Burnside Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Wow, apologies to you and the Cavalier about the state of that breather! 😳 I remember asking my usual garage to check / clean it out, after I had the sump gasket and a few other part's replaced a few years back but they forgot. I then intended on doing the job myself, but had the same difficulty finding someone locally willing to sell me a short length / correct size rubber hose. So left it for another day, as it wasn't at the time causing any obvious issues. With the oil changes, I carried them out every 4-5K max and always stuck to 15w40 decent branded oil and filter. I last replaced the filter inside the top of the cam cover about 2 years ago. Engine btw isn't the original unit, it came off a similar aged car with about 20,000 more than the car had done at the time. Cavalier had around 120,000 at the time. Clock's are the originals though. Throttle body was changed for a secondhand one off a car with 74,000 about 2 years ago for reason's I forgotten! Gearbox had a new side cover and gasket about 8 years ago and oil was last changed about 4 years ago with genuine GM Oil, along with a brand new old stock replacement gear linkage. Receipt's should be in the paperwork. Antifreeze was changed every 4 years with Red Antifreeze, cambelt is due now with age if I hasn't been done since I sold it. Radiator been replaced twice, petrol tank was replaced about a year after I brought it. Rear springs were replaced about 7 years ago. Rest of suspension, front springs, front top mounts, and all 4 shock absorbers were changed about 3-4 years ago too with Sachs / KYB items. Original number plates did have the Vauxhall Dealer in Burton Upon Trent stuck over them, which I peeled off. So must have been sold by them at some point. L547 JBM is a Luton registered car though. An I believe it started off life as a company car from new like most were, before being sold on possibly via the Vauxhall dealer? I purchased the car as a PX from a used garage in Tamworth, previous owner to me was local to there and had only owned it a couple of years but hadn't cared for it. Remember it was so filthy inside and out, that I took it round to my work place and cleaned it there before I took it home to show the family! juular, Lacquer Peel, Coprolalia and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 Don't worry about it @Burnside man! It's an old car and it would be difficult to see without taking the breather pipe off. I only spotted it as the rubber pipe was cracked and I wanted to replace it. It's clear it has been looked after from the way it drives. Good to know more about the history of the car. juular and Burnside 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnside Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 23 hours ago, Lacquer Peel said: Don't worry about it @Burnside man! It's an old car and it would be difficult to see without taking the breather pipe off. I only spotted it as the rubber pipe was cracked and I wanted to replace it. It's clear it has been looked after from the way it drives. Good to know more about the history of the car. Cheers @Lacquer Peel I'm just a worrier by nature, so felt bad for allowing it to get in that state. Still considering I brought it 12 years ago on a whim, with just a green slip and a valid Mot. It hasn't faired too badly! I've always liked knowing a car background, where it was 1st registered and previously lived etc. Shame the DVLA has done away with the previous keeper details on the new logbook's now. M'coli 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted December 2, 2020 Author Share Posted December 2, 2020 Not the end of the world. I think the ECU coolant temperature sensor is making it run rich but do you have any other ideas @Burnside? Burnside, Cavcraft, juular and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnside Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Lacquer Peel said: Not the end of the world. I think the ECU coolant temperature sensor is making it run rich but do you have any other ideas @Burnside? Coolant temp switch isn't a bad shout, as you say. Not sure what else to suggest to be honest. I was advised though that previously blanking the EGR valve off doesn't help with the emissions, but I'm sure it wasn't working correctly anyway. Otherwise maybe worth checking around the engine bay for any failed/ brittle pipework etc. If you google up the C18NZ engine code, there might be some helpful information / advice from forums like the CavalierMK3 OC which is free to register too or MigWeb. Edited December 2, 2020 by Burnside error juular and Lacquer Peel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 Me and @juular had a look at the grot and it doesn't seem too bad but I'm worried that the rich running has destroyed the cat. I am hoping that changing the ECU coolant sensor at a minimum and maybe the O2 sensor beyond that will get the emissions under control. Pretty hopeful the Cav will live on! Jim Bell, Burnside, sdkrc and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M'coli Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 I'm feeling a touch guilty about this... 😧 Lacquer Peel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 Just now, M'coli said: I'm feeling a touch guilty about this... 😧 Don't worry about it! It's a very old car with high mileage and let's say I didn't pay for all of the roffle tickets. Burnside, M'coli and davehedgehog31 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 15 minutes ago, M'coli said: I'm feeling a touch guilty about this... 