Broke Bravo again....

If it spat a piston you'd know all about it. Does it have an oil cooler? Has this become damaged somehow? Most coolers are integral to the filter housing.

No cooler as far as I am aware, the filter bolts straight onto the side of the block. I think it may be a camshaft seal considering where the oil has travelled to (although at 80 on a motorway, it goes everywhere - even found it sprayed over the rear spoiler....)

Hellraiser..............>

Sounds odd. Had any work carried out recently that would involve a new oil seal anywhere?

Nope, none whatsoever - had a new clutch two months ago but that's nowhere near! Curious (and just a little perturbed / pissed off at the expense).

Hellraiser............>

Sons car with 2.2 GM diesel engine oil pump casing had cracked sprayed oil everywhere

Tony

What on earth would cause an oil pump casing to crack? Aren't they a casting or summat?

Hellraiser...........>

It's a Fiat.

Not with the cracked oil pump, that's a GM thing....

Hellraiser..........>

Why don't you just quite whilst you're (not) ahead, and get a new motor? You must've known from the beginning it would be trouble? I mean, they cost shit for a reason...

What engine is it? I'm not a fan of GM s**te either. Ford rule; end of.

That and BMW; I really like the one I have, even thought it aint mine. I think if I ever move away from a company vehicle I'll buy one. That or a Mondeo.

Yes, because I have big wads of cash in my back pocket and can buy a new motor at the drop of a hat, particularly near Xmas. Shall I go for the Bentley or the Aston Martin?

Hellraiser.............>

The point is you don't *need* big wads of cash to get a car that will be okay, and run forever on no money!! I understand what you're saying, but already you've spent more than you ever wanted to on the thing. It's a bravo, it will *always* be this way my friend...

Hellraiser ( snipped-for-privacy@blueyonder.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You don't need "big wads" to buy a decent reliable motor. Just avoid the troublesome sheds - and your Bravo (reserves judgement on Bravos as a whole) is a troublesome shed.

How much have you spent recently on fixing it?

I cannot understand this line of logic - the whole Farepak fiasco astounds me. Xmas is *discretionary spending*. If you can't afford to blow a shitload on it, you don't. Full stop. End of. Why does anybody NEED to spend a grand or more on one day? If you're religious, observe it by going to church. If you're not, then wtf is the point?

(Unless, of course, anybody would like to spend a grand on celebrating MY birthday...?)

WHAT??

Modern (IE less than 10 years old) Ford stuff is rubbish in my experience. I've seen several Zetec engines recently that have died due to crap design and poor material specification.

Not as bad as FIAT, but not a world apart either.

Alan.

What a lot of s**te. Fuck off.

To be fair, not that much - 190 for a clutch which at 89k is not unexpected - although this is looking a tad dearer :( I had a Tipo earlier, for 10 years - aside from a few electrical niggles (and a new clutch at purchase) I've had no major problems with it at all just routine maintenance. Fiat engines are generally regarded as well designed and pretty much bombproof (believe me, I ragged that 1.6 Tipo to hell and back and it never complained), so the fact that this has happened is quite annoying. According to the mechanic it looks like the oil pump has gone, he's getting quotes for the part now but believes they are quite dear (although I suppose he would). Thankfully there appears to be no other damage due to oil starvation, it runs OK with oil in, it just doesn't hold onto it for long!

I like to give gifts to make people happy - what's so wrong with that? I suppose I could make myself feel better and say I'm giving the mechanic a big gift :(

Only if ya spend it on mine - and buy the first round too :)

Hellraiser...........>

I paid less than 100 quid for my current banger. It didn't have much tax or test on it, but flew through the MOT, and to date I've not taken a spanner to it. As it's about 17 years old I even get classic insurance on it!

So it's cost me around £340 so far, I'm about to fit 50 quid of parts to try and fix a minor but annoying problem (engine rattle). I'm sure I could carry on driving it as is and it would last another year, but I like to have things right. Add another 60 quid for 6 months more tax and that's around £450 for a years motoring, bar fuel but including buying the car. That's actually less than just the insurance for me on a fairly mundane recent car!