406oc.co.uk

I'm hoping one of our learned members can advise me here.

My daughter's 55 1.9 CDTI Vectra is possibly terminally ill, but I want to determine as cheaply as possible whether it's worth the cost of fixing.
It has various issues, the most pressing of which is suspect water pump - serious coolant leak from that end of the engine / whirring noise, so fairly conclusive. I intend to remove the upper cambelt cover and should then be able to see the leak.
It also has a lot of oil round one of the injectors and makes a racket when idling that could either be coming from the injector seal or maybe cylinder head? I tried tightening the injector retaining screw, I think it got quieter, but can't be sure.
Apart from that, it needs disc pads all round and possibly a couple of front dampers for the next MOT, (November). It's done about 160k, but basically looks tidy and drives OK up till now. It feels a bit too good to scrap, but I really don't want her spending money on it if it's a lost cause. I guess muggins here could fit a water pump, timing belt kit, injector seals for the cost of the bits - roughly £120, plus disc pads and she'd get a few months out of it at least. She has a 70 miles a day commute to do, so it has to be reliable. Views please?

Also what's necessary in terms of crank/cam locking tools for one of these 1.9CDTI/Fiat JTD engines?

Thanks for looking.

That's a tricky one as once you do any work on the car it will become 'yours' as soon as anything else goes wrong. Not that you wouldn't gladly help your daughter but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Thinking about it financially at least:

Potential spend on Vectra = £120.00 (plus no doubt other stuff/tools)

Vectra value as is = £300.00 ?

Vectra scrap = £200.00?

My Welly-matics say you'd only need £200.00 to buy gumby's 406 about which you know many things

You can see the water pump with the top cover removed, It's right at the top of the timing belt casing.
A fairly straightforward job to replace the cam belt and water pump...no locking tools required...just line up the timing marks on the cam and crank pulleys...injection pump pulley isn't timed....tippex the marks as a secondary marking system.
Engine mounting and bracket have to be removed...a bit fiddly, but not too bad.

Probably an injector seal leaking...sometimes you can undo the retaining bolt and twist the injector on its seal to reseat it....personally I would do this job first and see how it goes.

If you weigh up the cost of replacing the car against fixing the devil you know, it may be best to fix it up given the possible cost of a replacement.

Actually that doesn't sound too bad from what jasper's saying.

Many thanks for your help.

I'll visually check for a leaky water pump and go from there.

Jasper5 is correct..no timing tools needed..

good video here..By penfold. The starwars Background music aint good tho,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HceHbQbRC_s

Thanks, lozz.

I had a quick look last night, got the timing cover off eventually, (clever the way you can't really do that without at least loosening the engine mount).
....but it wasn't conclusive. The water was peeing out of it on Monday evening, but it wouldn't shed a drop last night. Guess I need to get it properly hot.
The whirring noise had gone, but the gouges in the timing cover suggest the belt is rubbing on it. The belt's certainly at if not marginally overhanging the edge of the camshaft and HP pump pulleys. I think it is the water pump, but I couldn't run it long enough to be sure before abandoning the attempt and having dinner.

Daughter's other half is going to get it warm and let me know what happens tomorrow.

Doggy wrote:Thanks, lozz.

I had a quick look last night, got the timing cover off eventually, (clever the way you can't really do that without at least loosening the engine mount).
....but it wasn't conclusive. The water was peeing out of it on Monday evening, but it wouldn't shed a drop last night. Guess I need to get it properly hot.
The whirring noise had gone, but the gouges in the timing cover suggest the belt is rubbing on it. The belt's certainly at if not marginally overhanging the edge of the camshaft and HP pump pulleys. I think it is the water pump, but I couldn't run it long enough to be sure before abandoning the attempt and having dinner.

Daughter's other half is going to get it warm and let me know what happens tomorrow.

Good luck with it.,

Happy Birthday BTW..

Oh yeah, well spotted lozz - Happy birthday yuung maaan

Aw shucks.

Thanks guys.