I got round to changing the head gasket on an Astra over the weekend (C14NZ engine).
All seemed to go fine until the point of starting the engine which flatly refused to start.
On refitting the timing belt, I'd ensured that both the crank and camshaft were lined up with the TDC marks, and confirmed the camshaft by checking that the rotor arm was in the position to fire on cylinder 1.
However, cranking the engine resulted in just a smooth turn over - no "compression stutter". Continued cranking resulted in a slight stutter at which point I got the compression tester out. Cylinder 2 showed about 9 bar after 2-3 strokes. However, cylinders 1, 3 and
4 registered nothing.I'm thinking that it's now officially dead, but what's bugging me is:
- What's happened to it - compression was fine before the gasket went
- Did I miss something (to do with the valves maybe?)
Cheers Paul