Lankytim Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 Hi gang, Noticed today that the Disastra didn't have any coolant in it's header tank.... it took 2 pints to fill it to the correct level. When the engine was started the hoses became rock solid and a funny gurgling sound was heard from behind the dash. My fears of HG failure were confirmed by the water wazzing out of the downpipe/manifold joint and the engine only wanting to run on 3 on startup. Looks like the HG is leaking! Typically we were planning on taking it to Cornwall on Thursday for a family holiday, not sure that's a great idea in its current state. We were planning on selling the Astra within the next few months as it has other issues (will need an exhaust soon, and it sometimes suffers with "kangerooing") and replace it with Mums old Fusion when I have just inherited, so I basically CBA trying to fix this head gasket issue properly. I have heard good thing about this K seal stuff, is it any good? I only need it to last 2000 miles or so, after that I plan to flog/scrap the thing. So.... Any K seal advice?
Pete-M Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 Unfortunately, it sounds like that's too far gone for K sealage. HG isn't an end of the world job on 'em though.
M'coli Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 That's what I was thinking, although HG replacment is a bit of a doddle on the 8v Vauhall engine. If you do go ahead and change it, do make sure that you have a suitable socket for the new stretch bolts, unlike me when I did the cavalier's last year - old bolts were 16-17mm hex-head and only opened the box for the new stretch bolts to discover they were star-head when the head was off and the car immobile!
solid61 Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 Head job on 8v astra is a piece of pi55,can be done in a few hours if you are swift with the spanners and parts are cheap.Only thing that will slow things down is if the head needs a skim,ive done plenty without a skim and had no problems so far,leave the manifolds on when you take the head off and youll get away with buying a head gasket only,will only cost 10 to 15 squid.
Lankytim Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 A week I think.... The car is still driveable and only needs topping up every week or so, I recon it would be fine on the drive to Cornwall and back, but if it does go pop in Penzance I could put a downer on the whole holiday. We could take Mum's Fusion, but it needs MOTing, Taxing and the insurance swapping before Wednesday... impossible I recon. I have considered just fitting a new HG, but with the cars other issues I just can't be bothered, especially as its being replaced soon anyway.
Cavcraft Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 Oh aye, don't forget to change water pump and stat too, I think the latter is stupidly hidden behind the cam belt on these.
Lankytim Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Mrs Lankytim has just come back from a bit of shopping and reported that the Astra is now a bit difficult to start. Sure enough it seems a cylinder is hydrolocking and jamming the engine, it soon clears after a couple of attempts though. The header tank is now empty again, too. How difficult is it to do a HG on these? I guess iv'e got nothing to loose by giving it a shot tomorrow, the car is scrap with a borked engine anyway. How does the cam belt tensioner work on these?
Cavcraft Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 Tim if you get stuck and can get temp insurance you can borrow my Honda Civic (5 door hatch) if it's just for the week. Pm me if you want a borrow and we'll sort something out. We did the h/g on an 8V Corsa recently but can't remember how my lad locked the cam. I'm out at the mo and so is he (different places) if he comes home tonight I'll ask him how he did it and let you know.
M'coli Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 The question is...how good is the radiator? Is it good enough to drive around with the expansion tank cap not done up tight? I found that mine was ok (for 19 months!) with a shonky head gasket if I left the cap loose. PS, you don't need to lock the cam on these, just bolt it back together the way it came apart - they're dead simple to work on.
richardthestag Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 step up to the mark man! I could do an Rover V8 HG by close of Monday. including getting parts on Monday! good luck and have a great holiday
Lankytim Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Cheers for the offer Billy, I think we can borrow a car from the grandparents if we get really stuck though... or use the Volvo and take the hit for the extra fuel cost. Ive done a head swap on an O series Maestro which was very straightforward so i'm gonna have a crack at this tomorrow. I just hope Halfrauds have the bits I need in stock, no time for Ebay cut price bargains!
