Old Newbie

Bungle

Member
Hello.....
I've been driving exclusively Vauxhalls since my first FWD Cavalier in 1982. Before that, and after the Triumph bikes, in 1972 I got a 1963 Mini which I rebuilt, then a Singer Vogue, Humber Sceptre, Viva HC, and a company Cortina V (nasty car). The Vx list......
1982 Cavalier saloon LS 1.6
1984 Cavalier Hatch GLS 1.6
1985 Carlton 2.2 cdi auto (lovely drive, heavy on fuel)
1988 Cavalier Hatch LS 1.4 (company car)
1992 Cavalier Hatch LS 1.8 (had that for 225,000 miles - the body parts wore out first)
1999 Vectra B Hatch LS 1.6 16v (at 105,000 idler pulley let go - 8 new valves and guides - car off road for 3 days - then that car did 215,000 before I got the Vaux Scrappage deal )
2003 Wife starts to drive - 9 month old Vectra B LS 2.2 - one of the last registered 30/06/2002 (lovely torque from that engine and 39 mpg)
2006 Wife gets Astra H 1.4
2008 Give Vectra 2.2 to son - buy Zafira B (need more seats)

But why am I here? Yes - you guessed it - the chain has just snapped. Funny thing is I already have a chain kit, crank oil seal, new crank bolt, timing cover gasket and cam cover gasket all ready to do it when it was needed, but lack of maintenance (not my fault) has beaten me. When I had the car it was LL025 oil and genuine (or Mann) filter every 4 months.
Cam cover off and at least 4 exhaust vlaves bent, but so far I haven't taken the head off to check it properly.

That's when I stumbled upon Hutchinson's thread from July 2007. Great photos making everything a bit clearer.

I'll probably strip the thing down whenever it isn't raining over the next few days, but son hasn't got a garage and his drive is gravel, so that will be a bit of a challenge and I will probably be coming home every few hours or so for more tools out of my garage - you never take everything you need.
Still an engine rebuild will give me something to do (redundancy and early retirement).

So here I am in the z22se forum possibly looking for a few hints and tips.

Bungle

P.S. Sorry for rambling.
 

Bungle

Member
Thanks for the comiserations, but it's just one of those things. Apart from the usual things like brakes and exhaust, it's the first thing that's gone wrong. Funny thing is that the fault code was 1514 (0) which bears little relation to the fault. I expected a cam sensor code with a broken chain, but after I saw the throttle voltages looking good and the pedal going from 30% to 100% and the butterfly was not stuck I whipped the cam cover off and reckoned that the bent exhaust valves were seen as excess air getting in, hence the false code.
But the job looks pretty straightforward, just a bit cramped coz it is a fairly big engine in the bay. And I need to jack it up and get underneath on that gravel drive of his; then there's the big disadvantage of the distance to my son's house from here combined with our beautiful British weather. Still - these things are sent to try us!
I just hope that he's got enough cash for the things that I can't do: i.e. if the valve guides are damaged, but I will be as gentle as I can trying to get the valves up to get the collets off - maybe the hardest part of the job!
 

evocarlos

Stupid Bollocks
Staff
hello
and sorry about the bad news
head from a scrappy new chain set should get you going unless there lots of damage to the pistons
if not just get a full engine theres a few runners on the bay atm

edit:- my local scrappy said i could have the head from a coupe for £50 thats not a bad price if its a good head
just found this might be a good place to start if you cant get one cheaper locally
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cd185739f
 

Bungle

Member
Thanks for the the tips Evercarlos, I will have a look at what's available if the damage is going to cost too much to repair.
I would like to keep as much original as I can as the car uses almost no oil and is (was) really economical and smooth.
I think that piston damage would be the worst thing, but we'll have to see when I get the head off.
But ultimately the decision on how much is spent on the car will be down to my son - I'm just the old DIY mechanic who works for nothing!
 

evocarlos

Stupid Bollocks
Staff
its up to you :)
i would start a new one called the dead engine lol
and then link to it in here
 

Bungle

Member
Thanks, Vocky.

I started a new thread telling where I am up to and "warning" that I might be asking some questions as there are some aspects of this particular engine that I have not experienced before.
So far - found out how the thing works without a cam sensor (I found out that it uses feedback information from the "spare spark" - thanks to a link posted by Jwalker). ( https://z22se.co.uk/threads/chain-s...-far-later-some-questions.23533/#post-1203158 )
And because my spring compressor wouldn't fit, I spent yesterday making a tool to get the collets out. So far I've only had the time to get one bent exhaust valve out (before I had to dash out) and I'm just hoping (fingers and toes crossed) that when I get the rest of the bent valves out, that none of the guides are cracked - unlikely but possible. I no longer work, and my son's money is a bit thin on the ground so not having to get the valve guides replaced will be a great help.

Looking at the contact area of the block and head surface, it looks like the head gasket is bulletproof especially as both head and block are made of the same metal. My experience of head gasket failure has always been where there is an aluminium head and cast iron block.
Such a difference to the engines of the 60's and 70's.
What a pity they didn't fit a duplex chain like they did on most engines designed before the advent of cam belts!

Bungle
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top