Purchased/Looking after a 2012 Insignia - WCPGW

[B'stard Child]

Bloody was tho

[B'stard Child]

Bloody thing is stuck fast on the crank - that’s a bugger

Tool number two coming up…….

[B'stard Child]

Winning at life or rather not being beaten by an Italian oil burner



Annoyingly key way is perfectly intact so not the cause of tining being out

[B'stard Child]

Belt timed but need to turn it over two times to check it all - left handed crank bolt needs to be done up first

You know the drill now - cut cut, grind grind and the hot glue gun to finish

[B'stard Child]

Heath Robinson set up

[B'stard Child]

It runs…….

It rattles but only normal diesel rattles

[ZX10R NIN]

Just a simple job then, glad you got it sorted.

[B'stard Child]

ZX10R NIN said:

;) Just a simple job then, glad you got it sorted.

Well partially sorted

1. I've rather chucked it back together to determine if engine has damage
2. The battery is really low it just about churned the engine over to start it
3. The EML is on so I need to find out what's driving that and fix it (it could be battery but I'm not that lucky)
4. I need to road test it to ensure that whilst it's rattle free it drives OK

If I can do all that and I'm happy with it I'm going to do some preventative maintenance

1. I know that the bottom pulley is crappy die cast material and that's why the key way can fail - it's done 135K and so I'm going to replace it

2. The "left handed bolt from hell" is a use once and torque to yield so that needs replacing

3. I'm not happy with the belt tensioner operation (I think this may be my assignable cause) and as I have to take the belt off to replace the bottom pulley I'm going to sling a belt kit on it belt, water pump, tensioner and idler wheel (I've already bought it just in case - parts place says as long as it's not opened I can return it for full refund) I might make that NN's Christmas present to keep the bill down to a low level - she's currently using public transport for college and it's a lot more than the fuel costs of using the Insiginia.

Alternatively I could just take the view that NN will find another way to kill in and it's not worth the effort or expense - button it up now and take a chance on bolt and pulley - It's the longest she's managed to keep a car on the road or running (literally in both cases) does the Insignia deserve chance to provide a few more years good service - I think it does (I accept it will look like crap due to her touch parking skills)

[mercedeslimos]

Good shout on the tools. I managed to strip 4 teeth off the belt trying to remove the Mondeo bottom pulley bolt - but one without a keyway Ended up getting a loan of a 3/4" Milwaukee to do it. Bought a 1/2" Milwaukee for myself that day.

[B'stard Child]

mercedeslimos said:

Good shout on the tools. I managed to strip 4 teeth off the belt trying to remove the Mondeo bottom pulley bolt - but one without a keyway Ended up getting a loan of a 3/4" Milwaukee to do it. Bought a 1/2" Milwaukee for myself that day.

I have Milwaukee 1/2” rattle gun but I have previous history taking the heads off bolts when using it - this wasn’t a job I felt comfortable using it - when I wasn’t 100% sure it was left hand thread

[mercedeslimos]

B'stard Child said:

mercedeslimos said:

Good shout on the tools. I managed to strip 4 teeth off the belt trying to remove the Mondeo bottom pulley bolt - but one without a keyway Ended up getting a loan of a 3/4" Milwaukee to do it. Bought a 1/2" Milwaukee for myself that day.

I have Milwaukee 1/2” rattle gun but I have previous history taking the heads off bolts when using it - this wasn’t a job I felt comfortable using it - when I wasn’t 100% sure it was left hand thread

They are very good, I'll give them that. I've never taken the heads off anything, I usually use the gun as a last resort rather than first tool out of the box

[B'stard Child]

mercedeslimos said:

B'stard Child said:

mercedeslimos said:

Good shout on the tools. I managed to strip 4 teeth off the belt trying to remove the Mondeo bottom pulley bolt - but one without a keyway Ended up getting a loan of a 3/4" Milwaukee to do it. Bought a 1/2" Milwaukee for myself that day.

I have Milwaukee 1/2” rattle gun but I have previous history taking the heads off bolts when using it - this wasn’t a job I felt comfortable using it - when I wasn’t 100% sure it was left hand thread

They are very good, I'll give them that. I've never taken the heads off anything, I usually use the gun as a last resort rather than first tool out of the box

I’ve taken several heads clean off the bolts - they normally shear at the point the thread starts - mainly cos I forget to check the gun direction “righty tighty” or “lefty loosey”

Hence weapon of last resort and brought out for the “jesus bolt” on C30SE (Carlton and Senator 24v engines) or C36GET (Lotus Carlton engines) front pulley bolt

Jesus bolt instructions for fitting notes 1 & 2)

First stage - 200 Nm
Second stage + 50 deg
Third stage + 15 deg

1) Only use new bolt
2) Insert bolt coated with engine oil

It’s never keen to be removed - Hence it’s known as the Jesus bolt

I haven’t sheared one of them either but they normally break Normans Knuckles and he doesn’t like that and I don’t like a Norman to face interface when his knuckles break)

[B'stard Child]

Dealership (when I called them - I asked them to ring me when the parts were in) said oh yes your parts are here

So this morning I'll do a 70 mile round trip to fetch them - Local Vauxhall Dealership who I used to use (and had a good relationship with as a serial Opel bother er) no longer have a parts dept - WTF is that all about - how does a dealer run a service/repair dept with no parts dept!!!

