Be glad you don't have a corsa
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Be glad you don't have a corsa
Any engine with a chain can do something similar if the tensioner, chain or guides are well worn. I'd have expected it to have been making a lot of noise long before final failure.
Your average old corsa timing chain sounds horrendous..
People service them on the cheap or not at all or use the wrong oil and then cry when stuff like this happens.
People service them on the cheap or not at all or use the wrong oil and then cry when stuff like this happens.
To be fair when you look around at half the cars on the road you can tell who the cheep skates are in the maintenance ?
Out of interest, what is the mileage?
I sold my Corsa when I got the Panda, uncomfortable seats and a CD player that skips and jumps at the slightest road imperfection spoiled what was actually an OK car.
Around 45k apperntly
Did it have the factory oil in it?????
Couldn't tell you as the picture was taken by me personally
The 1.0 3cyl engine is, I believe, a Suzuki unit. In the Corsa C they were great, in my opinion, but need to be in the right gear. They will rev well and pull quite strongly right through the range, and thrashed mercilessly every day, refused to use any oil. I had a few with BSM, and they really taught the learners to listen, feel, and choose the right gear. Need a fair bit of accelerator to get going. Could join a dual-carriageway in 3rd gear and just take it all the way to 70, then select 5th and cruise. Mostly criticised by people who don't drive them properly, often lazy with gearchanges.
Same engine in the later Corsa D struggled. Car was significantly heavier, even the 4-pot 1.2 worked hard.
If you wish to potter around town, and calmly commute, the 1.0 is fine.
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My understanding is that 1,0 12V suffers from a serious design failure - tragic quality of the timing chain, comparable to that of a bicycle chain made by inmates recycling old pots in Chinese labor camp and used by 12-yrs old village idiot in Bangladesh to commute to one of the local sweatshops supplying H&M.
The chain is known to elongate after circe 50 kkm from new and the tensioner used is unable to compensate for the extra length. This, reportedly, leads to many interesting phenomena, like ECU light switching on randomly because of resulting loss of timing etc.
I have zero personal experience with Opels, but I do not think I will ever buy one.
The chain is known to elongate after circe 50 kkm from new and the tensioner used is unable to compensate for the extra length. This, reportedly, leads to many interesting phenomena, like ECU light switching on randomly because of resulting loss of timing etc.
I have zero personal experience with Opels, but I do not think I will ever buy one.
Tbf I've never entertained the idea of a 1.0 corsa but yes having done a little bit of reading...apparently Vauxhall unlocked the secret of making a timing chain that lasts for less time than a belt.
Because what everyone wants is something with the life a belt on an Alfa twin spark combined with the complexity and expense of replacing a chain...and 40bhp in the body of a corsa.
Wow how did they combine so much awesome into one car?
Because what everyone wants is something with the life a belt on an Alfa twin spark combined with the complexity and expense of replacing a chain...and 40bhp in the body of a corsa.
Wow how did they combine so much awesome into one car?
? hahaha yeah it was from a 1l 3 cylinder engine
My sister had a Corsa D 1.0 3 cylinder for 8 years, it was a base spec 'Life', sluggish as hell although I always thought Vauxhall had at least given it good gearing. She never looked after it and it probably saw a basic service every other year. From 18k - 95k millage that she owned it the only real things that went wrong were the factory stereo, the interior fan (went through about 3 of em and a set of wiring) can't remember why but the ABS system needed replacing at some point which was pretty expensive iirc. Lastly she rang me one day, this was probably when she'd had the car for 3 years and said the oil light came on when she was going up a hill but turned off when she got to the top... typical woman 
, pretty much sums up the maintenance schedule. It sounded like a bag of old nails come the end of her ownership and the EML had been on for 3 years or so
Traded in for a Fiesta ecoboost Titanium, according to DVLA the Corsa got MOT'd and taxed again so some unfortunate person has it
, pretty much sums up the maintenance schedule. It sounded like a bag of old nails come the end of her ownership and the EML had been on for 3 years or so Traded in for a Fiesta ecoboost Titanium, according to DVLA the Corsa got MOT'd and taxed again so some unfortunate person has it
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My sister had a Corsa D 1.0 3 cylinder for 8 years, it was a base spec 'Life', sluggish as hell although I always thought Vauxhall had at least given it good gearing. She never looked after it and it probably saw a basic service every other year. From 18k - 95k millage that she owned it the only real things that went wrong were the factory stereo, the interior fan (went through about 3 of em and a set of wiring) can't remember why but the ABS system needed replacing at some point which was pretty expensive iirc. Lastly she rang me one day, this was probably when she'd had the car for 3 years and said the oil light came on when she was going up a hill but turned off when she got to the top... typical woman
Traded in for a Fiesta ecoboost Titanium, according to DVLA the Corsa got MOT'd and taxed again so some unfortunate person has it
Hope it wasn't one of the 1 liter ecobost engine's they have a habit of writing themselves off and a few thousand miles
I thought those were the bigger ecoboost engines? Its the 125hp variant is all I know
The Corsa engine is a Suzuki engine, not turbo. In the Corsa C it was a great little engine, but in the D struggled with the extra weight of the new car. Even the 1.2 struggled with the new car. The 1.4 gave almost the same performance as the C 1.2.
The 'fragile' Ecoboost, is the Ford 3cyl engine, used in Fiesta and Focus.
We've been using these with AA Driving School for a few years now. Initially we had the 125hp. Very quick, but too lively, very difficult to drive gently or smoothly. Lots worked hard with learners, and probably used very hard by instructors (oops, guilty), but I've not heard of any failures with AA School. Then we dropped to the 100hp. Much softer, better for the learners, but still capable of a fair turn of speed when pushed hard. Not heard of them breaking yet either. Many with AA will hit 30k miles in a year. I think the failures are higher mileages than that, and unloved ones, with missed services, or oil level not checked. (Although I've not had one use any oil at all yet.) There are posts on the web about expensive repairs in later life.
I believe it's the cooling system that fails on them and extremely quickly overheats the block and warps them beyond repair
I have seen some reports of them failing but given the number sold it's not a massive failure rate by any means.
I wouldn't expect any 1.0 engine boosted to 125 bhp or 140 to give 20 years trouble free service. There's a lot of boost going on to get to those power levels so things like turbos head gaskets and cooling systems will be getting a workout, neglect at your peril!
I wouldn't expect any 1.0 engine boosted to 125 bhp or 140 to give 20 years trouble free service. There's a lot of boost going on to get to those power levels so things like turbos head gaskets and cooling systems will be getting a workout, neglect at your peril!
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