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Corsa 1.5 td noisy engine

Hi

I have a Corsa td 1997 102k on the clock. I've had this car for a month. The problem is that it is very noisy. The previous owner has recently admitted that the she blew the head gasket 2 months ago after noticing steam coming from the bonnet. She says that the gasket was repaired and the head skimmed. Apart from general noise there seems to be a loss of power and the engine really sounds awful above 3000 revs. The fuel economy is only 40 mpg which should be fifty. When decelerating from

60+mph there is a groaning sound from the engine.

My guess is that the head is warped or camshaft bent but what is puzzling is there is no loss of coolant whatsoever or any sign of coolant in the oil. There is a plume of white smoke on start up and the car does struggle to start from cold, after a few seconds it seems to need extra revs to keep going for a full 30 secs or so all the while white smoke is being emitted. Only then it will tick over by itself.

One day a friend reved it very hard from cold 6000 rpm+. To our astonishment the car went very quiet and ticked over as it should but that only lasted 10 mins!

If the head is warped does it send the timing out, hence lack of power and fuel economy??

I've bought a second hand head but am concerned that the groaning noise when decelerating from 60+ mph is the block.

After reading haynes it doesn't seem that difficult to change the head, has anyone got any comments on the difficulty or any advice on changing heads on this vehicle? The setting of the timing belt looks a lot easier than some cars or am I kidding myself?!! How high do I need to raise the vehicle? My theory is that if I do the head myself then it won't matter too much if it's also the block that is making noise!

Thanks very much to any replies

Jon

(please don't ask why I bought the car in the first place- I've been ripped off!!!)

Reply to
Jonathan Curtis
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They all sound like that.

Reply to
SteveH

Hydraulic lifter problems or some other excess valve clearancees caused by some problem??

White smoke is usually poor compressions- if its running on all 4, if it starts on 2 or 3 pots then look at the glowplugs, OR faulty timing advance on the injector pump. It could well be that the cam timing is wrong after the head gasket was replaced- you need a dial gauge to set these up as there are no marks- same as with the Vx 1.7 NA and Low-Blow engines.

If the cam was bent or head warped it would have let go by now..

Tim..

Reply to
Tim (Remove NOSPAM.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@mygate.mailgate.org, Jonathan Curtis decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

It's a diesel, and not a very good one at that.

HTH

Reply to
Pete M

Sounds like you really don't know much about engines so take it easy if you are going to replace the head. Heads don't warp like an old piece of wood. Just enough to stop them sealing properly is all that is needed. Sometimes skimming can remove too much material and the compression ratio is then way too high. This can then upset the timing as the standard timing spec wouldn't necessarily be appropriate.

The white smoke on startup could be unburnt diesel?? They all sound like tractors too me.

Reply to
adder

Thanks for the replies guys

When I took the car to vauxhall for a free inspection (!!!) the 'experienced mechanic' opened the oil filler cap and explained that the small plume of grey smoke was a sign the rings and bores were very worn. Would the hydraulic lifters or timing problem give the same problem? He told me there should be a suction felt if you put your hand over the mouth of the oil filling point. I've since tried this on my Audi 80

1.6td and it does the same as the corsa and it's as quiet as new! So was the vauxhall mechanic wrong?

Thanks again, I'll report back when I've got the solution which might be ages if I do it.I think it's best to try the second hand head rather than take the lifters and possibly camshaft out of it and put them in the existing head.

Jon

Reply to
Jonathan Curtis

Aren't they the ones with shimmed valves?

Reply to
George Spigot

Try a local FER approved engine reconditioners. If it was actually smoke then I'm amazed it started at this time of year

Reply to
DuncanWood

Perhaps describing it as smoke is not quite accurate. It's a pressure release that feels similar to a hair dryer on low to medium, you can just about make out that it's colour is grey if you look very closely. An experienced friend has also said that it's the rings and pistons if it does this especially if it's worse when the car has warmed up.

Reply to
Jonathan Curtis

Well you can get it compression tested or leak down tested cheaply , that would confirm it.

Reply to
DuncanWood

Maybe kevin the resident main dealer trainee was asked to strip the head prior to it being sent off to the machine shop. Kevin lays all the componants out carefully inside a plastic bag. A few days later ... shake and shuffle, bung everything in different to how it came out ... and hey presto, low compressions on certain cylinders, valvetrain noise on others and generally an unhealthy engine. Bodge/sell/scarper .. you've bought a duff 'un!!

Reply to
Mr Fix It

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