RE: Vauxhall Cavalier GSI: PH Ad Break
Discussion
IIRC its to do with the rolling radius..
Imagine new tyres on the back and 1.6mm on the fronts.
Fronts will have to spin faster than the rears to maintain (say) 50mph, but the tx box is locked up and rotating the wheels at equal speed, which means the back wheels want to travel further for a wheel revolution.. so the rears wind up the box, cause slip on the clutches, which will eventually fail.
I had my turbo for 7 years and never had a problem, the previous owner had fitted a new transfer case after the first one failed. IIRC the new box had 100k on it by the time I sold, no problem at all.
When they were on the way out you could feel it (or at least the ones I drove you could!).
The transfer box is more or less the same idea has haldex, just not implemented as well.. but then we are talking 20+ year old tech.
If I remember rightly:
The tx box has a viscous coupling that builds up fluid pressure, this is stored in an accumulator. When there is enough pressure there is a pressure plate that gets forced onto the clutch pack via a ram, which locks them up, providing drive. It would disconnect if you hit the brakes.
The problem was the coupling made lots of heat and as we know heat kills clutch material. The fluid in question was the power steering fluid (ATF fluid). I changed mine a few times, and I can remember the steering feeling different afterwards.
The box also had ATF in it, like a gearbox might (this wasn't under pressure), was always a good idea to change this once in a while as well.
The tx boxes were a weak point, because initially people didn't know how to look after them, then later on people just couldn't be arsed.. some cars got converted to 2wd, I know some got locked up permanently (a solenoid controlled the high pressure to the pressure plate ram, thus you could disable this and leave it locked up).
ETA: pics of oily bits here: http://www.cavalierturbo.com/downloads/richie/4wd_...
Haldex works in a similar way, except that there is a pump to make pressure, this moves a piston which squeezes the clutch pack. Better execution.
ETA: The proper touring car days
Imagine new tyres on the back and 1.6mm on the fronts.
Fronts will have to spin faster than the rears to maintain (say) 50mph, but the tx box is locked up and rotating the wheels at equal speed, which means the back wheels want to travel further for a wheel revolution.. so the rears wind up the box, cause slip on the clutches, which will eventually fail.
I had my turbo for 7 years and never had a problem, the previous owner had fitted a new transfer case after the first one failed. IIRC the new box had 100k on it by the time I sold, no problem at all.
When they were on the way out you could feel it (or at least the ones I drove you could!).
The transfer box is more or less the same idea has haldex, just not implemented as well.. but then we are talking 20+ year old tech.
If I remember rightly:
The tx box has a viscous coupling that builds up fluid pressure, this is stored in an accumulator. When there is enough pressure there is a pressure plate that gets forced onto the clutch pack via a ram, which locks them up, providing drive. It would disconnect if you hit the brakes.
The problem was the coupling made lots of heat and as we know heat kills clutch material. The fluid in question was the power steering fluid (ATF fluid). I changed mine a few times, and I can remember the steering feeling different afterwards.
The box also had ATF in it, like a gearbox might (this wasn't under pressure), was always a good idea to change this once in a while as well.
The tx boxes were a weak point, because initially people didn't know how to look after them, then later on people just couldn't be arsed.. some cars got converted to 2wd, I know some got locked up permanently (a solenoid controlled the high pressure to the pressure plate ram, thus you could disable this and leave it locked up).
ETA: pics of oily bits here: http://www.cavalierturbo.com/downloads/richie/4wd_...
Haldex works in a similar way, except that there is a pump to make pressure, this moves a piston which squeezes the clutch pack. Better execution.
ETA: The proper touring car days
Edited by Crafty_ on Friday 8th March 22:43
Alias218 said:
What a miserable piece of crap. There are no 3 box saloons from the early 90's that stir the loins.
Really?So off the top of my head...... Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, Alfa 164, BMW 535i and M5, Lotus Carlton and Carlton GSI 3000, to name but a few, all these saloons available in the Nineties are not worthy of interest, when compared to hot hatches? What planet are you from?
All of the red top engined cars were great... they were the best of the rest back in the day, vauxhall built some great cars in this era, and then they lost the plot .... I will always have a special place in my memories for destroying 2ltr sierras in a 1.4 mkII astra, or the night i drove across the moors in my Cavalier Sri 130 so fast that i overtook everything i came across even an Audi quattro, golf Gti's all got destroyed i was in the zone and the car just flew - Peco exhausts, hotwire HT leads, K&N air filters & slick 50 days .. lol
te so probably a good thing!Crafty_ said:
IIRC its to do with the rolling radius..
Imagine new tyres on the back and 1.6mm on the fronts.
Fronts will have to spin faster than the rears to maintain (say) 50mph, but the tx box is locked up and rotating the wheels at equal speed, which means the back wheels want to travel further for a wheel revolution.. so the rears wind up the box, cause slip on the clutches, which will eventually fail.
Excellent, many thanks for that. Makes sense now. I ask as I had a mondeo 4x4 for almost 10 years and it did 250k miles on the original transfer box. I'd also read about the tyres etc and being within certain wear tolerances of each other but I never took any notice during my ownership. Throughout the time I had uneven tyre tread (and pressures for a while etc) between front and rears (running on a budget to say the least), but nothing ever failed and at the end it was bought by someone who used the 4x4 bits for a project car.Imagine new tyres on the back and 1.6mm on the fronts.
Fronts will have to spin faster than the rears to maintain (say) 50mph, but the tx box is locked up and rotating the wheels at equal speed, which means the back wheels want to travel further for a wheel revolution.. so the rears wind up the box, cause slip on the clutches, which will eventually fail.
