Matts CDX - Work In Progress.

[Envoy CDX]

In terms of the height, 35mm springs is probably what I would go for. Maybe SRI springs they have recommended that is 25-30mm over standard all round.

[cavalier1990]

Did you get the emissions thing sorted? It's an all too common problem for cavys to fail on that!

[ilovedmymantas]

Can't believe it's been three months since i posted here!

The car ran really smoothly up until mot time but things went a bit downhill after that. The eml started coming on at start-up, more frequently than before .
My first thought was the crimped connectors for the modified cam sensor - that had been the problem before. Last time it happened i left the crimps ( individually wrapped in self amalgamating tape then overwrapped ) underneath the manifold pipe.
I found them tucked against the engine and oil fouled, must have been moved when the garage did the cam cover gasket. As a result I've learned that type of tape is good against water but not oil or heat. When I pulled them up I found this....



... the tape had a tarry chewing gum consistency .

I've re crimped ( or should that be re re crimped ), still a temporary fix until I find my gas soldering iron.

I don't know when the other problem happened, maybe the reason for poorer than normal emissions and hesitation.
Air filter to maf - not dead yet but needing replaced as soon as. I don't have the part number, does anyone know?



The main offender appears to be the hose from the maf


I've ordered a cheapie for now. At a tenner I don't expect it to last but it'll give me time to find a quality part

[Robsey]

Hmm - Deja Vue....
I could have sworn that I had read this post before today.
Strange....

I am not sure if you know the part numbers, but here are the details from EPC3.



5 - Hose, Air Cleaner = 90 500 018

12 - Hose, Elbow, Air Cleaner = 90 411 677

7 - Socket, Air Intake = 90 409 581

6 - Hose, Air Cleaner = 90 409 579

[chrisp]

When I had the same problem with a split in the air trunking from the MAF to the throttle body on my Cav V6 I found a good temporary repair to be binding it with self amalgamating tape. This particular trunking is now very hard to find and the repair lasted a good long time. It was still holding when I finally replaced it with a good used trunking sourced off eBay (at a higher price than I though reasonable but the vendor wouldn't consider offers - hey ho!). I've kept the repaired trunking as a backup

[ilovedmymantas]

Hmm - Deja Vue....
I could have sworn that I had read this post before today.
Strange....

Funny you should say that.
I was sure I'd written a similar one last week, linking to an earlier post of mine relating to the same problem. When i went back to it a few days later all that was left was the quote .
Thanks for the part numbers, that's saved me hours

When I had the same problem with a split in the air trunking from the MAF to the throttle body on my Cav V6 I found a good temporary repair to be binding it with self amalgamating tape.

I used it on the last cav to wrap the airbox hose collar (part 5), it didn't look out of place and worked so I never bothered changing it.

The elbow part arrived today.
I have to say i'm very impressed with the quality of the rubber moulding, so much better than the last one i bought, it was like thin vinyl. This one i would take for OE and it was less than a tenner with next day delivery!

*Edit
-here's a pic

[cavalier1990]

I seen one here in Finland but it's 160 Euros though so pricey but looks to be new.

https://www.tori.fi/uusimaa/836719_imui ... 087337.htm

[ilovedmymantas]

I seen one here in Finland but it's 160 Euros though so pricey but looks to be new.

https://www.tori.fi/uusimaa/836719_imui ... 087337.htm

Thanks, I'm impressed you found that, what a price! The paint-pen makes me think it's used, it looks a bit aged
Having exhausted duckduckgo I've come to two conclusions:

This part is like finding a hen's tooth in a pile of rocking horse sh*t.

I'm happy using self amalgamating tape as a stop-gap, given the difficulty of finding one

[cavalier1990]

I seen one here in Finland but it's 160 Euros though so pricey but looks to be new.

https://www.tori.fi/uusimaa/836719_imui ... 087337.htm

Thanks, I'm impressed you found that, what a price! The paint-pen makes me think it's used, it looks a bit aged
Having exhausted duckduckgo I've come to two conclusions:

This part is like finding a hen's tooth in a pile of rocking horse sh*t.

I'm happy using self amalgamating tape as a stop-gap, given the difficulty of finding one

I know, these parts are becoming stupid expensive now some of them. I'm trying to get as much as I can now especially panels as I can see them getting very thin on the ground now.

[ilovedmymantas]

Wow. Nearly a year already!

Now my crank sensor problem's been sorted it's time to address the mot due in the first week of February.
I now have another fuel leak, bad enough to notice this time. I'll see if I can get this sorted tomorrow and get my new old-stock gm fuel filter fitted. The car isn't exactly running smoothly at the moment, hopefully that will change when the leak is sorted (damned ethanol!).

I've no idea how the mot will pan out, when it goes a gates timing belt kit ( always used continental previously ) will be fitted along with a ridiculously cheap NOS gm water pump. That should future proof the engine while the rest of the car slowly rots away .

I also have a new gm oil filter that I might as well get fitted during the timing belt change, I just can't decide on which oil. The car doesn't do many miles so I'm wondering if I should choose fully synthetic or an ester mix with its magnetic properties.

Can anyone who knows their oils advise please?

[Robsey]

Make sure you get proper ethanol tolerant hose.
Basic R9 hose may not be guaranteed for e10 and above.
Many suplliers quote "upto" on their blurb.

