'98 opel corsa problem. help

catho_monster

this is a search for peace of mind thread.

i am clueless about cars.
just gave my car to my mechanic because people were telling me it wasn't right, i didn't even notice (yes, i am the kind of woman who should be even allowed to drive).
just rang him and he told me theres a problem that he wont touch with the timing chain/change (or something that sounds like that?).
he is going to ring the opel people for me to sus out what the story is with fixing it.

my questions are:
does anybody here know how big a job that is,
how expensive it will be
and
do i have to go to an opel garage or can i find some other random mechanic who could do it?

thanks in advance
c

Seth Brundle

some cars have a timing belt and others have a chain. The purpose of these is to keep the engine movements going like clockwork. if they don't go like clockworck then they won't go at all!!!!

did he say chain? I wouldn't have thought the corsa had a chain but I stand to be corrected.

What is the exact problem that he has found with the chain? Is it the sprockets or tensioner?

If it is the chain itself, does anyone know if a chain change is necessary [it is not on most chain driven cars!]?

mike65

Your mechanic is an idiot! There's nothing on a Corsa that a grease monkey cant fix/replace. Your engine has a timing belt NOT chain. You'll need to be a bit more helpful with the problem (how come you could'nt spot it when others could?) but I really cant belive its anything too big (I used to own a Mk 2 Corsa)

Mike.

catho_monster

sorry, as you said, I should have been more clear.

Your mechanic is an idiot!

this guy has been my saviour. differant things fall apart in my car every couple of months and this guy has never taken advantage of the fact that i dont know the first thing about what he is on about, and this i can see from what he charges me. there are numerous other reasons as to why he isnt an idiot, but now thats not my concern.

There's nothing on a Corsa that a grease monkey cant fix/replace

he said that he didnt do timing 'chains' as the job was too messy. if he doesn't do them, then i think i might forgive him for not knowing if it was a chain or a belt, based on the sound the car is making, i dunno:(

(how come you could'nt spot it when others could?)

i think that is because the problem has been there so long that i just took it as the sound of my car.

was on to him again,
there is a problem with the oil. he said it was leaking. and then asked if i had needed to fill it up dramatically if it was empty and i said no. to which he was surprised as the tank is full enough.

and i just realised, the oil light on the dash has been flashing for a while. it never stayed on and only came on when i was maybe stuck in traffic or when i was starting up the car and then went off again. and if there was always oil in it then what could that mean?
has that something to do with the belt?

its slowly dawning on me how blonde i am

thanks for all the help so far:)

Seth Brundle

no disrespect to your 'saviour' but if he can't do a timing belt replacement (something that a skilled DIYer can do) then he shouldn't be working in the trade!!!

If your timing belt is giving noise then do not drive the car - otherwise you stand to lose your entire engine!

he says it is leaking oil but that the oil level shows full - did he overfill it the last time? This could explain your oil pressure light coming on occasionally.

oil level has nothing to do with the belt!

IMO I would find another mechanic! If things are breaking every few months in the car then he must not be giving it a decent look over @ service time.

mike65

Originally posted by catho_monster

its slowly dawning on me how blonde i am

It must be a belt even the ancient 1.0 ohv was'nt chain driven. He must mean a belt and is using the term chain in a generic fashion. (Is he old-ish?) Belts
can be a pain to change but not impossible obviously.

The other thing is that a belt is silent so thats not whats causing the noise...the oil light should only be on if a its got too low and when the engine is started from stone cold and then it should go off within a second, the oil will have nothing to do with the belt.

I'm purplexed....

Mike.

edit> I should spend less time researching replies!

Seth Brundle

Mike, there is probably a tensioner keeping the belt tight.
Could make noise.

@ catho_monster: what does the noise sound like, when does it happen and what part of the engine bay is it coming from?

catho_monster

@ catho_monster: what does the noise sound like, when does it happen and what part of the engine bay is it coming from?

ok, having already stated that i really am green about this stuff, ill attempt to answer those questions:
the noise that i hear is chugging, like the car is gonna fall apart, but im not quite sure thats the noise that has anything to do with the belt.
it happens when im starting up and when im stuck in traffic. long journeys where im moving all the time are grand.
what part of the engine bay, im sorry but i would not have a clue.

mike65

If the engine is labouring then its almost certainly a fuel delivery/ignition timing problem. Your engine is fuel injected (a simple single-point system unles its a 16v model) and if the fuel distributor is out of whack or, more likely you have a ignition timing problem then the car can have symptoms like "chugging" (ie it lurches as you crawl along in traffic then when you get above a certain speed
it suddenly clears up, does that sound right?)

Mike.

catho_monster

ie it lurches as you crawl along in traffic then when you get above a certain speed

yep, that sounds right. not a lurch, as in i move forward or back, but a hesitation tho.

so does that mean that i have another problem to add to my list?

mike65

A hestitation is a small lurch! Yep another problem which has nothing to do with belts or oil.

BTW the belt is a service item i.e. it needs to be changed anyway after a certain milage - about 60,000 or 5 years I think. How many miles is on the clock?

The first thing to check is the ignition distributor as the problem could be a as simple (read cheap) as a bad rotor arm or cracked distributor cap (the bit where the black leads go). New HT leads might be a good idea (they go from the spark plugs to the distributor cap).

Mike.

