Tag Archives: vauxhall corsa timing chain gasket failure

Vauxhall Corsa D 1.2 (A12XER) Timing Chain Rattle.

We had this little Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 booked in with us for a ‘really bad engine noise’.

Once the car was in the workshop it became apparent very quickly what the noise was, the Timing Chain was rattling so bad we were surprised it hadn’t jumped a tooth and caused engine damage!

When we were stripping the engine down to put the Timing Tools in place we could see just how badly stretched the chain had become, the crank locking pin went straight in but both cam shafts were out by quite a lot.

There are several variants of the Vauxhall timing chain engines most of which requiring different timing tools which we have, 1.0 – A10XEP, 1.0 – A10XER, 1.2 – A12XER, 1.2 – A12XEL, 1.4 – A14XEL, 1.4 – A14XER, 1.4 – A14NET to name just a few.

Timing Tool A is for the Camshaft Position Rings, Tool F is for the Camshafts.

After removing the timing chain cover we could start to see what had caused the problem, the oil was very black and there was a lot of burnt carbon oil inside all the covers.

All engines require regular servicing to keep them in tip top condition but especially modern engines that run a timing chains rather than a timing belt, we are seeing more and more engines requiring timing chain kits prematurely due to a lack of servicing, poor quality oil or the wrong spec oil.

Once we had replaced the timing chain kit and re-aligned all timing marks it was time to clean all off the engine casings and refit, replace the oil and filter and refill the coolant.

When we removed the oil filter this gave us another indication of what had caused the problem, the middle of the oil filter had been sucked in, caused by the paper element of the filter being completely full of oil carbon and struggling to allow fresh oil through it, which in turn starves crucial parts of the engine of oil (timing chain) allowing them to wear, over heat and stretch.

On this particular car we advised the customer that over the next 20,000 miles they should have several oil and filter changes to help remove carbon deposits that we couldn’t see or get to whilst doing the job and this will help increase the life of their engine.

Aarons Autos car service garage.

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Vauxhall Corsa oil in coolant and timing chain noisy.

Vauxhall Corsa oil in coolant and timing chain noisy.

This Vauxhall Corsa came into the garage after the owner had notice that the coolant was being contaminated with oil. Whilst we were looking into the problem we also noticed the timing chain was very noisy and with no visible problems we informed the customer that we would need to strip the timing side of the engine to investigate the problem.

Vauxhall Corsa timing chain gasket failure.

On stripping the timing chain side of the engine both problems were quickly diagnosed. We found that the gasket separating the oil from the coolant behind the timing chain cover had failed letting the two mix together, also when the timing tools were inserted the timing chain was found to be stretched which was causing the rattling noise.

Vauxhall Corsa timing chain gasket (in black) failed.

Vauxhall Corsa timing chain gasket failure close up.

We replaced the timing chain, guides, sprockets and gasket then flushed the cooling system to remove any remaining oil from the system. After performing a intrim service and a full anti freeze change the Vauxhall Corsa engine was nice and quite and the oil was no longer mixing with the coolant.

Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info

Cambelt Replacement on Mileage or Age?

Aarons Autos Cambelt ReplacementOne of the biggest problems we have with customers when talking about cambelts is that they always say My cambelt isn’t due till 60,000 miles!” even though the car is ten years old and the dealer recommends 60,000 OR five years!! 

The main component of a cambelt is rubber which deteriorates over time, this is one of the main reasons that dealers specify a time interval as well as a mileage interval.

Renault Megane Sport R26 handling problems.

Megane R26 lowering springs

We had a call from a Megane R26 owner saying that his handling was poor and he suspected that the lower swivel bearings were at fault.

As he was from Hertfordshire it was hard to diagnose it over the phone so we recommended that he come up and we would do a full suspension check.

After he arrived we checked the car over to find the O/S/F road spring had broken and this was the cause of the handling problems he had been having.

Renault’s spring prices are ridiculous so it was quickly decided that the customer would source a new set of lowering springs from Eibach and would return to have them fitted.

A week later the customer returned and the springs were fitted and all the handling problems
were eradicated leaving a happy customer.

Toyota Hilux Surf overheating and pink liquid coming from the gearbox.

 

Aarons Autos Automatic Gearbox repairsOn his way to work this customers Toyota Hilux Surf started to overheat so he pulled over to check his coolant to find it had all gone.

He topped up the coolant but as soon as he started the car it disappeared and when he looked underneath there was a puddle of pink creamy liquid coming from half way down the vehicle.

He had it recovered to the garage and it was our challenge to find out what had gone wrong.

First we removed all the under trays and found the pink creamy liquid was coming from the top automatic gearbox breather!

We drained the gearbox to find it was full of gearbox/coolant mix indicating a major failure in the gearbox cooling system.

The next port of call was to check the gearbox oil cooler which is situated in the bottom of the radiator and straight away we found that this was the cause of the problems.

