I have just bought a very nice Astra at auction, needed a cheap economical runabout so found a 89,000 mile 02 reg Astra LS 1.7 DTI 16v eco 4 (Y17DT eco 4 engine) in silver with FSH for under £3000. At 89000 miles I expected the cambelt to have been done at least once, but the service book and lease company printout reveals the cambelt/tensioner is the original.
I rang 3 main dealers and was told the interval for that engine is 10 years or 100,000 miles! Do any readers know if that is correct, I thought Vauxhall had reduced the interval??
Obviously I will be changing the cambelt/tensioner/pulley pronto, but was wondering if the 3 dealers were talking duff gen??
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AFAIK it has always been 10 years 100k mi. on these. If it were my car though, I would be thinking about replacing it.
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I'd have it done straight away, you won't be saving anything by waiting, as you probably won't keep it until 200,000 miles will you?
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It will also give you a chance to check the troublesome oil pump pulley/nut. I'm not 100% sure of the exact nature of the fault but when I worked for Vauxhall (parts), we used to sell plenty of them!!
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No way would \I leave it til then. Had loads of vectra belts snap (same basic engine). Cauese expensive damage and it is you that picks up the bill. Cost 150 to get it done? Why risk it?
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I hope you haven't bought an Isuzu engined car. I did, the engine was knackered and I lost over 2 grand in three months. As far as cambelts go, if in any doubt, change the belt and all associated tensioners as a snaped belt waves goodbye to an engine on any Vauxhall>
STEER CLEAR OF ANY ISUZU ENGINED VAUXHALL DIESEL, CRAP DESIGN MEANS PARTS ARE RARER THAN RARE AS EVERYONE NEEDS THEM. I LOST A FORTUNE, DONT LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!!!!!!
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stuartl,
Just because you have had engine problems, it doesn't mean to say that everyone else has.
Can back up your claims with some true facts that all Isuzu engines are crap?
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I always thought it was a good little unit.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Thanks for the replies, the car is booked in next week for a cambelt/tensioner/pulley change at a local Vauxhall specialist, £100 for the Vx kit plus £60 labour, £160 all in so good value, the dealers wanted £250!
Yes the car is an Isuzu engined one, of which I have heard no bad reports (even in HJs car by car breakdown) and it seems to be more economical than the Vauxhall engines of 2002, it is also smooth and torquey for a 80 bhp unit so no complaints at all so far.
Ian
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I've heard they are good too.
Any engine will be a wreck if it's been neglected though...
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I hope you have more luck with your engine! I just hope for your sake it never needs a top end as from that moment it is a throwaway car. Mine had full dealer history (verified) but once the cams went it was a scrapper.
Do I sound bitter????? Dead right I do after wasting three grand on a piece of scrap metal. : o (
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Believe me Dave I have done extensive research into this. I bought an astra with an Isuzu dti engine. It had 100,00 miles on it with full dealer history. The camshafts (DOHC) had ground themselves into the housing and that is so common on these units that they are are rare as rocking horse dung secondhand.
As said previously, I have had to sell my car for spares or repairs due to this and lost a fortune in three months. From an X reg Astra I have now gone down to a K reg Orion just to get my kids to school.
This wasn't a case of just giving up on the car. I had no choice. Even the local Vauxhall dealer in Gloucester shook his head at the car.
DO YOUR RESEARCH AND YOU WILL FIND THE SAME.
We now have no car and no money to buy anything decent in the near future, though in saying that the Ford Orion we bought for £230 has been far more reliable than the Astra ever was : o )
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That's bad - where did you buy it from Stuart? Who were the previous owners?
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DO YOUR RESEARCH AND YOU WILL FIND THE SAME.
No need to shout.
Having owned and driven various Vauxhalls for some 21 years now, and different members of the family owning them long before that, you could say that I have Vauxhall tattoo'd through my bones. Being a member of several Vauxhall forums, I cannot ever recall what you mention ever being posted on them. So you could say that my research hasn't found the same at all.
The main problem with these engines is a cold start issue where the cure is to have the valve clearances reshimmed so that they can fully close. That's the really only negative thing I've ever seen written about these engines.
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never heard of problems of oil leaking from oil pipe at front of engine?
Can go from leak to sudden failure at speed. Catastrophic engine failure follows.
Not known of any engine not to have had some problems with it.
Just because you cant find any info doesnt mean they cant go bad. they can and do! I have experience of 2 of these with customers, both cost them lots of money! Sympathies with any body who has had problems like that.
But all engines can cause problems; not just this 1.
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I feel sorry for Stuartl, I really do. But to say that ALL Isuzu engined Vauxhalls are crap, is stretching things too far. What about the Isuzu engined Cavaliers & Astras of the mid to late 90's? They are still sought after and there are a fair few taxi's knocking around of these models, with huge mileages. Vauxhall Midi 2.4td? We had one as a parts van, it's still going now and the mileage is well over 100,000. Finally, what about the Vauxhall Brava 2.5td, the AA had these and having worked as a partsman for the AA, they were totally reliable, with no major work ever needing doing.
Like I said in an earlier post, there was an issue with the oil pump nut coming undone, resulting in most cases, a new engine being required, but these tended to be well before 100,000 miles so should have been 'put right' by now.
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I've always thought these were a tough unit aswell. The company I work for has run a couple of them to 150000 miles with absolutely no engine trouble- and they both sounded as sweet as the day they were new.
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Robcars,
I have an isuzu engined 1.5TD Corsa and I have noticed an oil leak on the cambelt side of the engine only when the engine is running, Could this be the fault you mention above?
Is it a big job £££ to replace the oil pipe as the car is effectively a banger.
Many Thanks
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Oil pipe is near to oil filter if i remember correctly, at bottom of engine on cambelt side. Its not dear to fix or difficult. BUT DO NOT LEAVE IT! It will fail without warning.
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As said previously, I have had to sell my car for spares or repairs due to this and lost a fortune in three months. From an X reg Astra I have now gone down to a K reg Orion just to get my kids to school. We now have no car and no money to buy anything decent in the near future, though in saying that the Ford Orion we bought for £230 has been far more reliable than the Astra ever was : o )
Being a Ford fan myself, IMO that was a step UP. ;-)
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