Littleted

EGR valve for Wifes Zafira was 129 quid at cost from mate at Vauxhall, took him 10 mins to swap it, this was 5 years ago but 1.9 TDI 140 09 plate Elite

There having a laugh....

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Genuine Vauxhall-branded ones, or Pierburg, who make the inlet manifold, available online at between £50 and £70 delivered.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-VA...sAAOSwDk5ULVS6

seanvx

Could try autovaux for Vauxhall parts I always found them cheapest

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

It's not parts that are going to be a problem. It's the time it takes to do the job.

I did think about attempting it myself, but there's all sorts of fluids to drain, and numerous posts on forums saying people have done the job, then found the car won't start and has had to be recovered...yep, to vauxhall

imprezagaz

iTrader: (2)

The most fiddly part he said was sliding the manifold off the studs. Had to remove a few bits behind it to get it out.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

There's about ten things to remove before getting it off, coolant drained, steering fluid drained (iirc), diesel fuel filter drained and fuel pipes blocked, about ten electrical connections to un make, cambelt off, it looked an absolute b@stard with the engine OUT, let alone trying to do it on the drive.

Norman Dog

iTrader: (1)

Take it to an independant, probably save on a lot of the labour charges.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

It's in tomorrow to a guy I trust, for a look. And I also have contact details of a lad who works for VX but does jobs on the side for ££.

Thing is, forums and vauxhall themselves say that if the EGR valve has gone before, (which it has) chances are that the swirl flaps are fukced anyway, so a quick repair on them won't do much and will likely fail again in short order.

Whereas if I do go down the new inlet manifold route, the car will be almost as new again...

Thing is, what's economic to pay for repair when it also needs £270 worth of new tyres (three) and is worth about £2k?

Would I be better selling as is for cash/scrap and getting the scoob out of SORN for my runabout while Mrs Alcazar uses the 60 plate Corsa 1.3 diesel?

dpb

3 tyres ?? and that seems quite steep

imprezagaz

iTrader: (2)

How much would you be looking for it as it is?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

dpb: they are 245/45/18's and I have Dunlop Sport Maxx RT's on, around £89 and change each, fitted etc.

gaz: Let's see what the garage, and more importantly, Mrs Alcazar, says, before we go down that route.

dpb

on an Astra !! ??



We had astra estate in the nineties , I don't recall it being a sports car



Had a look , they clearly believe it is one now

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Astras are nice enough... had a few over the years through work... just a shame they got rid of the Isuzu turbo engine... it's been down hill ever since.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

It's a 150bhp diesel with masses of torque through the front wheels in a fairly lightweight body setup.

Not amazing off the line, but through the gears is quite capable. Plus it has the X-Pack fitted which gave it 18" wheels. TBH, not dearer than 17".

Meanwhile, Mrs Alcazar was given the choice of selling it and buying a runabout for cash, with zero outlay, or finding funds to do the job, at £1250, to include cambelt, and new water pump as well as EGR valve, glow plugs and manifold.

She wants it fixed But she's the boss.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I'd be having a serious think about cutting my loses once it's fixed or better still do it now... before spending £1250.

Can you not have a word and extol the values of PCP, plenty of deals out there for less than £150 a month... £2k per year, no tax or mot's, no repair bills, no tyres to pay for... for the first 2yrs... there's a lot to be said for trouble free motoring.

dpb

I spent that at sort figure at that sort of mileage- went for another 50k

does this one have the dreaded dmf issues

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

That's the future, once we get the eldest through uni. At the moment, there's not £1.50 a month not accounted for, let alone £150

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Gearbox was faulty when I had it, but I had extended warranty, so that was done free, with better bearings so it ought to last, plus we don't drive it crazily. I paid for a new clutch and dmf at that time. It's done 55k since.
So that will be next

As I said: it's NOT the diesel engine, it's the bloody ancillaries that destroy you. At least mine has the more reliable Bosch alternator, the Denso one is pants. And I don't think it has a dpf?

madwrx

iTrader: (2)

amen to that seems to be a problem with every modern car diesel engine -just about every single car forum you could name is full of diesel car faults

madwrx

iTrader: (2)

looks like a lot of separate service jobs were left till the last minute mate-i tend to the bits and bobs as they happen, does.nt take long to get a grands worth of work to get it through the mot. £1250 is a lot of dough but you wont even get close to buying a decent car at that price- if it gets you another year of reliable ish service its money well spent.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Beg to differ, I got over 10yrs motoring from the same 1200 quid 2 mercs a forester and 2 Rover 214's, would still be going if I lived in the UK... but finally went PCP route because it's my Mrs runabout and I'm not there to do the work on them for the most part, even made a bit along the way on the mercs...

