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Astra engine mounts

I wonder if anyone can help, I have recently purchased a quite tidy 1989 Astra diesel estate which is fitted with the 17D engine.

Unfortunately it had been standing around for the best part of a year before I purchased it, the symptoms are that unless I'm very careful on acceleration and deceleration the vehicle jerks violently and the exhaust pipe rattles loudly, also the whole body has now started to resonate, although when I'm doing 50 or 60 mph on a decent road it appears to run quite smoothly.

The guy who did the MoT for me reckoned that it happened when he was delivering it back to me (I know from previous experience that he has a bit of a lead right boot!) and said that it was probably a 'soft' rear engine mount, he told me to look for an 'F' number on the gearbox so that he could identify the correct engine mount.

However as I was passing a local Vauxhall dealer I got one of the guys in the spares department to locate the number for me (which was F13) and purchased the correct part.

Hopefully his diagnosis is correct, if so wouldn't it be likely that all three mounts would be in a similar condition and therefore need replacing?

I have a pair of wheel ramps, a two-and-a- half ton trolley jack and an ancient torque wrench, what I would like to know is this a job that I can/should attempt myself, or would it be best left to a garage?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Reply to
Orange
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I don't know if there are any particular problems for your car, but IME fittings new mounts is usually fairly straight forward, especially the rear one. With the other 2, it can sometimes be awkward to get at the bolts to undo them with the engine in situ, but if you can, I'd say do it yourself. If you can rest the engine on the new mounts before finally tightening the bolts, I'd recommend you do so, but it's not essential. Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

Thanks Mike you've given me enough courage to go for it tomorrow, do you think I might get away with replacing just the one mount?

I also replaced the oil-filter and oil with some decent stuff (allegedly 33 per cent less engine wear) however I don't know whether it's my imagination but the racket now emitted from the top end sounds twice as loud as before, and on removing the oil filler cap I can't see much in the way of oil splashing around, although I must confess I've never previously owned or driven a diesel so don't really know if this is a normal situation, or just paranoia on my part!

In a reply to a different question another poster (Alan) recommended fitting a 'genuine' Vauxhall oil-filter, which set me wondering, especially after experiencing problems several years ago with a Ford Fiesta which was very noisy, mainly on start-up, fitting a proper Ford oil-filter cured the problem.

Reply to
Orange

is it the izusu engine..... my corsa 1.7d does the same...... changed the rear mount the timing belt side mount, only one i havent changed is the gearbox mount.....

no change, im begining to thing they all drive like that!

That said im not sure if its only since my mate did the clutch has it gone like that......

Reply to
Tom Burton

It's the original Vauxhall 1.7D engine which performance wise unfortunately doesn't even begin to compare with my old Astra 1.6 petrol estate, dispite its 170,000 miles on the clock!

In my case I am doubtful that it's the clutch, as both accelerating and de-accelerating will provoke the rather violent lurching effect even without touching the clutch, so I'm hoping that it's something as simple as a wobbly engine mount\s.

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Reply to
Orange

I once had a metro with soft springs in the clutch, if the engine mounts don't cure it than that may be worth a look.(Can you get the clutch out easily on the Vaux diesel?

Reply to
Duncan Wood

It appears to be a similar configuration to my old petrol model, which apparently is very easy, in fact an AA man once told me that he had actually replaced clutches in these models on breakdowns!

Reply to
Orange

He should be givern a gold clock, most AA men just want to tow you in just for a fan belt or some such!

I dunno about the Vaux diesel, i belive they have a little hatch to replace the clutch :)

Mine was a bitch, anti-roll bar, Gearbox had to come out, and the linkages never been reset propperly, now its like a dick in a bucket of custard.

Reply to
Tom Burton

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