Fixing common car faults

I guess you are reading this because you have had a total timing failure on your 1.0 1.2 or 1.4 petrol vauxhall engine. And wondering how to rebuild and time up correctly. Here is a guide how easily rebuild timing. With your new timing kit lay everything out to familiarise yourself with all the parts. Using a vauxhall Timing chain locking kit ensure the camshafts are timed up using flat bar access back of cylinder head. Then ensure crank is at top dead centre by placing locking tool through crank case just below air conditioning pump. You will need to remove the cover plug. Now the engine is locked and trimmed up. Ensure front of engine is clean then replace the front large gasket. Now fit cam pulleys but don’t tighten them fully yet.  Fit timing chain then the guides. Followed by the tensioner. Once all this is done it should look like this. Replace front cover. It is very important to push the cover up as far as possible then fit the crank pul

So you have replaced the clutch in your car. And your struggling to get a good pedal with no real progress. You’re wondering what you have done wrong. It’s not as difficult as you think. Although you may need a brake bleeding tool. It can be done with out but gets very messy without. So what’s the secret? How difficult is it to bleed a hydraulic clutch? Well the truth is, there is no secret! Oh and it’s really easy. Here’s the simple guide. Always ensure the master cylinder is full of brake fluid. Be aware from personal experience sometimes you think the brake resovior is full but in fact it isn’t.  I have discovered these generally have two or more chambers. This resulted in the brake fluid not flowing through affecting the inability to bleed the clutch and or brakes. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the fluid, a good tip is to use a inspection lamp held up to the resovior allows easier assessment of brake fluid level.  Open the bleed valve at slave cylinder and attach bleed

Vauxhall’s corsa D model has a common fault with the brakes not working on the left front. This may not be a easy fix. But there is a likely cause. But before we go to common fault we need to be sure it’s not any of the obvious things. Firstly check the sliders on the Caliper carrier and make sure the pads are free to move in the carrier. Doing this obviously eliminates these and could potentially be the cause in normal circumstances. Next, see if the piston on the caliper pushers back easily. If you find this difficult you will think you have found the problem. Seized caliper? Maybe! I’m guessing not! To eliminate the caliper and brake flexible hose being blocked temporarily refit the caliper and loosen the Union where the flexible hose goes to steel brake pipe. Now press foot brake and see if any brake fluid comes out. If it doesn’t you can guarantee the fault is further away from the caliper. I have found the next thing in line to the master cylinder is the abs module. Th

Replacing timing belts or chains can be challenging to replace. Many of these look complicated to replace, especially on 16 valve variants. Many manuals recommend the use of timing lock kits. Most of the time these aren't needed for timing belt replacement. But are required when the belt has snapped causing internal engine damage. Before you start it is paramount you establish if the engine has a floating crank pulley. Some ford petrol engines and Renault engines have these, so be aware. And can if not addressed cause catastrophic engine damage. This is a guide and not vehicle specific so some variations may be found with different vehicles. So to start. In most cases you will need to get to the timing belt or chain which means you will have to remove the air box, coolant header tank, and engine mount. Followed by the timing cover or casing. Removal of road wheel, wheel arch liner and engine cover will be necessary. This is now where the interesting part starts. You will

Most Peugeot/Citroen cars and vans service light or spanner light reset is very simple. Simply press and hold the trip button on dashboard then turn on ignition. The dashboard display will start counting down from 10. Remain holding until this counts down to 0. The display will flash and or display a new service remaining distance shows. Job done.

Some may not know but to many mechanics the vauxhall range of petrol engines or known for being noisy and rattling on startup for a few seconds, or continuously when running. Without doubt this is normally caused by the timing chain being worn. This can be replaced by a compitant mechanic. I would highly recommend using a FAI timing chain kit. These or more expensive than some other makes but are worth the extra outlay in the long run. It’s worth checking/replacing the oil and filter at the same time. Please pay attention to oil filter condition as this can deteriorate or appear to have been squashed or sucked in in appearance. This could prove poor maintenance in the past contributing to the original fault. Additionally from my experience the timing chain on these engines begin to fail between 50 and 60000 miles. Please feel free to comment or ask further questions and I will reply to help.