CreepingJesus Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 If it's the same as the older ones, then the water pump is the tensioner. It turns in its housing once you free 3 hex head bolts. IIRC, the cam sprocket has a hole in it, thro' which you stick a 6mm drillbit to lock the cam at TDC of #1 cylinder. It's piss easy to do, I've never done one easier since.
Lankytim Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 The question is...how good is the radiator? Is it good enough to drive around with the expansion tank cap not done up tight? I found that mine was ok (for 19 months!) with a shonky head gasket if I left the cap loose. Not sure I want to drive to Cornwall and back like that! In answer to the waterpump query, I think this model of engine has a seperarte tensioner-
Des Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 I once did a Cavalier head in about half an hour, it was an old shitter but had a towbar whose services I required, only had a few months tax and mot keeping its rusty ass from the scrapyard, I zipped out the head bolts with a rattle gun, tipped the head a little by the dizzy end keeping the cambelt in mesh, kind of, managed to prise the old gasket out with a steel rule and slid in a nice secondhand one with the bolt holes trimmed open and a thick coating of lumpy vintage red oxide paint to fool the engine into thinking it was new, (going easy around the oilway obviously), gunned the head back on nice and tight, and with fresh pre-owned oil and filter the thing did me proud.Although for the first few hours use it was putting out a lot of steam, but then cleared up, that will have been the coolant filled exhaust drying out, and after a couple of weeks it dumped a puddle of coolant, but that was only a small hole in a core plug, fixed with a fat woodscrew dipped in the red oxide.
meggersdog Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 The belt adjuster has 2 small holes which,when lined up, can be locked using an 1/8th inch drill bit (use the shaft)Undo the four torx/allen bolts on the crank pulley not the centre bolt as that will take the sprocket off.The cam carrier is separate from the head so remove this and the cam followers before removing the head.When it's back together,after the head bolts have been torqued down dob a bit of typex on each one in roughly the same place as when it comes to the degree stages you will know which bolts have been tightened by looking at where the typex mark is.
Lankytim Posted June 24, 2012 Author Posted June 24, 2012 Just started to take it to bits now. Not sure if there's any need to take the cam carrier off, I just plan to take the cam celt off, undo the exhaust downpipe and connections on the inlet side and just pull the entire head off. I hope i'm not deluding myself! Just rang around the only car spares place in Stoke that will be open today (smithsons) and they don't have a HG. Bah, looks like Mrs Lankytim will be catching the bus to work on Monday!
Cavcraft Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 The cam carrier will split from the head when you take the (head) bolts off, Tim. Incidentally when putting it back together we used black silicon (there's no gasket 'twixt head and cam carrier) but apparantly you're supposed to use Hylomar. Is there no Halfrauds near to you mate? They sometimes have stuff like this in and if you try them and they don't have one locally ask them if they can check both Chester stores and let you know if one of them has one. If so I can collect it for you and probably get it a bit cheaper with my trade card.
Lankytim Posted June 24, 2012 Author Posted June 24, 2012 Rang the local one and they said they could get one in 5 days. Useful.... They didn't know any that had one in stock, either! Anyway, I have taken the head off and got everything cleaned up and ready for the new HG. Very easy going so far....
Station Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 Yes, water pump and thermostat is behind the cambelt on these. I changed everything on my old one in two hours. Change the idler pulley if it hasn't been changed. Here's some pics: A slightly clogged thermostat: C14SE Thermostat by Jibijib, on Flickr There's my problem! C14SE Thermostat Housing by Jibijib, on Flickr C14SE Thermostat Housing by Jibijib, on Flickr Seized central: C14SE Belt Removed by Jibijib, on Flickr New pulley: C14SE Tensioners by Jibijib, on Flickr All back together again: C14SE Cambelt Change by Jibijib, on Flickr
Station Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 Rang the local one and they said they could get one in 5 days. Useful.... They didn't know any that had one in stock, either! Anyway, I have taken the head off and got everything cleaned up and ready for the new HG. Very easy going so far.... Try Quality Factor in Elesemere Port/Chester, they're open today.