As the vehicle was a import the customer was able to source a radiator cheaper than the main
dealer, the next day it arrived and we fitted it as required, next was the clean out operation of the cooling system and gearbox which we did with a coolant flush and gearbox flush.

The customer was informed that as we couldn’t get all the oil and coolant out of the cooling system and gearbox he would have to return the car for future flushes.

Once all of the work was completed we needed to test drive the car to make sure it selected all of its gears as it should and that there was no more mixing of the gear oil and coolant.

Bmw X5 M-sport suspension fault.

BMW X5 Air Suspension fault

A very worried customer rang saying his car was hissing and the suspension had dropped on the N/S/R, We of course told him to bring it in straight away to find the fault and a solution.

On inspection it was apparent that the N/S/R suspension air bag wasn’t lifting the vehicle as it should.

We connected the BMW to our diagnostic computer and tried to re-inflate the air bag but the hissing returned and a hole was found in the suspension airbag.

Aarons Autos BMW specialistWe sourced a new air bag at half the price of the dealer part, fitted it to the car and programmed it through the diagnostic computer. Once the vehicle started the suspension system re-inflated the car was ready for the customer to take away the same day leaving a happy customer.

Alfa Romeo Mito Gearbox Troubles.

Aarons Autos Alfa Romeo Specialists

This Alfa Romeo Mito came into us with a complaint of a strange smell, also the gearbox was noisy and sometime’s locking up.

The gearbox had to be removed to try and find the problem.

As we started to remove the gearbox it became obvious that the strange smell the customer had complained of was in fact gear oil.

After removing the gearbox we found a hole in the casing and several ball bearings
etc that had punched their way into the bell housing.

After talking to our gearbox specialist we found that this was a common problem with the Alfa
Mito and the gearbox unfortunately was un-repairable.

The customer decided to let us source a reconditioned gearbox and replace the
clutch (whilst the gearbox was out).

Two days later the gearbox arrived, so we fitted the reconditioned unit into the vehicle along with a new clutch kit.

Once the work was completed and tested the customer collected their Alfa Mito and was very
happy as we had saved him £££’S on a new gearbox from the main dealer.

Citreon Picasso clutch pedal sticking.

Aarons Autos Citroen clutch

This Picasso was brought in to us with its clutch pedal sticking down causing the car to not
drive as it should.

As soon as we checked the clutch pedal it was very apparent there was a major fault on the clutch itself.

We removed the gearbox and clutch to find the clutch pressure plate hadAarons Autos Derby Clutch Replacement split into 3 pieces!

Something we had never seen before!

The customer was informed of the problem, the clutch kit was replaced and gearbox refitted as required. The vehicle was then tested and the customer was informed their car was ready for collection.

DPF Faults and Regeneration.

Aarons Autos DPF repairs

This Ford Galaxy came into us after the owner had tried several other garages who kept telling him that he would need to replace the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) on the exhaust system to be able to turn off the EML (Engine Management Light).

The first thing we did was to carry out a full diagnostic of the cars control modules to see what faults were causing the EML to come on, the main faults related to excessive soot accumulation inside the DPF which was stopping the car carrying out its own Regen (Regeneration of the DPF is carried out by the engine ECU which cleans out the DPF).

We removed the DPF to examine the soot content, and decided to try cleaning it out with a hot Aarons Autos DPF cleaningpressure washer.

Once the DPF was clean and dry of water we refitted it to the car and carried out a ‘Forced Regen’ (telling the ECU to carry out a regen whilst it is stationary).

Once the ‘Forced Regen’ was complete and all the codes were cleared and it was time for a road test, straight away on the road test it was apparent that the car felt smoother and had improved power.

The customer brought the car back a week later for us to check for any codes, all the modules were clear and the customer was very happy.

Ford Ranger Servicing.

Ford Ranger Servicing in Derby

 

These two lovely 2014 Ford Rangers came in today for their first annual services, due to the block exemption law we can service the newest of vehicles without affecting their warranties.

Is servicing important on a new car?

The simple answer is yes, all new cars come from the show room with a PDI (pre delivery inspection check) but this is only a very simple check so basically your car has never been fully checked over since it left the production line! Also lubricants age with time and filters get full of all the dirt and contaminants that your engine produces.

Most new models also have teething problems and therefore require specific items to be checked on the annual services, for example Ford have sent a memo out about this particular model saying that the wheel nuts must be torqued to 136nm even if they have not been removed (and they all did need tightening!).

Servicing is expensive!

If you go to the dealers then Yes servicing can be expensive, but there are many independent garages out there like ourselves who offer the same quality of service if not better for a considerably lower price.

Can I trust an Independent Garage?

If you do your homework you can find plenty of trust worthy garages for example if you check our review page you will see some great reviews. I know what your thinking “anyone can put the best reviews on their website” that is why we have links to several independent review sites and urge new customers to check them first before letting us work on there cars.

Any questions about car or van servicing please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01332 205070 or drop us an email to dave@aaronsautos.co.uk