stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 7/12/03 at 11:55 PM |
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cam belt on an astra
hi
my mums car recently broke its cam belt
its a 1.6 vauxhall astra M reg.
do any of our resident experts know if this engine crunches itself if the belt breaks, or does the pistons miss the valves....?
according to mum, the car just lost power and there were no nasty noises.
Its the belt for sure, I can see its snapped.
atb
steve
[Edited on 7/12/03 by stephen_gusterson]
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Peteff
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| posted on 8/12/03 at 12:04 AM |
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A friends wife had one that broke them several times and it never had a problem after replacement. It was caused by the water pump, they found out
eventually, bearings had gone and the belt was running off.
yours, Pete,
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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Hugh Paterson
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| posted on 8/12/03 at 12:09 AM |
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Timing belt
Stephen, got one of them, its my toolbox and the third one ive had, bust a couple of belts and just replaced it, try turning the engine on the crank
pully bolt by hand, trust me u will know if somthings whacked if u here crunching noisies
Shug.
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 8/12/03 at 12:48 AM |
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sounds good so far!
thanks
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 8/12/03 at 06:46 AM |
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Steve, as far as I remember, they always bend one and ususally 3 valves. Once you have sorted the head and you put a new belt on, always renew the
water pump, it acts as a tensioner, and is guaranteed to leak once disturbed, it has a big O ring which perishes, you can replace this, but the ally
pump in an iron block does the usual disolving trick. The pump is dead cheap though.
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
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Stu16v
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| posted on 9/12/03 at 08:05 PM |
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Steve, sorry I didnt see this earlier....
As already mentioned, sometimes you can be extremely lucky and the engine suffers no damage whatsoever.
You could be just lucky, and find that the engine has snapped a couple of rockers, with no further damage. These can be replaced without dismantling,
IF you have the special tool. The tool is basically a valve spring compressor, that bolts to one of the rocker cover bolt holes. The toll can then be
tightened down onto the spring cap, pushing the valve down and allowing replacement of said rocker. SP sell em, or alternatively make one...
Or you could be unlucky, and find it has bent valves....
IIRC the water pump does not have to be moved on a VX engine of this age, instead tension is adjusted by a plastic idler gear, which are very prone to
collapsing, This may of caused the belt failure, and if it hasnt, replace them anyway. But check the pump as well, and if the money will stretch, fit
a new one anyway. I have fitted loads of VX cambelts, only to find that the water pump is leaking a month or so later....
As for how the cambelt is tensioned, it may be best to refer to a manual, because the tensioner is a weird and wonderful thing.....
Dont just build it.....make it!
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 9/12/03 at 10:36 PM |
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thanks for all the advice!
atb
steve
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 9/12/03 at 10:50 PM |
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The 8v engines are bullet proof when it comes to cambelt snapping. Tho the 16v's are not. Especially the 2.0 16v, which will bend valves,etc
with a broken cambelt. i would imagine the 1.6 16v would be have similar problems.... just hope yours is an 8v 
Ben
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 10/12/03 at 11:02 AM |
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I didnt take that much detail in - but the placcy cover over the belt was pretty wide at the head, so I would put my money on it being a 16v
atb
steve
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 14/12/03 at 07:36 PM |
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8v engines, remove rocker cover check for broken fingers.
If broken fingers, undo head bolts remove cambox only (carefully) replace broken fingers and missing thrust buttons, replace cambox(carefully) AND
REFIT old head bolts to original spec, replace cambelt AND waterpump/idlers/tensioners. turn engine by hand if ok compression test/start.
If fingers NOT broken replace cambelt AND waterpump/idlers/tensioners. etc. etc. etc. etc..
If 16v remove head and cry. replace cambelt/waterpump/idlers/tensioners after crying while refitting head.
If a head requires reworking I would recommend Cylinder head services in Northampton.
ATB steve hope this is not tooooo late & helps.
Enjoy
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 22/12/03 at 12:43 PM |
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cam belts
Have 93 1.4 astra 8v
I was very very unlucky
one of the cam shaft bearings seized which stopped the camshaft, which twisted the timing belt sproket off the camshaft, which bent valves and ruined
pistons and rockers
[Edited on 22/12/03 by liam.mccaffrey]
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 20/1/04 at 05:18 PM |
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Update
mum got her car fixed
12 bent valves of 16
cost 1100 quid
expensive cam belt change!
atb
steve
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