I have had another thread open with some issues with my Astra.
Months down the line and I have finally found out the car is going to need a new engine despite only doing 75,000 miles.
I'm still paying this car of for another 3 years so trying to figure out the best way to play this.
I have had prices for collection of the car and engine replaced/rebuilt but after reviewing most of these companies people have said there cars have gone missing, or the garage has had there car for over a year, or demanded more money etc.
Can anyone recommend a company who can do this, preferably close to Suffolk.
Failing that I see some engines on ebay which are of low runners, some refurbished etc. Would it be hard to find a garage to fit if I bought one and what are they likely to charge. I understand this is also at a risk as it could be a dog of an engine.
Best route is to find a good decent honest garage who could source a good used engine & fit for you.
A couple of things to bear in mind ,
It's not a job most garages would want but a decent garage would view you as a long term customer & would hope you bought the car back to them for the more lucrative servicing etc .
My lads up here would do it on a quiet week , providing they knew the engine was a good runner.
The main issue is that after fitting you may be back again with the odd issue that needs sorting before everything settles down , most times it's just a missed connection etc .
The trouble with the cowboy engine fitters is that there'll bang an engine in , get it running well enough for you to drive home & then wash their hands of it as my neighbour found out when he spent £5500 on a replacement engine in his Audi Q7.
So my advice is stick to local garages & don't go chasing over the country like my neighbour did , he sold his car in the end after 8 months of grief.
As above, at least you then have somewhere to go back to. Some breakers also offer a short guarantee on their engines too.
How long have you owned the car & did you buy it from a garage? As you've said you have another 3 years to pay in it.
Have no idea why this engine didn't even last 75,000 miles. Never ragged or anything by myself. Bought from a dealer, owned the car for a year but only had 3 months warranty. Shall be taking extended cover in future, took a loan out to by so can't go back to dealer.
I was told that the reason the dpf kept getting full is because the engine my have gradually been going, causing too much unburnt fuel getting through until the engine finally gave out, instead of the other way around. Either way it's apparently gone bottom end with no explanation for it.
Yes... leaky head gasket, probably been leaking slightly from new or nearly new ... unless it had overheated at some point and had a bodge repair done to sell it on. There are tricks of filling cracks with silicone goo .... that lasts long enough to sell it and then gradually fails. I may have been victim to such a prank about 25 years ago when a Ford Sierra I had started to "pink" (pre-ignition) - one spark plug would fail after about 5000 miles. After I got rid of it part-ex I found that it had also been clocked. The indicated 90000 was actually more like 140000+ miles.
Does the mileage history of your Astra look right? Has it actually done 175000 miles?
Good point car clocking ( mileage correction ) is still on the rise .
Knocking off a few thousand before every service & MOT is on the rise , especially has used cars can be had now on PCP loan deals .
I'm not sure if it works on the J but on the H diesels you can access the ECM as well as the IPC with opcom,
most clockers only tamper with the shown miles in the ipc but the mileage is also recorded in the ecm,
i've checked a few now and found a massive difference between the two readings on a couple.
The worst example I came across was when I briefly dated a driving instructor. She would routinely clock up huge mileages in a relatively short period of time then simply get a new speedo fitted and new pedal rubbers and sell it on with considerably lower mileage. She had the cars registered privately and used a magnetic driving school box on the roof so there was no way of knowing.
The Sierra I had back in the 90'S was a company car, maintained by the company themselves.... I found out after part-xing the car that it had been clocked at least once back to 90000 miles and that the good engine in it might have been swapped for one with a cracked head and popped in the Sales Managers Ghia. Bastards.....
The give away on those old Ford's was the back axle. The diff would start to get noisy around 140,000 miles.... that one suddenly got noisy and rough on a trip back from North Wales.
It was part-ex for a very nice Cavalier diesil (J882 UEG where are you?).
Funny old thing tho, the dodgy blue Sierra was nicked off a garage forecourt where it was advertised for sale, strange that!
Unfortunately I took a loan, not finance, lesson learnt.
He done a check on the headgaskehe, by supposedly unplugging injectors and doing something, I'm not sure mechanic so not 100% sure. Could it just be rotten luck and it occasionally happens, I have had the car for a year, and done about 15,000 miles up until now, never over heated so I can think of a logical reason why the engine has given in.
I've looked for engines, read nothing but horror stories, I would be happiest buying from eBay because I know eBay will always look out for the buyer should there be an delivery issues, or wrong engine supplied etc, and at least I can see feedback and reviews.
