Time to say goodbye to the TS... or not?

[MitchSRi]

Hey all,

Real tough decision we (wifey and I) have to face.

We both have Astras:
Me: MY7.5 SRi 2.2 with 175,000kms on it (all from me).
Hers: A "last off the line" 05 TS Classic (with some bells and whistles from the Opel parts bin). It has just over 230,000kms on it, and owned since 30,000kms

Suffice to say both our cars are much loved, have shared many adventures with us, and have significant sentimental value.

Alas wifeys car is currently at the mechanics (we know and trust them very much).

A while back she'd had issues with the car temperature creeping up, and we found the coolant bottle had cracked. That was replaced and all good. Then the sump plug was replaced as it was leaking oil everywhere.

About a month back I heard the lifters sounding like a tractor, checked oil and it was bone dry. She mentioned the car temp had been getting up again. After giving her a bit of a talking to and putting in 4L odd of oil, we started it back up and it blew some white smoke, but that cleared and it was all good. Lifters quiet and we figured it was one to keep an eye on.

Since then it's been chewing oil and there's a bit under the sump, but its not dropping anywhere. She'd also noticed just in last week coolant level dropping quite quickly.

So mechanics check it out:
1. Radiator leaking and needs replacing.
2. J pipe and gasket/fitting need replacing as sheering off.
3. No oil leak noticable externally so mechanic is going to do a leak test, as it's not dropping the oil but burning it somewhere at quite a rate.

They currently suspect that one or more piston rings are gone... which means new engine time :(

Options therefore would be:
1. Second Hand motor - unknown kms and possibly just end up with same issue in the future.
2. Reconditioned motor - get mechanic to rebuild the motor with mostly fresh components (assuming block is intact, and cams/pistons/heads aren't damaged). Pretty much 0km engine right?
3. Replace the car, and get whatever we can from wreckers for whats in the car (looks like about $200 which is sweet FA).

Repairs all up I'm guessing are going to be around the $5000 mark, and we are not flush with funds at the moment (quite the opposite).

Tricky call really :\

Out of interest if we couldn't find a good 1.8L motor (ZX18E?) but could find a 2.2L do they drop straight in, or is there brake / clutch / gearbox upgrades required?

From what it looks like the 2.2L motors are almost double the price though.

Appreciate all thoughts on this one.

[chris_r]

If it has some sentimental value, then go second hand engine. You can find lowish km Z18XEs pretty cheap, as wreckers generally don't sell many of them. If you're handy with the tools and you have access to a crane, it's not a hard job to swap the engine out. Just remember you will need new timing belt and water pump too. If you can do it yourself, or have a mate who'll do it for beer money, you could get it done for around a grand.

As someone who has completed a couple of engine swaps, unless you're buying a whole car with the 2.2 in it as a donor, I wouldn't bother trying to swap it in. It can be done quite easy and it will fit, no issues. You just need the whole car so you get all the parts you need. 2.2 however, won't fit the 1.8s gearbox (you'd need to use the 2.2s box, shafts and hubs). I helped a mate a couple of years ago with his Astravan swap in a Z20LET, it was so much easier swapping in everything from a donor car, that's for sure.

[MitchSRi]

Thanks for the reply :)

Yeah gut feeling is thats the way forward, although to me anything over 150,000kms on the clock probably isn't worth the swap as you are bound to have the same issues (or ones you have repaired on this motor creep up). Water pump and belts were done not all that long ago (maybe 18-24 months).

I am handy with some things but don't have the gear, nor know how to do a full engine swap. Have done things like stereo, relays boot locks, central locking but that's my limit.

If we went reconditioned am I right in saying effectively the engine is stripped and most major internals replaced if they are worn? I'm just wondering if the price for both is similar, if the recond is a better option moving forwards.

I figured that might be the case with the 2.2L, and noticed they are about $2k just for the motor!

[dutchy]

Tough one hey and I'm with Chris on this. Get a second hand engine, maybe your mechanic can source a good one for you.

[MitchSRi]

Yeah I have no doubt whatever they source will be decent, as they are highly reputable and very well respected out there.

If they can't get a good one maybe an engine reconditioner has one laying around.

[MitchSRi]

UPDATE:

For those wondering we took the sensible option and replaced the car. So next thing is to probably sell the Astra .. obviously letting people know of the issues it has.

[dutchy]

enjoy the new car mate :thumbs:

[MitchSRi]

enjoy the new car mate :thumbs:
Thanks :) ... sadly it won't be an Opel, but then again there wasn't really anything in their range that interested us for the price (we did look) :)