Lankytim Posted June 24, 2012 Author Posted June 24, 2012 Hi gang! Bit of an update, I rang around and found a place with the right head gasket, but it was closing in 20 minutes and I live 20 minutes away. So after a quick hoon in the 240 I just about managed to squeeze in before he locked up. Top fella and very helpful! The place is Autotec, Commerce St, Longton, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire ST3 1NW Tel: 01782 314445 I bought a HG, some special sealant stuff and a thermostat for £23. Reassembly was as straightforward as the strip down, the only clanger I dropped was winding the tensioner for the alternator belt the wrong way, when I pulled the locking pin out it span around with great force and snapped the ally bracket for the crank sensor, Disaster! . I managed to do a temp repair by drilling a hole either side of the break, then pinning the two parts together with a piece Volvo door lock pushrod, cut and shaped into a horseshoe shape. All this was slathered with araldite/chemical metal stuff and it seems to have worked a treat! The grand start-up revealed a horribly misfiring engine, there didnt seem to be any compression on number 4 cylinder! After much head scratching I removed the rocker cover and found one of the "rockers" had fallen out of place when putting the cam carrier back on, meaning it held the valve open. After a bit of pushing with a spanner and screwdriver it popped back into place with the result that the engine now runs sweet as a nut! Temp gauge now works and the engine is running better than ever. Best of all I think the issue with "kangarooing" has gone! Just need to give it a good blast to settle everything down and re-torque the head bolts. Thanks for all the advice, you lot have really saved the day!
KruJoe Posted June 24, 2012 Posted June 24, 2012 BACK O' THE NET Tim, well done! Hope it holds together alright for you. I actually lol'd at Des! That's ace. But why the red oxide?
Des Posted June 25, 2012 Posted June 25, 2012 BACK O' THE NET Tim, well done! Hope it holds together alright for you. I actually lol'd at Des! That's ace. But why the red oxide? A secondhand headgasket is hard and compressed and pretty useless, wouldn't form a seal with Mick Jaggers mouth, the paint is to act as gasket sealant, red oxide, when it's a bit old and stodgy looks a lot like hemetite red, and that's good enough for me.
Lankytim Posted June 25, 2012 Author Posted June 25, 2012 UPDATE!! Mrs Lankytim has been using the Astra for work, and everything has been GR8, as I said, it's running better than ever BUT.... I checked the head bolts so see if any had needed re-torquing and I snapped one off . It probably doesn;t help that the torque wrench I was using was 30 years old and has never been checked for accuracy. I thought that the next steps would include a new head gasket and a repeat of Sundays fun but with a long screwdriver I managed to wind the broken piece of bolt out of the block without removing anything. Phew! Being a cheapskate i'm going to get a used bolt from the local breakers and use that, I need to get a new bracket for the crank sensor anyway. Looks like i'm going to have to book Wednesday off work. I 'm just going to let the Mrs drive it to work tomorrow with the head bolt missing, It's one towards the middle and not on the end of the head I think it should be fine for a day or so. I hope.....
The Reverend Bluejeans Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Yes, water pump and thermostat is behind the cambelt on these. I changed everything on my old one in two hours. Change the idler pulley if it hasn't been changed. Here's some pics: A slightly clogged thermostat: C14SE Thermostat by Jibijib, on Flickr There's my problem! C14SE Thermostat Housing by Jibijib, on Flickr C14SE Thermostat Housing by Jibijib, on Flickr Seized central: C14SE Belt Removed by Jibijib, on Flickr New pulley: C14SE Tensioners by Jibijib, on Flickr All back together again: C14SE Cambelt Change by Jibijib, on Flickr The fact that it managed to endure that much neglect and still run is amazing. Good old GM!
Lankytim Posted June 27, 2012 Author Posted June 27, 2012 Agreed, those pics look like something thats been discovered in the bottom of a quarry! Anyway, new sensor bracket and head bolt fitted today thanks to the local scrappy. Yay!
cort16 Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Glad to see you got it fixed. Now it's in prime fettle for chasing mrB0ll0x down the motorway.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now