My only concern is if I change the engine are we likely to have this problem again in future because of a fault else where, and is the DPF still going to be giving me grief. I know it's all ifs and buts and your never going to know for sure, I'm well out of pocket and have come to terms with that just trying to find the best way to go from here.
Currently looking at replacement engine (£1200ish), and trying to get a local garage to fit.
Unfortunately I took a loan, not finance, lesson learnt.
He done a check on the headgaskehe, by supposedly unplugging injectors and doing something, I'm not sure mechanic so not 100% sure. Could it just be rotten luck and it occasionally happens, I have had the car for a year, and done about 15,000 miles up until now, never over heated so I can think of a logical reason why the engine has given in.
I've looked for engines, read nothing but horror stories, I would be happiest buying from eBay because I know eBay will always look out for the buyer should there be an delivery issues, or wrong engine supplied etc, and at least I can see feedback and reviews.
My only concern is if I change the engine are we likely to have this problem again in future because of a fault else where, and is the DPF still going to be giving me grief. I know it's all ifs and buts and your never going to know for sure, I'm well out of pocket and have come to terms with that just trying to find the best way to go from here.
Currently looking at replacement engine (£1200ish), and trying to get a local garage to fit.
Before completely writing engine off why not have someone take the head off and visually inspect or do yourself see exactly what's going on if your going to spend £1200 on new engine and then God knows how much to fit it you may be able to get your own engine a full rebuild or might be a cheaper fix
Haha I know this is a joke but I would be lieing if I said I hadn't thought about it.
Like j say apparently the head gasket is fine lol.
Garage wanted £3200 to rebuild. Guess if it needs new engine then there is no harm in me pulling this one apart lol but I would know where to begin and don't want to pay a garage to do it only to tell me I need a new engine throwing more money at it.
I know it's a tricky one, just wish I went into mechanics lol.
Like you say if your going to write engine off no harm in at least having a look as I've read through your posts and no one has actually took the head off once to see how bad it is Got nothing to lose and maybe not as bad as you think if lucky
@Koicarpkeeper
It's easy enough to buy an ex-driving instructors car without knowing it. If you buy an ex-lease car say 2 years old from a dealership, it's quite possible it was previously leased by a driving instructor or school. No way of knowing as it only has the previous lease car company on the logbook. Hopefully the mileage should be correct, although it may have had over a hundred previous drivers....
Okay. The latest garage ensured me it wasn't the head gasket, they had supposedly done a test for that, but now you have me doubting that again lol. How long would it take a novice to remove a head lol?
They said the piston rings were certainly burnt out when they looked but this could have been caused by running rough.
Don't forget to get timing marks in case it is fixable if it is piston rings once head is off put some petrol in the pistons leave for a while and see how much has leaked down if they are gone you should be able to remove sump, piston bearings etc and change in situ, if you have Haynes will help I would also get a feeler gauge and check tollerences on intake and exhaust valves on head while it's off. At least you have a barn to work in.
Yeah, despite being bright yellow lol right I have a barn so going to whip the head off. Will it be obvious to see if the head gasket has gone. Shall order a Haynes now
A friend of mine has a bore scope, would we be able to see anything with that to prevent removing the head? Guess you couldn't see the gasket with that so may no help, just thinking out loud lol.
I believe they checked the head gasket was okay by this method, block testing as well as using coolant that has dye in it, which would leave trace on the spark plugs. Either way I shall start taking her apart when I get the manual and right tools for the job. Thanks, shall post photos of my findings.
wait a second !!! call me a idiot but.... 1.7 with 75k blown engine and you done 15k miles...????? find someone that knows how and what to check!!! this engines run for 40 miles with no coolant in them and still do not blow a hg! Dpf issues? maybe if millage was clocked back but dpf life span is about 90-100k miles anyway so... if driven mostly in the city.... might be normal...
check egr, check egr cooler, check oil heat exchange if one present, drop exhaust for test, leave dpf out... leave head alone for last
wait a second !!! call me a idiot but.... 1.7 with 75k blown engine and you done 15k miles...????? find someone that knows how and what to check!!! this engines run for 40 miles with no coolant in them and still do not blow a hg! Dpf issues? maybe if millage was clocked back but dpf life span is about 90-100k miles anyway so... if driven mostly in the city.... might be normal...
check egr, check egr cooler, check oil heat exchange if one present, drop exhaust for test, leave dpf out... leave head alone for last
He had another thread where he's done most diagnosis and it's been to multiple garages where only saying check the head etc as he's on about buying a £1200 replacement engine and paying God knows what to get it fitted he might aswell have a look before completely writing it off
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