VeVeX

Firstly Opel Corsa's post 97 with 1.0 12v and 1.2 16v Ecotec's have Timing Chain's.

Only an idiot who thinks he knows it all and clearly doesn't ,would call your mechanic and idiot when all he stated were facts.

If you dont belive me ring an opel dealer and ask for a Timing Chain replacement kit for the above engines. This kit cannot be got elsewhere as only genuine opel parts are available. This kit would cost around €390 + vat .

It is a pretty big job needing the head, sump and basicly the whole left hand side of the engine removed to gain access to the chain. More often then not it's the tensioners that is causing the problem but its best to replace all the parts at once.

No place in this topic have you (catho_monster) stated what engine is in you car. Is the engine management light on? Its yellow/orange ?

The most commen problems faced by Corsa b owners with the two mentioned engines are -

Idle air control valve
Air mass flow meter
Lambda sensor

From you discription of the problem I would suggest you remove the air box pipe from the inlet manifold and check the throttle body for "oil gunk" deposits. These deposits are from the oil vapours from the crankcase being returned through the induction to prevent the fumes being vented into the atmosphere. Its an easy job with a rag and a can of carb cleaner just clean out around the butterfly.

If there is a smell of petrol in the car when its "lurking" this is more then likely the problem. If not it is definitly worth doing anyway.

As for the timing chain this would not cause such problems as you've stated. If you cant find anyone to do it for you give me a shout and i'll put you onto someone who will. Dublin area though.

Hope this helps. If you have anymore questions let me know.

Mike65 get your facts straight before you go slating people would be wise the next time. Even your comment on the fuel injection is incorrect the 1.0L 12v is multi point.

mike65

Originally posted by KeithD
Firstly Opel Corsa's post 97 with 1.0 12v and 1.2 16v Ecotec's have Timing Chain's.


Mike65 get your facts straight before you go slating people would be wise the next time. Even your comment on the fuel injection is incorrect the 1.0L 12v is multi point.

My mistake I thought it was the '99 year model that saw the new engines introduced....no need to get shirty! You are assuming she has the newer engine of course. It could be one of the last of the belt-driven engines. Still until she says neither of us will know for sure....

Mike.

VeVeX

After 97 (not 99) the facelift models gained the new engine's i.e ecotec.

These engines are the same as the ones in current production in the corsa C, bar a few optimisations. Just one of them optimisations was in the timing chain department, which current 1.0L 12v and 1.2 16v XE engines still have.

Alot of info on corsa's can be found at http://www.corsasport.co.uk .

catho_monster

ok, first off,
KeithD, im really appreciating your help, thank you.

i have a 98 corsa, 1.0 engine.
how do i know if thats an ecotech??

Is the engine management light on? Its yellow/orange ?

nope, the only light coming on was the oil one, (for ages i might add, but never for long periods of time). the oil was apparantly leaking so the mechanic changed some screw thingy for me and the lights not going on anymore.

As for the timing chain this would not cause such problems as you've stated. If you cant find anyone to do it for you give me a shout and i'll put you onto someone who will. Dublin area though.

my mechanic is bringing it down to the opel garage in clondalkin tomorrow to sus out what the problem is.
maybe then i will see how to deal with it.
the 390euro +vat that you quoted is already out of my price range, so ill have to be very mindful of where i get the job done.

is an opel garage going to cost a lot more money than a one not run by opel??
or should i just go to the former one if i wanna get it done right, and once.?

im confused.

VeVeX

If its a 1.0L its an Ecotec. There was no 1.0L in previous models.

Can i suggest you ask you mechanic to check the inlet manifold / throttle body for the "oil gunk" I mentioned above firstly.

The €390 + vat I quoted above is for the parts kit and does not include labour. It is not possible to get third party parts for the job either. Opel will charge you in the region of €1000+ to do the work. Obviously your mechanic will be able to get these parts at trade price but expect to pay €550-€600 unless he'll do you some serious favours as its at least a 2 day job.

If the oil is changed every 6000k miles and a good quality semi - synthetic brand used it is unlikley you would have run into this problem. The main reason for the timing chain to get noisy is the oil not lubricating the chain due to age/dirt. The chain is claimed to last the life of the engine but in reality should be expected to last until around 80,000 miles.

I would recommend you get it done sooner rather then later. It will cost you alot more down the road if it snaps. This will result in a new / replacement engine being nessasary.

catho_monster

Opel will charge you in the region of €1000+ to do the work.

in light of that, here;s a question...

if i was to sell my car, with this timing thingy fixed, would i actually get 1000 euro for it? what the average price a 1litre 98 corsa gets these days??

im trying to figure out if it's worth it at all to do this. every few months something goes wrong with my car and the figures are beginning to add up.

VeVeX

Probably not worth your while doing it if you are going to sell it. You will not recoup the cost of the chain in your sale. I'd say 50% of these cars from '98 will have the same complaint as yourself.

Depending on the mile's and condition inside and out I would say your looking at around €4000 at best.

Its a pitty that your having so much problems with the car normally they are fairly reliable.

catho_monster

the next question is:
will i be able to sell it in it's current state, would the opel people buy it from me?

its not even a case of if im going to sell it.
i dont have 1000 euro.

im also having problems financing my insurance so ... at the end of the day it doesnt look like i have much choice...