guys - I am officially welcomed into the Z22SE club showo..
This morning at 8am, the appointment with The Dr. started with bacon rolls and cups of tea followed shortly with parts inspection then a breakdown of engine parts to get into the balancer chain. Now we know why Vauxhall recommend removing the aircon pipes - the coolant pump bolt that needs to be removed proved a bit notsure.gif as we could not jack the car high enough or get it low enough to remove it, we finally pulled it out of after being a little persuasive with the aircon pipes.
Crank bolt took some effort, The Dr. done the business end whilst I stomped the breaks, first gear was slipping so Dr. advised to drop it into 4th which worked fine.
Removing the timing chain cover revealed that everything in the balancer/timing chain area was in awesome condition despite having the old oil nozzle fitted, infact all of the engine internals are in excellent condition - most probably goes to show the results of good oil changes. New balancer chain and all that gear dropped in fine, The Dr. turned the crank over several times to ensure everything lined up - all happy some bolts committed and tensioner sprung.
Next thing was to make more tea and replace the head. I cleaned the head down as advised by The Dr. whilst the new head was prepared. Dr. ATOM X then took for a tour on the new head and how it works - that was one of the best parts of the day, the learning was amazing. Everystep of the journey, The Dr. was explaining everything about everything - amazing. The new head had been played with a little (hopefully the Dr. will confirm but I think its slightly skimmed so different compression & thanks for it 🙂 ). New head went on no problem and we started to bolt on the ancillaries. Everything in place so now time for the cam chain and a cup of tea. Timing chain went on no problems (Dr. laughed at my cam tool then laughed when I asked if he wanted cable ties hahah :lol: ), tensioner sorted and everything checked over.
Everthing else was fitted and by this time, all that was left was oil and coolant. With that all sorted it was time to turn the key, deep breath and it started and ran with no EML etc, results!!! Had to laugh when I saw The Dr's. face, something was not right - there was a tapping sound, let it run for a bit then stopped. Dr. done this notsure.gif for a second then said we must pull the tensioner as he suspected it had not ejected correctly. Once pulled out, Dr's suspicion was correct - the tensioner had not ejected properly so there was some slapping of the chain - again big thanks to Dr. as this could have been easily overlooked. Tensioner ejected and inserted as such. Started the engine up and it ran fine, much quieter. We wrapped things up and went for a drive to Courtenays to see the guys.
Avoiding SPECS camera's and what felt like Sunday driver brigade we saw an opening, Dr. told me to nail it - 3rd gear, nailed - strange lurch then engine dies - we coast to a side road and Dr. checks things out, laughs and tells me to turn it over and it will work now - he he :lol:,a multiplug had not been connected to the DIS pack properly. With that done, we get to Courtenays, have a chat then head back
We tidy up stuff and Dr. heads off on the 3 hour drive home. The car is running great, fitted a few other bits and took it out for another run along the major roads and it worked great. Tomorrow I'll tidy a few things and then its done!!
Was great to meet ATOM X who fully lived up to his reputation of knowing this engine inside and out, not only that but actually knowing the science and facts behind it. Amazing guy with amazing knowledge and a proper no nonsense gentleman as well which is great - we had a blast
So I'm dead happy with a car that works and also met a great guy at the same time - thanks Lee mate, very much appreciated 🙂