If the weather stays dry - I can get the insipid finished today and subject to a test drive and getting rid of the EML I should be able to return the car to NN

That will mean I don't have to drive her to Papworth Hospital for her shift on Monday

[B'stard Child]

Parts collected



Bolt comes without a washer (or it’s escaped the packaging) - so I’ll have to re-use the old one which will make my teeth itch but needs must

I’ll compare keyways on the timing pinion - new one looks much more sharp

[mercedeslimos]

If it's any consolation, the Peugeot 2.0 HDi in the Mondeo hasn't a keyway... you lock the cam pulley with a 6mm bolt and an Allen key into a square hole on the flywheel through the starter motor hole - had to do this as I contacted valves and pistons trying to open the bottom pulley bolt with a 5-foot bar

Took three attempts to get the timing right - first two wouldn't start as the timing was out a fraction due to the stupid shape and size of the timing holes - apparently, there are Ford special tools but the back of the flywheel corroded and nothing would fit in the hole so I was doing it by eye with one of those USB ALiExpress borescopes. Had to get herself out to have a look at it while I turned the crank an absolute fraction with the old bolt, remove the old bolt and replace it with the new bolt - stretch bolts which if you don't replace, you can imagine the consequences. I ugga dugga'd it with the 3/4 Milwaukee as that's what I'd used to remove it, and some extra Loctite for good measure - yeah that will cause hassle next time it's to be removed but that's a problem for Sam in ten years time and 125k miles, not Sam now

I reckon these modern engines rely on the timing being absolutely utterly bang-on to get everything working right - and the HDi is a twenty-year-old unit!

[B'stard Child]

mercedeslimos said:

If it's any consolation, the Peugeot 2.0 HDi in the Mondeo hasn't a keyway... you lock the cam pulley with a 6mm bolt and an Allen key into a square hole on the flywheel through the starter motor hole - had to do this as I contacted valves and pistons trying to open the bottom pulley bolt with a 5-foot bar

Ooops

mercedeslimos said:

Took three attempts to get the timing right - first two wouldn't start as the timing was out a fraction due to the stupid shape and size of the timing holes - apparently, there are Ford special tools but the back of the flywheel corroded and nothing would fit in the hole so I was doing it by eye with one of those USB ALiExpress borescopes. Had to get herself out to have a look at it while I turned the crank an absolute fraction with the old bolt, remove the old bolt and replace it with the new bolt - stretch bolts which if you don't replace, you can imagine the consequences. I ugga dugga'd it with the 3/4 Milwaukee as that's what I'd used to remove it, and some extra Loctite for good measure - yeah that will cause hassle next time it's to be removed but that's a problem for Sam in ten years time and 125k miles, not Sam now

I had to resort to ugga dugga today

mercedeslimos said:

I reckon these modern engines rely on the timing being absolutely utterly bang-on to get everything working right - and the HDi is a twenty-year-old unit!

Well the insignia was running with the belt out by 3 teeth (OK it wasn't happy but it was running)

[B'stard Child]

My day in pictures (later in post)

Old belt removed
Water pump removed
Bottom Pulley removed
New pulley fitted
New water pump fitted
New Idler pulley fitted
New Belt fitted

Timing marks





Now of course you can't see the marks behind the crank locking tool



so have one with it removed



Tensioner fitted and tensioned



Drained the rad as the coolant didn't look that great and I had 5 L of red stuff ready (Just in case)

Antifreeze replaced

Then with it all semi tightened up turn the engine over twice to ensure it moves freely and the marks line up again

Except it's locked solid - ahhh it would be hard to turn an engine with the camshaft locking tool still in

Remove camshaft locking tool

Spin over by had twice

Check timing again - all good

Button it up at the top end and refit engine mounts

Then with slight modification to crank locking tool tighten crank bolt fully

Only info I could find on the web was 50NM and then 75 to 90 deg

I/2 extension bar number three broke at 45 deg

Out with the ugga dugga then

Then finish putting it all together check oil give the engine bay a bit of a clean



Then run the engine up to temp and read the codes - loads of DPF warnings - deep joy!!!!

[B'stard Child]

So clear the codes and the EML went out

Take it for a test drive and the EML comes on very quickly so reset again and with the "in dash display" set to "Eco Menu" and scrolled to "top consumer list"

After several miles of no EML the "rear window demist" became the top consumer but the light on the switch wasn't illuminated - excellent - we have regen conditions continued driving until the "rear window demist" went off the list

Back home and check the codes only one remains PO404 EGR range/perfomance problem

I couldn't be arsed to deal with it - the EML is staying off and I need to google what to do to fix it so I ran the car back to NN and then walked home.

[B'stard Child]

Well my google fu must be good tonight

https://www.700r4transmissionhq.com/p0404-opel-ins...

Web Site said:

While there are several issues that can throw the P0404 code in the Insignia, the most common issue is either going to be carbon buildup on the EGR valve, the EGR valve itself (going bad), or wiring issues.

P0404 Symptoms: Opel Insignia

Most of the time, the only symptom of P0404 is going to be the service engine soon light itself. The only exception to this is going to be when the EGR valve gets stuck open or stays shut and then throws the code.

EGR Stuck Open or Shut- In that scenario, the engine will typically idle rough, have higher intake temperatures, and more exhaust emissions.

Gas Smell

Failure to Pass State Emissions

Rough Idle

Engine Stalling

Service Engine Soon Light

Guess I'll need to remove to clean/check it

[B'stard Child]

Oh and other jobs carried out (because they made my teeth itch)

Headlights dried out (the insides were dripping with condensation)

Headlight fixing screws replaced - yep 3missing screws - no idea where they have gone - I've never removed them and I'm sure they were there when I last looked in the engine bay

Windscreen scuttle vents unblocked - absolutely clogged with dirt and leaf debris

Another job to add to the list is I can hear liquid moving around in corners so my bet is there is a door with it's drain holes clogged up - or it could be the scuttle under the vents

I guess I need to accept that I can't fix everything on this car unless I see it on a regular basis and checking the fluids and air in the tyres isn't going to cut it