Car questions

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by gary_580

By cylinder head in assuming you mean rocker cover as you cant see much of the cyliner head. Cleaning the rocker cover is fine however they do have Cork gaskets that in my experience can leak oil and this then makes a mess of everything else.

If you really really really really (no you DONT!!) want to clean the rocker cover i'd go and get a new rocker cover gasket and take the rocker cover off to clean it.

At the end of the day, it isnt broke so i'd leave it as it is.

lol, I'll leave it then
by the way is the head gasket supposed to be replaced at certain intervals like the cambelt etc or is there anther factor that decides when that gets replaced? Its something ive heard mentioned to me and I was just wondering about it.

[Scarlett]

Make sure you do a full oil, oil filter and air filter change every 6 months.

If you've no idea when it last had one, get it done asap.

Also keep an eye on you tire's air pressiure at least once a month and also if you looking to take a long journey.

Originally Posted by ZrByte

by the way is the head gasket supposed to be replaced at certain intervals like the cambelt etc

Nope.

Only replace it if you start getting water in your oil or you have a water, oil or cylinder leak.

You can tell if you have water in your oil as it emulsifies in the filler cap (White gunge) if there is only a small amount if this emulsified oil and you dont do long journies dont worry about it as its the short journies that cause it too.
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Originally Posted by Scarlett

Make sure you do a full oil, oil filter and air filter change every 6 months.

good advice and applicable to this car. Newer cars that use synthetic or semi synthetic oil can go a lot longer between oil changes. Some are up to 20K or 2 years now.

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by gary_580

Nope.

Only replace it if you start getting water in your oil or you have a water, oil or cylinder leak.

You can tell if you have water in your oil as it emulsifies in the filler cap (White gunge) if there is only a small amount if this emulsified oil and you dont do long journies dont worry about it as its the short journies that cause it too.
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good advice and applicable to this car. Newer cars that use synthetic or semi synthetic oil can go a lot longer between oil changes. Some are up to 20K or 2 years now.

Thanks, just out of interest are you an actual mechanic or is this more of a hobby for you?

[AndrewJ]

I hope it aint this Corsa as near where I live totally Chavtastic

Even had the stereo which costs more then the car in it

Wrong thread I know just ahem its a Corsa L reg and in red, so makes yours look good aside this ermmm thing.

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Originally Posted by ZrByte

Thanks, just out of interest are you an actual mechanic or is this more of a hobby for you?

I did an apprenticeship with a Diesel engine manufacturer. Have rebuilt a mini engine for (then girlfriend, now wife) when she was at uni. Replaced head gasket on the first car i owned as it leaked water into the oil.

So i guess you could say it used to be an occupation and a hobby but now its neither i prefer to stay ni the warm and keep my hands clean and uncut. But then again i did replace burst flexible brake hoses on my car this year myself to save me £150

[Paul K]

Originally Posted by gary_580

I did an apprenticeship with a Diesel engine manufacturer. Have rebuilt a mini engine for (then girlfriend, now wife) when she was at uni. Replaced head gasket on the first car i owned as it leaked water into the oil.

So i guess you could say it used to be an occupation and a hobby but now its neither i prefer to stay ni the warm and keep my hands clean and uncut. But then again i did replace burst flexible brake hoses on my car this year myself to save me £150

Which diesel engine manufacturer was that Gaz? Not the rather big one at Eastfield by any chance?

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by AndrewJames

I hope it aint this Corsa as near where I live totally Chavtastic

Even had the stereo which costs more then the car in it

Wrong thread I know just ahem its a Corsa L reg and in red, so makes yours look good aside this ermmm thing.

Hmm,
See attatched image (notice the considderate builders who decided to do work right next to my car without telling me)

Originally Posted by gary_580

I did an apprenticeship with a Diesel engine manufacturer. Have rebuilt a mini engine for (then girlfriend, now wife) when she was at uni. Replaced head gasket on the first car i owned as it leaked water into the oil.

So i guess you could say it used to be an occupation and a hobby but now its neither i prefer to stay ni the warm and keep my hands clean and uncut. But then again i did replace burst flexible brake hoses on my car this year myself to save me £150

Its nice to have the option of DIY or paying someone isnt it I know thats why Im learning as much about my car as possible now. So far im finding im good with some of the more complicated things but dont know some of the really elimentary stuff.

Originally Posted by Paul

Which diesel engine manufacturer was that Gaz? Not the rather big one at Eastfield by any chance?

