Picked up the valver yesterday :(...

[Si Griffiths]

well i picked up my valver yesterday...and dont get me wrong, i loved every minute of it...while it was working was driving from my home town (Brum) back to Bristol where i goto uni, about 3 hours ago. Engine was running sweet as a nut, the car was perfect pretty much.

So i was cruising down the M5 at 70mph for most of the way, occasionally accelerating to !00ish for brief periods, just to get a feel for the car. I dropped back down to 70 and dipped the clutch to put it from 4th to 5th, and the car just cut out! looked at the temperatur guages and noticed they were very high, so i pulled onto the hard shoulder and gave the car 20mins to cool down.

Fearing the head gasket had gone, i turned the key and it started! wohoo! so i carried on, got upto 60 and noticed the temperatures were creeping back up. so i pulled off the M5 at junction 12, and as i came upto the round about, again i dipped the clutch, and the car cut out and didnt start again. AA man arrived, said the bigends had gone, not all too sure what that means but either way its gonna be a HUGE repair bill

of course with it being bank holiday weekend, the garage i dropped it off at wont open til tuesday So ive got 2 days of torture. Im feeling like crap atm, and i just want to cry. Any ideas how much a job like this could cost?

 

[Martin]

Engine is fooked I believe, had it happen to my old Escort, on the bright side you can pick up a valver engine for around 300-400 quid from Infinicar I think.

 

[FATBOY]

big end bearings mate! happened to my old xr3! mate fixed it and i run it in but they went again????? in the end bought an old sh*tter xr3i and swapped engines over!

 

[Dansta]

had u just bought the car?

 

[Si Griffiths]

ive just emailed Infinicar asking for a price on a few of their engines. is it an engine out job to get the bigend bearings replaced? Or can they simply lift it up and work on it in the air? If its an engine out job then may have to look at replacing engine...possibly with a williams lump to make me feel better!

 

[Si Griffiths]

yeah i bought it yesterday, drove 250miles and then this happens the guy i bought it off only had the car for 5 months, but could he have known something like this would happen? I think it was just unfortunate and the fact the car is on 82000 miles

 

[Dansta]

gutted. sorry to hear it fella.

 

[u33db]

Gutted for you m8. Get a used lump from infinicar though m8 - will be far cheaper and seeing as youre at uni....

 

[Si Griffiths]

will do just read they deliver the engines aswell! how much are williams engines from infinicar? i asume a fair bit more than a valver?

 

[Liam_Dynamique]

Quote: Originally posted by Si Griffiths on 28 August 2004

yeah i bought it yesterday, drove 250miles and then this happens the guy i bought it off only had the car for 5 months, but could he have known something like this would happen? I think it was just unfortunate and the fact the car is on 82000 miles

He probably bought it, quickly found a bunch of problems that pissed him off bigtime for a few months and then offloaded it before it went bang altogether and made it someone elses problem.

Feel bad for ya mate.

 

[ViolentJ]

had almost the same thing happen with my astra.

was only about 7 miles away from where i bought it on the way home when one of the water hoses split and i lost the head. Then a week or so later the oil pump went. None of it was helped by getting the wost garage in the world to do the work for me. Took almost 2 months and 4 or 5 return visits.

Its been a very expensive car.

I really feel for you, its totally gutting to have the car you just bought die on you.

Hope you get it back up and running soon mate. Good luck in the future with it.

 

[Si Griffiths]

cheers mate it is truly gutting, i felt like crying when i was waiting on the hardshoulder for the AA man. my mate works at a garage, and he says hell fit the engine for me as long as i get him a burger king or two hehe. plus i get the engine delivered by infinicar, so its just a matter of getting the car from Bristol, to his garage in bham. my flatmate says hell call the AA out and get them to drop it there for me if i like so it might not be so bad afterall! Just need to find a decent valver/williams lump now!

managed to get a pic of oil temp and pressure just b4 the engine cut out. oil temp is a little high, oil pressure is just over 3 bar, so i dont think the oil pump went or nething ??? not sure what made it go so quickly

http://www.xtsystems.com/Si/oiltemp.jpghttp://www.xtsystems.com/Si/oiltemp.jpg

 

[major b]

Have ya checked the obvious stuff like coolant etc?

So sorry for ya, i was in that position in my GTT a while back

 

[Si Griffiths]

coolant was about half full when i collected the car. and when i looked on the hardshoulder yesterday, it was just over minimum.

what did you do with you gtt? just get a new engine?

 

[Daz]

Pressure looks ok - Temp is way high.. should be just a bit less than 100 I guess on a run.. (Well, it is in a Williams.. but that has an Oil Cooler, dunno if it affects it much tho..)

 

[Si Griffiths]

yeah it was always around 80 around town, and for most of the motorway journey, just under 100. Im contemplating just getting the engine repaired now, because theres no guarantee this wont happen with an engine transplant. at least if i repair the current engine, get it running again, then ill get a full engine rebuild done so i know itll last a while. itll be back on the road alot quicker aswell if i just repair it, which is the main priority!

