Anyone familiar with the Tigra 1.4 16v ?

[düdo]

I'm going to check a 1999 Opel Tigra 1.4 16v with head gasket issues. Pressure in the system, blowing off coolant pipes and water in the exhaust. No oil in the water. He believes it hasn't overheated. I'm going in a bit blind so any experience of this engine which I think was also fitted to the Corsa would be appreciated. He says it was using oil too. I don't mind a head gasket job but pressure testing facilites are non-existent around here. The overall condition and spec seems to be ok and a new motor is not too dear but I don't want to get bogged in too much quicksand! Any thoughts appreciated. Thankyou

[theheap]

I'm sure a compression tester is about £20

[froggy]

Not sure which engine code that one is but if it's gotten hot the heads can warp enough to lock the cams solid when you slacken the head bolts

[duggers]

Renowned for HG. usually a result of knackered water pump/thermostat and general GM crapiness.
Had one done by a guy in Leicester for £295 all in.He showed me a picture of the silt build up in the water channel. it stood nearly 10mm tall above the block deck!

[düdo]

Thanks for the words fellas.

Aug 14, 2016 16:50:44 GMT theheap said:

I'm sure a compression tester is about £20

I have a compression tester. My Renault 21 had good compression but only when hot would it pressurise in the wrong places. The head was cracked but only blow when warm and that got me for a bit.
It's going to be a can of worms. I was looking in the local ads for a car for the wife to drive to work during winter and chose this. He wants €100. Never thought about having a hairdressers car.. this would have been the area managers : leather and bodykit. but it would just be another heap if it sucked up all my time! The wife likes the look but not too keen that she'll probably never drive it! Ah the dreams of the old banger enthusiast.. still, just a quick looksie won't hurt.. much

[düdo]

Aug 14, 2016 18:27:18 GMT duggers said:

Renowned for HG. usually a result of knackered water pump/thermostat and general GM crapiness.
Had one done by a guy in Leicester for £295 all in.He showed me a picture of the silt build up in the water channel. it stood nearly 10mm tall above the block deck!

just saw your reply duggers. That's the optimism I like. Thankyou

[duggers]

Glad i could help

With a car that old the coolant has rarely been changed as the car gets in to the cheap car category and as a result there is a hefty build up of crud.

[düdo]

The only GM product I've had was an '81 Bedford Chevanne that my Dad gave me. It was a courier van that he got through a mate. It was in 1989 before I was doing any spannering. It had 'sandy' written on the driver's door..

Anyway. I'm thinking that the oil use could be valve seals.. but I only think that from my experience on Citroen 16vs. Wife likes the idea of the heated seats.

[düdo]

I've owned it. Maybe I'm deluded but it reminds my of the early TVRs filtered through the 90s. I'll bring it home and bring on the pain! Thanks for the words of wis fellas

[duggers]

Check for corrosion in the usual (corsa) places, rear spring mount area, rear sill/arch join, front cross member, inner wings and bulkhead.

On a more positive note than my previous mutterings, these are a doddle to work on and parts are cheap and plentiful.

You don't see many of these about nowadays so good to see a 90's coupe going back on the road, good luck.

[düdo]

Aug 15, 2016 19:38:40 GMT duggers said:

Check for corrosion in the usual (corsa) places, rear spring mount area, rear sill/arch join, front cross member, inner wings and bulkhead.

On a more positive note than my previous mutterings, these are a doddle to work on and parts are cheap and plentiful.

You don't see many of these about nowadays so good to see a 90's coupe going back on the road, good luck.

Thanks duggers. I just bought a Corsa Haynes manual. I'm actually quite excited about getting it sorted. The low investment gives me some headroom.

[taurus]

It's really a Suzuki engine anyway. They get very fragile if they've overheated so check carefully. Also check the seal behind the water pump which forms part of the timing cover gasket - a weak point that lets oil and coolant mix. Taking the head off will let you see the back side of that seal so look whilst you're in there.

Pretty easy to work on. If you have to reset the timing disc on the inlet camshaft you will need the timing kit for them - there are virtually no markers.

[düdo]

Aug 15, 2016 20:29:04 GMT taurus said:

It's really a Suzuki engine anyway. They get very fragile if they've overheated so check carefully. Also check the seal behind the water pump which forms part of the timing cover gasket - a weak point that lets oil and coolant mix. Taking the head off will let you see the back side of that seal so look whilst you're in there.

Pretty easy to work on. If you have to reset the timing disc on the inlet camshaft you will need the timing kit for them - there are virtually no markers.

Thanks taurus . All useful to me. When I get it home next week I'm going to remove the head and have a look. Hope it's not too bad. Local scrapyard can do a skim on the head. Wife would like it on the road for winter to drive to work, I live in hope. If it's cactus then the longer view is a nice Red Top in there. It's good to know there's some expertise around here!

[Little eddie]

When i was an apprentice mechanic me and the old boy put an engine in one after it overheated and cooked itself. We waited all day for an engine to be delivered from Sunderland. The truck turned up, the bloke cut the seal on the back door, all 3 of us stood there as he opened the shutter door to find......... Sod all. The poor driver had driven all the way from Sunderland to Birmingham with an empty truck as they'd forgot to load the engine.

[vaughant]

Honestly just as easy to swap out the engine and play with the other one on the deck. Be aware though (as I wasn't) that if you swap the engine complete, keep the loom off your one, well the little multi plug box on the side as it links to the immobiliser, unlike fords where it's all done in the ecu. Cue hours of wondering why it wouldn't start as it was an engine in the boot job. Saying that the engine was simple to change, no subframe, nothing scary, diy mechanic in an afternoon no probs. Also I drove it for about 18 months and put 30k on it back and forth to Scotland, no issues, great on fuel and ran sweet as a nut, I think that's the last decent era of Vauxhall's.

[duggers]

This site features factory style manuals for any more details than the Haynes and they're free (well you can donate via PP)
workshop-manuals.com/

[DavidB]

Carefully remove the core from a spark plug and drill out the centre, put a rubber hose on the end and screw it into the spark plug hole then connect to an air supply and see if any bubbles come through the coolant reservoir <--- cheapo pressure tester.

[düdo]

I really appreciate the answers and the ideas fellas, thankyou. I've got it home now so I suppose I should start a thread but running around trying to get everything ready to go camping for a few days tomorrow.

[düdo]

Aug 22, 2016 20:31:32 GMT vaughant said:

. Be aware though (as I wasn't) that if you swap the engine complete, keep the loom off your one, well the little multi plug box on the side as it links to the immobiliser, unlike fords where it's all done in the ecu. Cue hours of wondering why it wouldn't start as it was an engine in the boot job

Dragging this thread out again as having swapped a new engine into the Tigra it's not starting. Engine turns but fuel pump doesn't run. The old engine was running so I know the fuel pump worked. I straight away remembered this post.

I used my old loom - the one that connects into the ECU with all the big fuses hanging off it but I kept a smaller loom fixed to the back of the new engine that runs off a round blue, twist locking multi-plug and connects the starter and alternator.

Any ideas appreciated. Cheers

[düdo]

Mulleting this over.. I realise it could be several worms of a whole can of issues and I haven't really provided enough info for one definitive answer.

As my time is severely rationed these days I'm taking it to Englebert ( not Humperdinck) who knows a bit more about these things than I do.

The Tigra will hopefully roar gently soon.