I normally send people to Brickwerks.
Not the cheapest, but very quick.
And they quote ethanol tolerant.

https://brickwerks.co.uk/product/fuel-h ... afe-7-3mm/


Sadly, due to scammers, they can no longer accept payment via paypal.

[Envoy CDX]

Aye, fuel leaks are not fun to fix. But always fixable. Depending on what route you want to go (and if you're doing it yourself. I liberated the fuel lines off a Vectra B many years ago, Astra Mk4 will do too (and probably less work too). All fun and games.

[ilovedmymantas]

I picked the car up on Friday and all was good, much smoother, which wasn't surprising when I was shown the old filter. When he poured it into a jar lots of dark stuff came out, heavier than the petrol. I assumed rubber from the hoses due to ethanol but he says it was green, a colour I don't see well.
The mechanic hadn't seen anything like it and was surprised the car ran.

Disaster struck today.
I was parked with the engine ticking over to pick up the missus from her club and it suddenly stopped, no irregular running, just stopped .
I tried restarting a couple of times but no joy so called the aa. Worst news ever, a broken cam belt. It was being changed in less than three weeks .

The aa towed it to the garage where it'll sit until I get the parts to them ( it's £16 away in a taxi). I don't have high expectations of all the valves being straight so i'm fearing the worst

[Envoy CDX]

Ouch, not sure where you stand with it breaking after being done by the garage, and how much of the cost they will absorb if its been customer supplied parts. Certainly not what I would expect from a gates belt, but then no idea how long its been on the shelf.

Sorry to hear about the woe's. Hopefully the damage isn't too bad and that it is all repairable without too much expense.

[3cav3]

I was under the impression that Cavalier engines were non interference, fingers crossed that is the case, if so it'll just be a case of retiming, replacing the waterpump and tensioners and you should be good to go.

[Robsey]

The 8 valve engines are non- interference.
All 1.6, 1.8, 20SEH, 20NE, and C20NE.

The 16 valve engines are interference type.
20XE, C20XE, and X20XEV.

Fingers crossed for you fella.
Three weeks before eh?
That sucks.

Bad luck of the worst type.

[chrisp]

"Ouch, not sure where you stand with it breaking after being done by the garage,"
I might be wrong but didn't the OP say that the belt broke 3 weeks before it was due to be changed?
It would indeed be alarming if it broke only 3 weeks after it had been changed!

[Robsey]

Yes - I read it as 3 weeks before the belt was due to be changed.

[Envoy CDX]

My bad, sorry - clearly I wasn't awake when originally reading this.
Fingers crossed the damage isn't too bad all the same.

[ilovedmymantas]

It was three weeks before it was being changed, total bummer . It was being done at the same time as the mot, double bummer!

I don't know what the word is for irrational justification but I suffer from it, i can't envisage me driving anything else, the car only has to outlast me. With that in mind i'm preparing for the worst case scenario. I know it's an interference engine and some valves are likely to be bent.

What's the best way of approaching this? Fit the new belt etc and see what happens or perhaps removing the cam cover and inspecting for signs of bent valve stems. I don't really know.

I'm sure I have a partial cylinder head buried at the back of the shed somewhere left over from my sri engine rebuild . There may be enough valves for replacements needed, though knowing my luck.....

My present thinking, in order to save some money and feel the car's had the best treatment is to get the garage to remove the cylinder head and give it to me for a refurb. There was a bit of vibration and a ticking noise, I suspect gummed up cam followers and know i can fix them, i've done it before. I've never had a problem seating the valves the lazy way i.e. reversible drill attached to the end of the sucker rod, works a treat! Just need to find my valve spring compressor. I know I have one, no idea where it is after 15 years

[Envoy CDX]

ideally plugs out and bore scope down to see what can be seen from that, get it timed back up and fit the belt if its looking safe to do so. No point stripping the engine down if it isn't required.
I mean you might be really lucky and nothing was fully open when it went (best case scenario)

When a x20xev let go in a friends omega at 70 we had to do 3 valves to get it running again. Luck of the draw, but I don't think I would pay someone to fit a belt to test it and find more damage is then done.

A spare head to put on will likely be the cheapest option assuming that its the valves that took the brunt of it. But then that's a rebuilt head, likely most of a gasket set, coolant, oil etc.

That or a good engine from a donor may end up being cheaper again.

[3cav3]

When I was in my teens I purchased a Honda Prelude that had suffered with Cambelt failure. When I popped the head off at first glance everything looked fine, it was only on closer inspection that you could see a very slight bend in about 3 valves. As I was a skint student I obtained another head that had been cooked, I took the valves out of that, lapped them in, and could see no other damage. A pattern head gasket set and a blue print cambelt kit, I think I had it back running for around £50 outlay, off course that was at 90's prices but even today you'd probably get change out of £100. So hopefully it won't work out too serious for you. It was the first time I ever got a car over 100 mph!

[Robsey]

I presume bent valves would affect compression values.

So you could try cranking with fuse 11 removed.
Test the compressions on each cylinder.
If things appear okay, and there are no strange noises or stiffness, then you could try starting and running the car.

If you do pull the head off -
I would prepare for the expense of a full head set of gaskets and bolts.
May as well do all the stem seals etc whilst the head is off.

[Envoy CDX]

If you do pull the head off -
I would prepare for the expense of a full head set of gaskets and bolts.
May as well do all the stem seals etc whilst the head is off.

Do it once, do it right if going to that level.

[Robsey]

Exactly -
If it is done properly and fully, you should hopefully never need to go there again.