I did say this was a general Car question thread so its not far off topic

Originally Posted by Paul

Which diesel engine manufacturer was that Gaz? Not the rather big one at Eastfield by any chance?

Might well have been , but i left 13 years ago! it was an electical apprenticeship though. But you did get to play with engines and BIG ones!!

Only car engine they used to make went in the Maestro and Montego, bit of a shame really as it was a good engine in a C**p car

Originally Posted by gary_580

I did an apprenticeship with a Diesel engine manufacturer. Have rebuilt a mini engine for (then girlfriend, now wife) when she was at uni. Replaced head gasket on the first car i owned as it leaked water into the oil.

So i guess you could say it used to be an occupation and a hobby but now its neither i prefer to stay ni the warm and keep my hands clean and uncut. But then again i did replace burst flexible brake hoses on my car this year myself to save me £150

Best mecahnics on the market
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Originally Posted by ZrByte

I figured since I keep making new threads about my car wich could probably be merged into one that it would be a good Idea to make one new thread wich everybody can post questions about the inner workings of thier cars in.

I'll open the thread with a question.
I had never thought that there was a problem with my car but several friends have recently commented on how worn and old my engine looks for the age of the car (see pic attatched). As I said I had never noticed it before, what do you lot think? does it look bad or are my friends talking out of thier poop hoops?

Is there any essential maintenance you would suggest I carry out on my car since it was bought second hand with no service history?
I have allready had all my tyres replaced aswel as the alternator belt and I will be getting the cambelt done sometime this month, but is there anything else?

Its an L reg 1.2 Corsa by the way.

It looks OK to me, it's just road dirt. I bet someone has mentioned this but why don't you have it steamed cleaned then tell them to dress the engine with a silicon which will make it look nice and shiny.

[Acropolis]

it dont matter what the engine looks like it what it runs like that counts.

things to check once a week

Oil Level
Water level, (and during colder months that there is enough anti freeze in there)
Power steering fluid level if fitted
Brake fluid level
windscreen washer level
tyre pressures
condition of tyres

the head gasket will only need replacing when it has blown, the cambelt should be changed at regular intervals, have seen some pretty nasty results from cam belts snapping and engines locking up all because the cambelt wasnt changed.

check the tightness of the fan belt, but ifyou tighten it dont over tighten it.

the oil should be changed regulary at least once a year minimum, and i would do it as soon as you can, saves any excess ware on the engine. periodicly check the condition of your brakes and if they start to feel like they aren;t performing like they should get them looked at, it dont take much to change a set of brake pads, you can do all 4 wheels in about an hour tops.

when it comes round for it's MOT take a good look round the car and see what you think it is going to fail on and then get the work done before hand, that way when you leave it until the last minute to get the new MOT you wont be trying to get it on the road quite as quick as the work has already been done.

if you look after it properly then it will go on for years and years, mine is 25 years old and still plogs along nicely but it does get looked after. After the head gasket went for a second time in 12 months earlier last year, it got a new head gasket, valves and seals, exhaust manifold, inlet manifold and a whole host of other things, most of which it didnt really need, but i thought well i have the engine in pieces so i may as well replace them now rather than having to take it all apart again to do them. saves a lot of money when ya do all the work yaself as well.

[ZrByte]

A friend of mine wants an LPG conversion done on his 2000 renault clio, and I said I'd ask here about it. Basicly we cant find anywhere around here that does it (we havent looked that hard to be honest so im sure we will find something). We would like to know what the basic cost of the conversion is and what it includes. On a small car like a clio how much boot space are you likeley to lose due to the fuel tanks?

Its a 16v 1.2i clio if that makes a difference.

Edit: Ive just remembered my friend with a 1.7D fiat punto would also like it done.

[paulyoung666]

most of the boot space and about £1500

[SMHarman]

I think the tank can take up about the same space as a full size spare wheel, so you generally lose the spare wheel.
Probably won't get any financial assistance to switch so about £1500.
Oh, and the ability to go on the Eurotunnel trains.

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

I think the tank can take up about the same space as a full size spare wheel, so you generally lose the spare wheel.
Probably won't get any financial assistance to switch so about £1500.
Oh, and the ability to go on the Eurotunnel trains.

I thought that tank would be bigger, like what paul said above.
Given the fuel efficiency and the cost of the fuel itself that would pay for itself in about 3 years at the most, so £1,500 isnt all that unreasonable.
I never even considdered the Eurotunnel trains, does that mean they arnt allowed on the continent or just not allowed to get there via the train? though thats not likeley to be a problem for any of us anyway.