Great as a 2WD. Not powerful enough to justify 4WD, and that transmission was a nightmare at the time. I was in the motor trade in the early 90's, and I reckon there was a 50/50 chance that a given example would have some sort of transmission problem. Even many of the decent warranty companies would specifically refuse to cover the 4WD system on Vauxhalls of this era.
What it did have was a storming engine, and the ability to shrug off hard driving / abuse, two things that Vauxhalls of this generation were always good at.
What it did have was a storming engine, and the ability to shrug off hard driving / abuse, two things that Vauxhalls of this generation were always good at.
Edited by Limpet on Monday 11th March 17:15
I found this thread whilst on a Cav binge. Loving the love the GSI got in here. My love affair with it started when I got a burgundy Matchbox model of it and it was only compounded when my Dad got a 2.0 GL in Flame Red. I drive a Z18XE Astra Coupe and even that pulls strongly despite its meagre output. Vauxhall seem to get decent performance even if almost everything else about them is average.
A bit late adding to this thread I know😂 but I had both an SRI 130 and a GSi2000. The GSi was a 1990 so pre-cat and 156hp (the 2.0XE engine). The head went porous and was replaced with a second hand engine which I bought for half the cost of a new head and meant a round trip of 300 miles. Both were great cars albeit the 130 lacked power steering and I would have liked AC in the GSI.
I am pretty sure the GSI was rated at 0-60 in 7.6secs and 136mph top speed.
I am pretty sure the GSI was rated at 0-60 in 7.6secs and 136mph top speed.
Kinetic D said:
A bit late adding to this thread I know?? but I had both an SRI 130 and a GSi2000. The GSi was a 1990 so pre-cat and 156hp (the 2.0XE engine). The head went porous and was replaced with a second hand engine which I bought for half the cost of a new head and meant a round trip of 300 miles. Both were great cars albeit the 130 lacked power steering and I would have liked AC in the GSI.
I am pretty sure the GSI was rated at 0-60 in 7.6secs and 136mph top speed.
The engine was pretty torquey for a 16v - allied to low weight as it was an 80s car and you can see why they are quick for a non-Turbo 4-dr saloon - up to motorway speeds as fast in-gear as the modern 200bhp GT86 sports coupe I am pretty sure the GSI was rated at 0-60 in 7.6secs and 136mph top speed.
Rust will be a problem with them now - the body kit could hide some problems!
s m said:
Kinetic D said:
A bit late adding to this thread I know?? but I had both an SRI 130 and a GSi2000. The GSi was a 1990 so pre-cat and 156hp (the 2.0XE engine). The head went porous and was replaced with a second hand engine which I bought for half the cost of a new head and meant a round trip of 300 miles. Both were great cars albeit the 130 lacked power steering and I would have liked AC in the GSI.
I am pretty sure the GSI was rated at 0-60 in 7.6secs and 136mph top speed.
The engine was pretty torquey for a 16v - allied to low weight as it was an 80s car and you can see why they are quick for a non-Turbo 4-dr saloon - up to motorway speeds as fast in-gear as the modern 200bhp GT86 sports coupe I am pretty sure the GSI was rated at 0-60 in 7.6secs and 136mph top speed.
Rust will be a problem with them now - the body kit could hide some problems!
The 0-60 was indeed in the mid 7 secs bracket which was very tidy for the era.
Welshbeef said:
The red top engine was an utter Gem
I only had the SRI 16v but back then insurance costs for the turbo was beyond my budget.
Does everyone rember the squeaky clutch pedal? Every single gearchange squeak
. I never solved the problem.
A dab of grease where the cable sat in the pedal slot cured it, until at least the next time it came in the garage, I think 80% or so of the cars I worked on had squeeky clutch pedals.I only had the SRI 16v but back then insurance costs for the turbo was beyond my budget.
Does everyone rember the squeaky clutch pedal? Every single gearchange squeak
. I never solved the problem. Not sure if I've mentioned on this thread before, but we even had to change transfer boxes when brand new due to locking up, and at least on a couple of occasions, we had customers come in and found the cars they had just purchased, had no rear prop shaft, and the fuse missing for the 4x4.
Storming engines though.
My first company car was a gold Cavalier 1.6L. This was replaced with a metallic red 1.8 (115) SRi. Then a black 2.8 (150) Sierra XR4x4 (D 307 DAD) - my first car with ABS. The company then reduced the list price allowable for company cars so next came a 2-litre SRi and then a black GLSi.
The first SRi had (I think) real Recaro seats with red/black check fabric rather than the later Vauxhall copies. That car was also too low-geared. The later cars had higher ratios.
The first SRi had (I think) real Recaro seats with red/black check fabric rather than the later Vauxhall copies. That car was also too low-geared. The later cars had higher ratios.
Edited by Glosphil on Saturday 18th April 15:57
Back in '04 I was given a 1994 1.8LS cavalier by a work colleague, who had been told the head had blown and needed £hundreds of repairs.
£50 for a new rad and it was great. Way better screwed together than the fiestas and renaults i'd had up to then, and a proper grown up car.
I colour coded the mirrors and fitted front fogs, but I always thought the design was good - better than equivalent mondeos at any rate.
However, I was also given an '88 bluebird turbo, which sent me down the jap turbo path after that.
As this thread was 2013 era, had the classic bubble started by then?
I guess now is the time to be saving the 52 through to 58 plate cars that will "one day" have people looking back with rose tinted glasses.
£50 for a new rad and it was great. Way better screwed together than the fiestas and renaults i'd had up to then, and a proper grown up car.
I colour coded the mirrors and fitted front fogs, but I always thought the design was good - better than equivalent mondeos at any rate.
However, I was also given an '88 bluebird turbo, which sent me down the jap turbo path after that.
As this thread was 2013 era, had the classic bubble started by then?
I guess now is the time to be saving the 52 through to 58 plate cars that will "one day" have people looking back with rose tinted glasses.
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