suspected timing chain problem....

Dave_Gilbert

hi i have a 2.2 sri vectra c 52 plate 03 model with 68000 miles on the clock with full service up to the point of me buying it 18 months ago,(i will be honest its a little over due the oil and filter change buy 1500 miles at most)

on cold starts i get a rattle for around 5 seconds and then disapears.

this is conserning me as i have been reading alot about the timing chain fualts.

please can somebody tell me that its not the timing chain and its nothing to worry about.

sorry if im talking about the wrong engine code as im not sure but im sure somebody on here will put me right.

thanks dave

astra22bertoneauto

When i bought my low mileage black coupe it had a slightly noisy chain on startup. I had the oil & filter changed & also removed the tensioner & gave it a good clean. Unfortunately the tensioner only lasted a few thousand miles before it started sticking again, so I swapped it out for another good tensioner I had which I had spare.

Get your oil change done as soon as you get a chance and see if that helps.

Matt

Moved thread to correct section.

vocky

So is that 11500 miles since last oil change or 21500 miles, these engines don't like long periods between services, so always change engine oil and filter every 10,000 miles (maximum)

The noise you hear is probably the chain kit requiring replacement

Dave_Gilbert

Hi thanks for the replys,im not sure about how many miles as i think it had been serviced a few months before i bought it,but i have done probably 1000 miles since the spanner came on telling me to service it.i think its 11000 miles tops.the oils still clean ish, iv done everything else like the plugs fuel filter and air filter,i just dint get round to the oil and filter.

i am going to do it this weekend does any body recomend any oil or filter makes? castrol oil,fam filter etc should i go semi syth or fully syth thanks again,

i have got another intermitant fault aswell,every now and then on start up it has a misfire but if i leave it ticking over for 30-40 seconds its gone,or if u rev it it will kick black smoke out and clear?

thanks again dave and sorry for starting this thread in the wrong place

Dave_Gilbert

and does any body know how much it would cost to get the timing chain kit replaced? iv found the parts on ebay about £120

or is it a straight forward job?

i have alot of tools and some mechanical brains but iv never done a timing chain on a car(iv done cam belts but only on single cams)

iv done a full engine and gearbox rebuild on a 250cc quad engine 4 stroke twin.

Matt

Just standard VX oil and filters should be good enough. Or if you want to go a little bit better, 5W40 fully synth seems to go well in the Z22SE.

Dave_Gilbert

so u recomend going to bristol street motors(my local vauxhall main dealer)for oil and filter,wouldnt castrol or shell or something like that be better?

Matt

I get my oil online from Opieoils
@[deleted] recommended this after trying it in his Astra:
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-984-fuchs-titan-supersyn-5w-40-high-performance-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx

Dave_Gilbert

ok thanks,whats with the 5w40 instead of the 10w40 what is recomended by vauxhall?

is it abit thinner to get round abit faster or what?

i dont know all the meanings ect. by the way i would love your car or a vectra vxr. im trying to upload a photo of mine but my latops not playin today

Matt

10w40 is a semi-synthetic oil, but the 5w40 is fully synthetic.
5w would be thinner from cold than a 10w
@[deleted] has done some really good posts on oil specs etc: Oil & Cold Starts - Good Advice from Opie Oils & Oil... Back to basics.
They have also done some recommendations here: Oil advise and recommendations here. and they also recommend the 5W30 or 5W40 over the 10W40 semi synth oil.

Dave_Gilbert

cheers for that i will have a read, i think im gonna get the oil and filters from my local auto factor(auto supplies) so i can get it done asap.

i hope it helps my rattle,its not a bad rattle just abit anoying. thanks again

Dave_Gilbert

hi i got carlube 5w30 longlife oil,it sounded good on start up but the engine was still warm so we will see in the morning,i also did the airbox mod,will see how that goes.thanks for all the help,i will update tomorrow.

Matt

Good stuff, let us know how you get on tomorrow :thumbup:

Dave_Gilbert

STARTED MY CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY (FIRST COLD START SINCE THE SERVICE)

AND IT SOUNDS REALLY GOOD NO RATTLE AT ALL SO FINGERS CROSSED IT WAS JUST A VERY OVERDUE OIL CHANGE(I WONT BE DOING THAT AGAIN)

AND AS FOR THE AIR BOX MOD. IM RUNNING A K&N PANEL FILTER AND THE MOD AND IT REALLY DOES FEEL LIKE ITS PICKING UP FASTER (OR ITS ME JUST PUTTING MY FOOT DOWN ABIT MORE)

NICE 1 FOR ALL THE HELP, I HAVE GOT ANOTHER QUESTION. MY DRIVERS DOOR CLICKS AS U OPEN AND CLOSE IT.IS THIS A COMMON FUALT AND HOW DO I STOP IT CHEERS AGAIN

sandyc

Glad you don't appear to have a chain problem, however at that mileage I would look towards changing it quite soon.
Check out the how to guides at the top of this section on how to do it and give yourself a clear day to do it.
You don't really need any special tools and it isn't really any harder than changing a timing belt. As long as you take your time to set it all up you'll be fine.

Dave_Gilbert

nice 1 for the advice.i thought a timing chain lasted for the lifetime of the vehicle(or in the words of main dealers 100000 miles)

Im still thinking about doing it but i dont want to do any damage and im a busy guy,is there anybody in or around the chesterfield area who would like to do the job?

cheers again

Matt

david gilbert said:
nice 1 for the advice.i thought a timing chain lasted for the lifetime of the vehicle(or in the words of main dealers 100000 miles)

Im still thinking about doing it but i dont want to do any damage and im a busy guy,is there anybody in or around the chesterfield area who would like to do the job?

cheers again

I know a decent garage in Rotherham who can do the work. @[deleted] uses him regularly for all the work on his 2.2

Dave_Gilbert

how much do you recon it would cost ?

parts and labour?

cheers again

Dave_Gilbert

and if its such a big problem with the 2.2s why hasnt vauxhall recalled them all and put them right?

as i would call my vectra low miles🙁