😧 I'd blame the prick who sold him it... The Moog, Cavcraft, Burnside and 2 others 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 it can be fixed by lobbing a c20xe in it - im sure a local chav will have one on timeshare in his corsa b. Burnside and Lacquer Peel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loserone Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 57 minutes ago, 320touring said: I'd blame the prick who sold him it... Or the guy who bought the ticket 320touring, Burnside, M'coli and 1 other 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 So long as it's not been misfiring the cat will *probably* be okay. The O2 sensor would be more likely to have been taken out by it as they can get clogged. It's unburned fuel causing them to overheat or oil contamination that really kills them. Bit of slightly rich running won't likely have done any permanent harm unless you've been smoking like a knackered diesel for months. You may find you need to get it blazing hot to clean some of the crud out though, so a good blast back to the testing station would probably be a good plan. If there's a high speed road involved cruising in 4th rather than 5th for a while is a good bet. ...Just like clearing out a DPF these days! Floatylight, Lacquer Peel and juular 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave j Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 As above a damn good thrashing before the mot may help, I had a car fail emissions, we removed the air filter and it passed! So could be worth checking the air filter isnt ancient juular and Lacquer Peel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_Rocket Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 These early CAT cars with their single point injection were always difficult to get through their emissions test. The CAT needs to be hot, really hot. If the MoT tester hadn't already realised it was going to fail on rust, he might have tried to get it through by heating it up a bit. I think a new CTS, Lambda sensor and a proper Italian tune up, would give you a fighting chance. Good luck! juular, Lacquer Peel and Burnside 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 I did give it a good thrashing pre-MOT but it ended up sitting there for longer than expected, the tester couldn't suss out the immobiliser. Rusty_Rocket 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juular Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 Looking at the corrosion, it's just a small section at the towbar mount and a section of boot floor. I'm thinking a cut out and replace job would take me an afternoon. The car doesn't look too bad apart from that. Driving behind it for a bit, it does smell a bit rich. @Lacquer Peel I think you need to book an MOT further away and rag it up the M9! The Moog, Burnside and Lacquer Peel 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loserone Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 3 minutes ago, Lacquer Peel said: longer than expected By about 48 hours 🤣 Lacquer Peel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 17 hours ago, Rusty_Rocket said: These early CAT cars with their single point injection were always difficult to get through their emissions test. The CAT needs to be hot, really hot. If the MoT tester hadn't already realised it was going to fail on rust, he might have tried to get it through by heating it up a bit. I think a new CTS, Lambda sensor and a proper Italian tune up, would give you a fighting chance. Good luck! Yep, the Lada was like this. Horrible red numbers everywhere until we held it at 3500rpm for about five minutes - then almost instantly all the numbers dropped to near zero (except lambda obviously) and turned green. The tendency for earlier cat cars to have the cat quite a long way from the engine really doesn't help in this regard either. Rusty_Rocket, Lacquer Peel and Burnside 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnside Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 On 12/3/2020 at 10:05 PM, 320touring said: I'd blame the prick who sold him it... I don't know the geezer, sound a right chancer though. I'd get trading standards in mate. I'd definitely do as others have already suggested above and give it a decent drive/ thrash before putting it on the emissions tester. As the places I took it too, always ment a quick dash up the A38 just before it was tested so cat / engine was Red Hot. Maybe worth cleaning out the injectors or running redex etc through the injection/ carb unit and giving it some beans. After doing some thinking, at the last Mot it had with me. I had a new lamba sensor and front downpipe fitted as the pipe was blowing and in turn affected the emissions reading. An thinking back some more, the Cavalier had some previous trouble getting through the Mot on emissions about 4/5 years ago. Which was after sitting for about 6 months due to having to wait until I could afford the welding it needed. So I had a brand new TYPE 2 spec cat fitted which wasn't a cheapo jobbie which sorted it. Also worth checking out the manifold in case of a blow/ leak too, as seam to remember that was also the other problem it had, along with the cat at the time. The Moog, Lacquer Peel and juular 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 It is a bit "parpy". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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