New Member, and in need of help.

Seven7Two2

Hi All New to the forum, and new car, I believe I may have bought a shed... Astra Bertone Convertible...

Car has been fine since i bought it on Sat, and then past two days it has had occasions of stuttering at idle.

I have cleaned the TB today, cannot for to the Valve part, so that is out for now and will be cleaning the filter tomorrow.

I took her for a small drive tonight to see any results and it was negative. Fine start and take off. 4 miles down the road pulled up at some lights and at idle, neutral gear it was a little juttery and ever so subtle light flicker. took it into the services sat for 5-10 mins had a listen and pretty much back to normal, off home again and again fine, except for once it let out a quite big squeal and am sure some other action of idle stutter happened. Ii am completely stumped it didn't feel like it wanted to stall just lower revs for a tiny while.

Firstly could this be anything to do with steering pump etc as when i was near home i stopped pulled up turned full lock both ways and there was a quiet noise of the steering working and lights dimmed slightly also...

Other than this atm i have exhaust quite a lot of avenues, except for spark plugs as i have the wrong socket atm.

Secondly I am correct in assuming these engine have a chain timer rather than belt am I not?

If anybody could help shed some light I would be grateful.

Sjdickso

Welcome to the site.

You are correct these engines are chain driven, what age and mileage is the car any paperwork to say the chains have been done?

Be careful when removing and refitting the plugs they have alloy heads, been many a horror story on head with split heads from over tightening.

Use genuine GM plugs.

You have started off well with cleaning the throttle body.

Have you got any EMLs?

Cheaper solutions to look at may be CTS sensor, blank off the EGR, maybe look at second had coil pack. Some of the above can be bought in the z22se shop.

Others may be give better advice.

Seven7Two2

Are there any diagrams of the engine so I can locate things earlier, I thought Coil pack may be a little option buy could not find it.

Sorry not sure what EMLs are ot CTS sensor. I have research a fair bit into issues but not come across these as yet.. it is a 2001 (Y) Reg, and has just turned 101k mileage.

Sjdickso

Its location is at the top of the rocker over. You will need to remove it to swap the plugs 🙂

Read the below it may help
https://z22se.co.uk/threads/coil-pack-test.17904/

https://z22se.co.uk/threads/possible-coil-pack-failure.24449/

EML = engine management light, CTS= coolant temp sensor.

If you are planning on keeping the car and with its age and mileage and there is no sign or paperwork of chains been done then you want it high on the list of jobs yo be done. At that year it will have the old style oil jet as well.

Seven7Two2

Ahh bugger will it, The guy that sold it said he had the chains and service done....no doubt he would say that for a sale ahaa.

No EML's even done the pedal test if that is suppose to work nothing flashes up...

Erm, how long would the car keep going if it was the chain issue, and roughly roughly how much are we looking for that that:?

Recorded sound earlier...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bjm8xkzt6p...%20%281%29.mp4

Sjdickso

There is a chance he did has he got any receipts even just for the parts? If not then he could have just been saying it.

Chains and associated parts can fail at any time but many report of the common "cold start rattle".

As for cost if you go to a dealership I have figures of upto £1200 for both chains, but we have a few members on here that fit them, and the Z22SE shop sells genuine GM and good aftermarket FAI kits.

Never found the pedal test that successful always had a cheap OBD reader, if you haven't got any EMLs that's a plus.

As from the sound in the video it doesn't sound that noisy but seems to be surging not idling right but it's hard to tell, sorry some more technical maybe able to assist @[deleted] @[deleted] @[deleted] ?

evocarlos

hey i just watched the vid
from the sound of it the car is in need of some chains or an oil change to gm 10/40 you can hear the chains flapping
i would 1st change the oil and filter to gm 10/40 (autovaux £17) and see if theres any change in the engine noise

some vids of mine before and after chains

noise of mine was a bad balancer chain (its also less noise)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l25QrVQ22ik

heres how it sounds after new chains you can tell the obvious diffrence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J62L5Ousntw

i have noticed with a few of the cars that ive fitted new chains to when the balance chains is stretched the engine will idle uneven mainly the z22yh but there are other things that can cause it to hunt

having new chains fitted does not have to cost you an arm and a leg 🙂 it will like si said if you take it to a garage or vx
current rates for chains are just over £300 for parts and fitting 🙂
z22se shop for parts and me fitting them 🙂

Seven7Two2

Does it sound bad to you, in conclusion, It isn't constant this noise, it only happened to me three/four times so far, and never at cold start always when I come to a stand still and then after 30seconds - 2mins it sorts itself out and sounds perfect again
Awesome, Where are you located, and what do you need? If this is needing to be done when could you 😃

Seven7Two2

Sorry, Forgot to mention, I also had not had this problem 2 days into buying it but it did say check oil levels so I bought some 10/40 and put that in and the message wiped i dont suppose that info helps any...

Just had a look down the side of my engine and I can see a Belt there....Do these engines also have belts??

Sjdickso

The belt will be the auxiliary belt. As for the oil situation have you seen any smoke on startup or any after spirited right foot action? Some older Z22SE's have seen oil use with stem valve guides worn or gunked up piston rings.

With these engines fresh regular oil changes is upmost as pointed out £17 for oil and filter every 4-5 months isn't much.

After looking at your video it looks like you have a oil leak either on rocker cover or cam blank on the right hand side.

Seven7Two2

So yest I decided to treat it to some fresh oil some 10/40 Part Synth. Topped her up well bought the expensive stuff.

Went fine all day yest sweet as a nut. then on the drive to work this morning...got to work and idling at around 5krpm doing a little shudder as usual nothing massively erratic this is silly!!

If this was a CHAIN problem would it not be constant etc? Probably going to get it in a garage today or tomorrow

Matt

Welcome to the site.

5M1THY

Welcome to the site

Dave_Gilbert

welcome to the site

Seven7Two2

Thanks all.

Engine Management came on this morning so am taking to the garage.

P.S Should the fan be turning all the time? Car was heating up faster than normal on idle and fan not turning 😐

Fingers crossed

evocarlos

the fan runs all the time if the coolant temp sensor is unplugged/broken
make sure to get the codes read that way you can see what's at fault

Seven7Two2

Right, just had a call from the garage it says only fault that pops up is the EGr Valve...So that would explain it!! So...Now the next question, Do I need a New valve or can I use the blanking theory and keep the old valve on. Garage quoted around £90 for a cheap EGR replacement

Dave_Gilbert

get a blanking plate and a cheater out of the z22 shop

evocarlos

Dave Gilbert said:
get a blanking plate and a cheater out of the z22 shop

do this 🙂^^^

5M1THY

£90!!! Definatly blank it off there just annoying and in the way anyway lol