It can be done, you just have to learn how to pick them, ie let the car pick you, the good ones jump off the page and be open minded.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

When I got it, it had fsh, but I did the fuel filter myself and it was BLACK, obviously never been out.

Apart from that, it has been done, but cleaning the EGR valve isn't included afaik?

Thinking of an EGR delete and remap after the job's done now. I'm not having this again, and the car might run 180bhp with a map tweak.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Yep, it's not the engine, which is bomb-proof, it's the stupid ancillaries that are fitted to try and get the engines below some equally stupid emissions limit.
THEY fail, and each one has a knock-on effect on another, and finally, the engine itself can be damaged.

On our Corsa, the intercooler came loose. By the time it had got bad enough to affect the running, it needed new intercooler, new dpf and FULL new exhaust...£800, KERCHING!!!

I'll not have another diesel. Never.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Wow it seems like every time you post it's either health problems or car problems... £800 here £1250 there... I don't want to over stress this...but... that's a years worth of PCP payments and it's yearly service right there... add tax, mot and a set of tyres and you're into another 6 months of PCP... it soon adds up.

Throw what your Astra is worth ie £2k at the PCP deal and the payments come right down, you could probably be driving a NEW astra for £100 a month or something a bit smaller, same goes for the Corsa... And there's plenty of deals out there for something like a Micra at £80/90 per month.

My Mrs Vauxhall Viva only cost £150 pm because she decided not to put a big deposit down... no point at that sort of price... but if she threw a grand or two at it, it would have been around the 100 quid mark... As it was the Rover she threw in they gave her around £400 for it... (it was knackered) she's got the top of the range with sexy multi function steering wheel (same as in Corsa VXR) and half leather, heated seats, air con, cruise control, lane assist, blue tooth hands free etc which is £2k more than the one below.

You should really take a look before you splash anymore on these dodgy diesels.

But hey it's your money.

dpb

My mondeo tdci 130 would go through front tyres in a year , 215/17/40 Michelin primacy

no wonder youre skint lol

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

Slightly tongue-in-cheek question, but is it safe to assume they don't give away free tyres as part of the servicing bundles with PCP deals? (obviously the car will come with them from new, but at some point they're going to wear out, same as on any other motor)

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Yeah my point is that they come with a fresh set on... and if you're smart about it and rotate them you're looking at at least 2yrs of not buying any tyres and considering lots of tyres out there will do almost 20k... on none performance cars and normal driving... you could see out the term of the PCP agreement without buying any... Mrs car has just hit 13k miles and the fronts still look good, I checked them last week.

Which ultimately is another cost item when dealing with 2nd hand cars, usually have crap or well worn tyres on... in my experience... also mentioned it as he was going to be forking out £270 for 3 new ones.

It's all money that he could put towards a shiny new car that's got a manufactures warranty, and new tyres.

imprezagaz

iTrader: (2)

A remap transforms them. My partners car is a 2009 5 door 150 but with a stainless on with egr delete and it did 206 on the sport button 😳

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I do hear what everyone's saying about PCP, etc, and it's on the cards, but not until the eldest is finished with uni and on his own two feet again. We made a promise to him, and it stands.

After that, who knows?

But whatever happens, we need something at least Astra sized, as we travel regular between Scunny and near Limoges to the property we are doing up there, often with a car load of stuff. Things like bedding, (quilts, sheets, quilt covers, pillows) etc are stupidly dear there, and I tend to buy my tools here too. Mrs Alcazar buys stuff like furniture from second hand shops and we transport that down too. Eventually I'll have a small French reg van. At the moment I'd like a thicknesser-planer, but can't find one at a decent price, they are all either too small or massive.

I'm not sure I'd ever have another Vauxhall, though, these two I have now have cost me dear. What I would have....well, I've no idea.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Update: Got it back, new EGR valve, new inlet manifold, new water pump, new cambelt.
Car now pulls like a train again, and the juddering at 1500rpm in 4th has disappeared. No smoke on acceleration any more and starts first pull.

So...we are back to square 1 with it.

Now...do I get an EGR delete done, in order to stop this happening again?