 

[Si Griffiths]

oh and on my 250mile run in the car, i noticed i only used half a tank of petrol! thats 45mpg, and considering alot of it was fast driving, this appears to be more fuel economic than my 1.2!

 

[Speiro]

Quote: Originally posted by Si Griffiths on 29 August 2004

oh and on my 250mile run in the car, i noticed i only used half a tank of petrol! thats 45mpg, and considering alot of it was fast driving, this appears to be more fuel economic than my 1.2!

Thats good mate, just got 328 miles out of a tank and thats the best Ive had so far. Had about 5 ltrs left in it when I filled it I think.

 

[major b]

Nah m8, wanted to, took it to BBT but cost £9,000 for the work.

I was gonna go to GDi coz theyre much cheaper and seem to know their biz.

Bought my 16v instead, i know that wont impress you at the mo.

How come ya coolant was so low?

Have you been in contact with the previous owners at all?

Did ya get any history/service before ya got it?

 

[major b]

If ya wanted, GDi could put a GTT in ya Clio.

They do work on Clio engines too.

If youre interested ask for Andy Cutler, i spoke to him about my valver as well as the 5.

Andy runs GDi btw.

07010 716440. Theyre in Caxton Cambs.

 

[Si Griffiths]

havent contacted the previous owner yet. dont think theres alot of point cus the car was sold as seen. would be interesting to hear his reaction tho!

the coolant was higher when i checked it first time round but was alot lower after it broke down.

the car came with quite a bit of service history, all MOTs and some repair bills. only major thing replaced was the clutch at 62k miles.

think ill keep the current engine in tbh, may aswell repair it instead of getting another engine that may have a similar problem. itll have some kind of warranty if it is repaired again aswell. Just gonna cost me an arm and a leg to get this kind of damage repaired

 

[u33db]

m8, to repair whatevers wrong with your motor youll be looking at a figure of 300quid MINIMUM IMO!

Honestly, youd be better getting a low milage lump from Infinicar and getting it dropped in - no hassle, cheaper and less time off the road. Plus youll make a good 150quid selling bits off the damaged lump afterwards (head, cams etc) so itll be even cheaper than you think. Ok, theres the chance the replacement lump may have the same problem but id say thats very unlikely - infinicar always sell decent engines.

Oh - going rate for a 1.8 lump is about 300 wheras a willy lump is close to 1k.

 

[bass_junky]

Lol ok this is my first post here.im currently doing mechanics at college.i learnt about this a week ago.that if the thermometer in you cooling system is broken all it is.Is complete coolant going through your radiator etc.so all it needs is a new thermometer in the cooling system.it will be a lot cheaper than a full new engine/rebuild just thought id let you kno

[Edited by bass_junky on 30 August 2004 at 6:01pm]

 

[Si Griffiths]

yeah u33db ur right, if infinicar have a low mileage engine then that would be the best option - its just alot of hassle to get the car from bristol to bham, as i dont have space/tools to do the engine swap here. just out of interest, how much am i looking at to get a full engine rebuild?

theres a renault specialist in Bristol i think, might go and ask them what my options are aswell.

bass_junky - im not really sure what youre trying to say. basically tho the engine is knackered, as when the AA man got the engine started (the battery was flat from me trying to restart it) it sounded like metal hitting metal.

 

[Ben H]

I used to be in Bristol Uni mate (and own a 16V and then a Williams).

If you want to have it sorted by a garage and keep it local, then theres no place better than Renatec in Brislington - just off the Bath Road, next to HTV. Theyre on 0117 977 7789. Lyndon is the boss and is a top man. Its a shame I dont have a Renault any more to take to them.

The temperature on my 16V would often go up towards the top, but that was mainly when I was hooning it on hot days. Nothing bad came of it and I found that the thinner oils would give higher temps (coolant system and sensors were sound). My Williams would never go over 100degC, no matter how hard I booted it. Both were spot on cars.

I cant diagnose the problem for you, but Id suggest you tried the obvious things first. I had many "problems" with my hot Mk1 Clios that thankfully turned out to be very simple things. Im pretty sure that most "big" engine problems on the 16Vs F7P lump relate to snapped timing belts or blown head gaskets. Big ends are unusual - especially on a car with a mere 82k on the clock.

 

[bass_junky]

Lol ok, hope you get it sorted

 

[Si Griffiths]

cheers mate, ill bear that in mind. im gonna ask my mate if his dad can trailer the car back to bham for me, then its just a simple matter of getting the engine delivered and my mate fitting it for me. should be on the road in 2 weeks or so. would renatec do engine rebuilds? what kind of price are we talking for this?


ps - why do my flatmates hate the turbines so much?! i think theyre awesome! maybe its like marmite...