Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers

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Sun 27 Aug 2017 18:31
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - Wobble Chernobyl

Looking for some advice please. I bought a Corsa C with a 1.2 16v engine with 70,000 miles and FSH.

Shortly after buying it, I discovered that the exhaust followers on cyl 3 and 4 had detatched from their proper position - i.e. the 'cup' was no longer located on the hydraulic lifter. The car was running rough with a lot of top-end noice. I took the cam out, inspected it (it's worn, but not excessively so) and refitted the followers.

All was fine for a few hundred miles, then yesterday one of the followers on cylinder 1 islodged itself and the OBD flagged a fault code P0301 'misfire in cylinder 1'.

Today I took the cam out again - and re-fitted the follower...... but what could be causing it? It's now happened on 3 different cylinders.

The only other 'sympton' is on cold startup, the top end rattles like a bag of bolts for 3 or 4 seconds while the lifters fill with oil - but that's fairly normal, right?

Here's a couple of pictures -

1. with the cam still in situ : flic.kr/p/WUjePg

2. with the cam removed : flic.kr/p/WUjeUB

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Sun 27 Aug 2017 18:44
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - RT

It's been badly maintained in the past - possibly the wrong oil at long intervals - the Vauxhall Family I 16v engines we've had have been sweet as a sewing machine at 100,000 miles - but that was using 0W-40 Mobil1 fully synthetic every 5,000 miles instead of 10W-40 part-synthetic every 10 or 20,000 miles.

You need to make a decision about how good the rest of the car is - if it's a good one apart from this, get the engine rebuilt - otherwise move it on and replace it.

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Sun 27 Aug 2017 18:52
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - Wobble Chernobyl

"it's been badly maintained" - how do you conclude that? I mentioned in my OP that it's FSH and 70k miles - i.e. the oil has been changed every 5,000 miles.

"Get the engine rebuilt". No, it's a specific problem with a specific group of components (the camshaft, the cam followers and cam lifters). Rebuilding the engine would be like re-wiring your entire house because a lightbulb keeps blowing.

I'm really looking for views on what the actual problem might be...

Edited by Wobble Chernobyl on 27/08/2017 at 18:52

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Sun 27 Aug 2017 19:21
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - Oli rag

Could the hydraulic lifters be worn or clogged s, stopping them from extending properly allowing a gap to form?

I suppose low oil pressure could also cause it but it would have to be very low I suspect.

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Sun 27 Aug 2017 19:45
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - Wobble Chernobyl

Yeah I was thinking the same mate.... just looking into replacement options. £6 a pop seems to be the going rate on eBay, though I might just go with the exhaust ones first as they seem to be the only ones affected so far.

Cheers.

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Sun 27 Aug 2017 19:40
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - RT

"it's been badly maintained" - how do you conclude that? I mentioned in my OP that it's FSH and 70k miles - i.e. the oil has been changed every 5,000 miles.

"Get the engine rebuilt". No, it's a specific problem with a specific group of components (the camshaft, the cam followers and cam lifters). Rebuilding the engine would be like re-wiring your entire house because a lightbulb keeps blowing.

I'm really looking for views on what the actual problem might be...

I conclude that by the very early mileage that a major problem has occurred - it's quite possible to have FSH and still be badly maintained - camshaft, followers and lifters are a major problem with the cylinder head, not similar to a blown bulb at all.

You asked for advice - I offered mine, use it as you wish.

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Sun 27 Aug 2017 20:14
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - Wobble Chernobyl

"it's been badly maintained" - how do you conclude that? I mentioned in my OP that it's FSH and 70k miles - i.e. the oil has been changed every 5,000 miles.

"Get the engine rebuilt". No, it's a specific problem with a specific group of components (the camshaft, the cam followers and cam lifters). Rebuilding the engine would be like re-wiring your entire house because a lightbulb keeps blowing.

I'm really looking for views on what the actual problem might be...

I conclude that by the very early mileage that a major problem has occurred - it's quite possible to have FSH and still be badly maintained - camshaft, followers and lifters are a major problem with the cylinder head, not similar to a blown bulb at all.

You asked for advice - I offered mine, use it as you wish.

"camshaft, followers and lifters are a major problem with the cylinder head". No, the problem could be as simple as a £6 hydraulic lifter. Hardly catastrophic for a 14 year old car, and has nothing to do with maintenance history.

You're right - you did offer "advice". Unfortunately your "advice" was that I should either get an engine re-build or sell the car on - neither of which are remotely necessary!

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Sun 27 Aug 2017 23:14
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - Wobble Chernobyl
Sorry - re-reading the above, my tone was unnecessary. I don't think it's a maintainance issue or one that requires a rebuild to fix... but thanks for your input.
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Sun 27 Aug 2017 23:32
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - elekie&a/c doctor
The only problem I have encountered with these,is around 2005 GM had an issue with the cam bearing cap bolts coming loose due to them not being torqued up correctly from the factory.This could cause noise from top end or in severe cases the camshaft could snap.May or may not be related to your problem.
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Mon 28 Aug 2017 09:20
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - Wobble Chernobyl

Yes I read about that issue. Unfortunately I've had both cams out and re-torqued the caps quite tight, so I know they are not loose. Thanks anyway.

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Mon 28 Aug 2017 10:39
Vauxhall Corsa C - Vauxhall 1.2 16v engine - cam followers - hardway

Given my experience with these engine I'd start by doing an oil pressure test on a cold engine.

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