? also interestingly enough i have done 16k miles! how can a year old engine break! im not a mechanic by any means so need guidance as to how best to go about this and not have to fork out for a new engine on a car i would not have even bought had i known!

You can't prove the issue was there when you bought it. And since its been a year since you bought it, its not the retailer's fault.

It may well be a manufacturing defect, but it could be other things which have caused it.

SlapheadDevon

Hello
This has just happened to me. A week! After buying a 22k 1.4T model from a main dealer in Exeter. (they obviously saw me coming!) 
I have a 36 month warranty to rely on. One thing is distressing me. My wife has dementia and I wanted to own something nice and reliable to help me in the next few years- no such luck
Another thing which is a personal annoyance, is that I am a Citizens Advice Adviser, and was not aware of our great friend Martin’s information in this forum. Oh dear
what will happen now - I will have to see, but at this time I don’t need this distress