Intro and a few questions (water pump and auto tranny)

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7th July 2010, 10:10 AM
WhatThe

Intro and a few questions (water pump and auto tranny)

Howdy all.
I just wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions about my recent purchase.
I’ve just purchased a 2005 AH CD as our 2nd runabout car and wondered if you could answer some questions.
History is as follows
2005 AH Astra CD with 140,000 1.8 (Z18XE engine)
Full service history after 80,000K’s. The service books were started again when the last owner purchased as they were missing. (Ex fleet vehicle so I’m midly confident it was serviced during the first 80,000 as this forms part of your requirement for fleet vehicles but nothing is ever 100% right)
Timing Belt was done at 90,000 (have receipt) as service history was missing so it was done just in case.

The car was purchased for a discounted price with a known transmission fault. It had a reco tranny installed at 100,000 when it suffered the notorious coolant leak however it’s now back with the transmission place as it’s experiencing the following faults.
Symptoms: Car shifts too quickly through the gears to 4th but then doesn’t shift down as you slow down and subsequently stalls most of the time unless it engages neutral at idle. It does however kick down when you’re on the freeway at cruising speed so I don’t believe it’s a mechanical failure.
At first, the tranny specialist was adamant that it was an ECU failure however after further diagnostics on the Tech 2, he’s now pretty confident it’s the TCM (Transmission computer). They are currently searching wreckers and I was wondering what price second hand units are worth?
What are your thoughts? Is he on the money?

And finally, not knowing if the water pump has been replaced (it wasn’t on the timing belt receipt) should I bite the bullet and change it along with the belt again (obviously the belt has a few more K’s left in it). Were the water pumps still an issue on this model or had they rectified them as this engine was carried over from the G series.
How many hours labour am I up for as I’ll probably purchase parts through www.autovaux.com .

Cheers.

WhatThe….
7th July 2010, 10:45 AM
lithium

welcome. with regards to the water pump, it's really up to you whether you get it and the belt replaced early.

personally, i'd leave it until the next timing belt change is due and in the meantime, just keep an eye out for any indications that it might be failing. typical symptoms are a ticking noise from the timing belt area (bearings starting to go in pump), or coolant starting to disappear (pump starting to leak).
7th July 2010, 10:46 AM
guy 27

Welcome mate,

I would put it down to the TCM as well, but without looking at it further it would just be a guess.

As for the waterpump, if its not leaking then just leave it till the next belt change.

Also try to change the timing belt at 60k km instead or 90k km. I believe there was a revision about that due to snapping belts. (someone else can confirm)
7th July 2010, 11:32 AM
WhatThe

Quote:

Originally Posted by lithium

welcome. with regards to the water pump, it's really up to you whether you get it and the belt replaced early.

personally, i'd leave it until the next timing belt change is due and in the meantime, just keep an eye out for any indications that it might be failing. typical symptoms are a ticking noise from the timing belt area (bearings starting to go in pump), or coolant starting to disappear (pump starting to leak).

Cheers Lithium... That was going to be my next question (what are the warning signs) as I couldn't find any data on if they traditionally gave you any warning or not. Logic for me would suggest that typical bearing failures I've seen in the past (from general wear and tear) have a longer period of failure the longer they are installed. EG, if it's going to suffer an immediate and sudden catastrophic failure without any warning, it's likely going to be earlier in it's life rather than later. Does that make sense?
So, it's nice to know I'll likely get some warning if it's going to drop it's bundle...

Quote:

Originally Posted by guy 27

Welcome mate,

I would put it down to the TCM as well, but without looking at it further it would just be a guess.

As for the waterpump, if its not leaking then just leave it till the next belt change.

Also try to change the timing belt at 60k km instead or 90k km. I believe there was a revision about that due to snapping belts. (someone else can confirm)

Cheers Guy..
You mention about the revision on the belt intervals, I'm led to believe this was on the earlier version of that engine. First is was 120,000, intervals then it was revised down to 60,000K and then back up to 90,000K on the AH. Can anyone confirm?

Cheers

WhaThe..