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[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Genuine Vauxhall cambelt, tensioners, and water pump now fitted. refilled with anti-freeze all in £330 .But ........apparently I have oil in the coolant. The Vx mechanic showed me oil sludge in the expansion tank.

They tell me the car needs a new oil cooler (leaking)to sort the problem before it gets worse. They quoted four to five hours labour plus parts £568.44....Shit.

Opinions please gentlemen. :-/ :-/ :-/

[tunnie]

Well the diagnosis is right, sounds like oil cooler.

Parts wise looking at £150 ish, its actually a very straight forward task, even I did one   

5 hours is a bit much for a garage, plenum off & fuel injection manifold off.... 30 mins?

Old cooler out new one in, 1 hour? 30 mins to put back together?

[Gaffers]

Are you coming to Newent?  If so and if you can limp it there I or someone else could change it out for you.

5 hours is what a complete novice would take to do the job.  When I did one and the oil cooler pipes had seized on the union bolts near the oil filter I had to hacksaw them off and use my favourite tool to get them out then find a way to thread the replacement pipes in which was a pig.  I think that took a total of 6 hours.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Is it a total goo or is it just a few spots?

If the latter it may have been a failure in the dim adn distant past and there is still some traces of oil in the system

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Are you coming to Newent?  If so and if you can limp it there I or someone else could change it out for you.




5 hours is what a complete novice would take to do the job.  When I did one and the oil cooler pipes had seized on the union bolts near the oil filter I had to hacksaw them off and use my favourite tool to get them out then find a way to thread the replacement pipes in which was a pig.  I think that took a total of 6 hours.

Thanks for the offer Guffer. . I doubt I can make  Newent. I really must come to one of these OOF meets sooner or later.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Is it a total goo or is it just a few spots?

If the latter it may have been a failure in the dim adn distant past and there is still some traces of oil in the system

The expansion tank was empty when he showed me Mark.There appeared to be a build up of sludge/slime on the inside of it.

[tunnie]

Is it a total goo or is it just a few spots?

If the latter it may have been a failure in the dim adn distant past and there is still some traces of oil in the system

The expansion tank was empty when he showed me Mark.There appeared to be a build up of sludge/slime on the inside of it.

Could indicate a previous failure, as its been driven now, take the cap off, see if there is any oil floating on top.

If you can post some photos of what you see 

[martin42]

easiest thing to do is remove coolant tank and give it a good clean out and then see what happens,hth 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Is it a total goo or is it just a few spots?

If the latter it may have been a failure in the dim adn distant past and there is still some traces of oil in the system

The expansion tank was empty when he showed me Mark.There appeared to be a build up of sludge/slime on the inside of it.

Could indicate a previous failure, as its been driven now, take the cap off, see if there is any oil floating on top.

If you can post some photos of what you see 

She is still at Vx. I pick her up tomorrow.The job was  half finished when I  looked. I could clearly see the new belt and it's shiny new tensioner's though.

Seems like a good idea to monitor the situation for a while when I get her back before I part with any money. I check the coolant level regularly and I don't ever recall seeing any oil floating in it.

[Darth Loo-knee]

Well the diagnosis is right, sounds like oil cooler.

Parts wise looking at £150 ish, its actually a very straight forward task, even I did one   

5 hours is a bit much for a garage, plenum off & fuel injection manifold off.... 30 mins?

Old cooler out new one in, 1 hour? 30 mins to put back together?

You better come and do some for me Tunnie....... What about the time it takes to clear the water system, which is the biggest pain? How long to do that? Or is that in your 1hr 30 minutes? 

[TheBoy]

I must have flushed Project TB1 about 50 times over 2 weeks after its oil cooler failed.

OK, probably a better job than a dealer or garage would do, but apparently I'm anal

[tunnie]

Well the diagnosis is right, sounds like oil cooler.

Parts wise looking at £150 ish, its actually a very straight forward task, even I did one   

5 hours is a bit much for a garage, plenum off & fuel injection manifold off.... 30 mins?

Old cooler out new one in, 1 hour? 30 mins to put back together?

You better come and do some for me Tunnie....... What about the time it takes to clear the water system, which is the biggest pain? How long to do that? Or is that in your 1hr 30 minutes? 

Not quoting for that, just replacement work done 

[tunnie]

Well the diagnosis is right, sounds like oil cooler.

Parts wise looking at £150 ish, its actually a very straight forward task, even I did one   

5 hours is a bit much for a garage, plenum off & fuel injection manifold off.... 30 mins?

Old cooler out new one in, 1 hour? 30 mins to put back together?

You better come and do some for me Tunnie....... What about the time it takes to clear the water system, which is the biggest pain? How long to do that? Or is that in your 1hr 30 minutes? 

Not quoting for that, just replacement work done 

Also 30 mins, plus 1 hour, plus 30 mins = 2 hours.

But then again, Stoke is on a different time zone 

[Marks DTM Calib]

To be honest I think 2 hours is a bit of a push (unless you bend the pipes)

[MutantCav]

To be honest I think 2 hours is a bit of a push (unless you bend the pipes)

But 5 hours is rather excessive if not including flushing...certainly something on the list of things I can do and for well under £550 notes even including the cost of a set of crowsfoot spanners!!