1.6 diesel engine rattle noise at start fix DIY

[myukjob85@gmail.com]

As many of you the owners off the 1.6 diesel engines know, there is a rattle noise from the cam chain tensioner. If left like that the chain guides will eventually fail. Vauxhall realesed a fix for this, in form of a gasket that needs to be installed to the chain tensioner in order to keep the pressure on the chain. There is a special buletin about this issue and Vauxhall install this gasket for free but they ask for a dealer service history. If you do not have you need to pay for the job and cost is £600 labor and about £100 in parts. If you are a DIY person this install can be done by yourself. You will need the service manual of the engine, a good set of tools, like halfords advanced, a set of offset ring spanners, long nose pliers, and normal pliers, a tool for removing plastic clips, torque wrench 2-25 NM, couple of small flat screwdrivers, plastic trim removal tools to use them as leverage when open the cam chain cover, some brake disk cleaner to clean old gasket from the chain cover, Also the cam cover screws will need cleaning from the old seal. Parts that needs removing: cam cover, injectors, egr and egr cooler, throttle body, ecu and ecu support cam cover. When refitted injectors new seal washers needs to be used, and the seat of the injectors needs cleaning. I found easy to clean the seat by using a cotton bud taped to a long screwdriver. Also a new rocker cover gasket need to be used. Coolant will need to be dropped. This operation is not very hard but is time consuming and is a good idea to bag and tag the screws from each component while you take it off

[Valer]

Excellent,but crucially has it stopped any rattle or is this just preventative maintenance ?
good to see you've made full use of the TIS info i sent to you

[myukjob85@gmail.com]

I am still waiting for a gasket for thermostat so I did not started yet. Tomorrow I should receive it so will will finish it and will post how everything is working.

[astraowner]

"DIY"...

99% of people will not be able to do this job DIY

[myukjob85@gmail.com]

Hi all, I can confirm that the noise in gone after the gasket install. And engine sounds better

[Spainopel]

Genial bricolaje amigo.
A mí me lo hicieron en la Opel hace unos días y sin coste alguno.
Solamente comentarte que a todo lo que has aportado que también han cambiado el tensor de la correa de distribución, el cual no es el mismo que el de serie, ha cambiado el modelo.
Gracias por explicarlo tan bien.

[Redman]

Hi all, I can confirm that the noise in gone after the gasket install. And engine sounds better

Good result and good of you to take the time to take photos and help others. If I had a diesel making the noise I would attempt this DIY. I don't recall you mentioning anything about the tie wraps keeping the chain on/tensioned and remembering to remove them, unless I've missed that.
To think GM referred to this diesel engine as the whisper engine.

[Redman]

Genial bricolaje amigo.
A mí me lo hicieron en la Opel hace unos días y sin coste alguno.
Solamente comentarte que a todo lo que has aportado que también han cambiado el tensor de la correa de distribución, el cual no es el mismo que el de serie, ha cambiado el modelo.
Gracias por explicarlo tan bien.

Translated

Cool DIY friend. They did it to me at the Opel a few days ago and at no cost. Just tell you that to everything you have contributed that they have also changed the timing belt tensioner, which is not the same as the standard one, the model has changed. Thanks for explaining it so well.

[astraowner]

Genial bricolaje amigo.
A mí me lo hicieron en la Opel hace unos días y sin coste alguno.
Solamente comentarte que a todo lo que has aportado que también han cambiado el tensor de la correa de distribución, el cual no es el mismo que el de serie, ha cambiado el modelo.
Gracias por explicarlo tan bien.

Translated

Cool DIY friend. They did it to me at the Opel a few days ago and at no cost. Just tell you that to everything you have contributed that they have also changed the timing belt tensioner, which is not the same as the standard one, the model has changed. Thanks for explaining it so well.

I was told that the local vauxhall garage had also changed the whole lot, chain, guides, cogs, and whatnot. The booker said that he would not recommend the "quick fix" with the tensioner if the engine was rattling, as the chain would likely be damaged, the guides would likely be stripped of the plastic that the chain runs on.

[Valer]

Genial bricolaje amigo.
A mí me lo hicieron en la Opel hace unos días y sin coste alguno.
Solamente comentarte que a todo lo que has aportado que también han cambiado el tensor de la correa de distribución, el cual no es el mismo que el de serie, ha cambiado el modelo.
Gracias por explicarlo tan bien.

Translated

Cool DIY friend. They did it to me at the Opel a few days ago and at no cost. Just tell you that to everything you have contributed that they have also changed the timing belt tensioner, which is not the same as the standard one, the model has changed. Thanks for explaining it so well.

I was told that the local vauxhall garage had also changed the whole lot, chain, guides, cogs, and whatnot. The booker said that he would not recommend the "quick fix" with the tensioner if the engine was rattling, as the chain would likely be damaged, the guides would likely be stripped of the plastic that the chain runs on.

It's important that all the associated parts are checked as ok.

taken from the #14-E-3168 bulletin
2. Inspect the timing chain tensioner and the timing chain for damages
Note: Replace worn and damaged parts.