Hi all,

My Felicia fun has been on a trip to the garage today. It had recently started to get rather noisy after running for a while (Tappet like noises) and yesterday on my way home from work, the oil light started to come on when I was braked suddenly. I checked the oil this morning before taking it in, and the level seemed, ok, but I topped it up slightly none the less and took it to the garage.

Among other things that need sorting, they ran an oil pressure test and found the pressure to very low, suspecting a problem in the lower part of the engine, that they say is not serviceable.

Has anyone come across an issue like this before? Is there really nothing that can be done? It looks like oil has been seeping out slightly from the rocker cover gasket, could this case these problems or is it going to be an internal problem?

Is there anything like K seal that I can put in there to try and seal up any problems?

I'm guessing an engine transplant is going to be pretty expensive.

Any help or any comments on the above would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Mick

What I would do is whip the sump off and clean out the strainer on the bottom of the oil pump pickup pipe from the sump.... They get glagged up with all kind of ****e which restricts oil flow into the pump and creates a pressure drop... The place you will loose oil pressure first is the tappets over cylinder 4 because they are furthest away from the pump.

Failing that, a second hand engine is easy to find... It's worth fixing

What I would do is whip the sump off and clean out the strainer on the bottom of the oil pump pickup pipe from the sump.... They get glagged up with all kind of ****e which restricts oil flow into the pump and creates a pressure drop... The place you will loose oil pressure first is the tappets over cylinder 4 because they are furthest away from the pump.

Failing that, a second hand engine is easy to find... It's worth fixing

Thanks for the reply Tom,

Do you know what kind of pressure drop a clocked up strainer would cause, as they said at 2500 RPM when the pressure should be 2 bar, it is only 1.5 at the moment?

If it came to getting a second hand engine, and paying someone to replace it (I don't think It is something I could do myself) could you give me any ball park figure of the cost? Like you say I really want to fix the Fun rather than have to part with it over this.

Thanks,

Mick

I can't remember the name of it, but I think you should check the oil pressure relief valve - it's located on or near the oil pump, and it released by undoing the big 'drain bolt' with an allen key.

Or just sell it to me....

I would start with taking the sump off and either getting a new strainer or cleaning it out as good as possible and retrying the oil pressure test with a new oil filter fitted too, bear in mind that damage could have already been done to the engine if you drove it any distance with the oil light on so you may fix it for now then find problems later on.

if your local I'll take a look for you if you want?

I can't remember the name of it, but I think you should check the oil pressure relief valve - it's located on or near the oil pump, and it released by undoing the big 'drain bolt' with an allen key.

you can't remove the oil pressure relief valve on this pumps, the ball valve is staked in place and peened over so they are nearly impossible to resammble after you've taken them apart. There is no Allen key socket on them.

Or just sell it to me....

I saw it first

yeah what he said, you don't mention whereabouts you are based but if you are local to me I can have a gander.

edit: hang on, 1.5 bars is 45psi ish..... That sounds fairly Normal to me.. Definitely worth cleaning the strainer in your case, I reckon it will cure your problems.

I saw it first

yeah what he said, you don't mention whereabouts you are based but if you are local to me I can have a gander.

edit: hang on, 1.5 bars is 45psi ish..... That sounds fairly Normal to me.. Definitely worth cleaning the strainer in your case, I reckon it will cure your problems.

Thanks guys I am in oxford, so I don't think that is local for either of you really.

I thought 1.5 bar was more like 21psi, which I'm guessing is quite low? Will try cleaning the strainer and see if it helps though. The light only flickered briefly when I braked suddenly, but the tappets can be heard once it has been running for 1/2 hour or so. I haven't been driving it with the oil warning light on.

If I decide I need to sell it you guys will be top of the list

Thanks,

Mick

It is only 21.7 PSI is 1.5 bar Tom....

Closer to me Tom

Oh and DON'T be tempted to buy any of that stuff they sell to "restore" oil pressure etc in engines it won't fix the problem you have.

the 1.6 engines are allways very bad for carbon build up inside as they run the oil a bit hotter than most which cooks it and causes sludge to build up inside the sump etc..

You'd notice any damage through oil starvation by loud banging noises. If it runs OK I'd be cautious to drive it without getting it sorted.

I had the same symptoms and later found out my pick up pipe had come detached. This was after getting recovered on the motorway when my engine disintegrated. It only took 50 miles.

Edited 7 February, 201214 yr by Violet

It is only 21.7 PSI is 1.5 bar Tom....

yes quite right, I wasmt feeling too well earlier and i was kinda half asleep :(

Even so that's not terminal for that engine, should still be able to salvage it

Closer to me Tom

Aww shucks looks like you'll be the one getting filthy dirty then jimbo.... It's a nasty oily horrible job taking the sump off, I've had the sump off mine 3 times in the last year, at least I found out where that missing washer went though :wonder:

oh yeh.. P.s I don't want to rob your vehicle from you, I've already got enough broken cars here that I can't be arsed to fix :p however I expect somebody on here will offer you a broken vectra and a twix for it if you decide to sell it.

I have spoken to the guys at the garage again today about the oil pressure, but they are pretty convinced that there is an internal problem with the engine, as the oil pressure is fine when the engine is started, but it then starts to drop as the engine gets hot, and a rattle can be heard coming from the bottom of the engine.

Would you guys agree that this is not likely to be a clogged strainer?

Thanks,

Mick

nope sounds exactly like mine did with a blocked strainer was ok at idle then the pressure dropped when revved also it sounds strange but the oil will need to flow faster to achieve the same pressure once it has heated up and thinned a bit

CHANGE YOUR GARAGE!!

Sorry, but I just plain would not trust a mechanic who does not realise that oil gets thinner as it gets hotter, and hence that oil pressure drops as engine temperature rises.

I'd suspect the filter, strainer, and pump in that order (cheapest to most expensive to fix).

I would hazard a guess that they are trying to steal it from you for cheap, they probably know that these wagons are worth a fair bit now.

Yeah I am thinking changing garages would be a good idea (this is the first and last time I will use this one), but from talking to the guys there, they do seem to think that the engine is on its way out, rather than it being a problem with the filter or strainer. They ran a head gasket test which showed a possible gasket leak or combustion chamber leak, and to be fair it has always put out a bit of smoke and oil from the exhaust, and having changed the coolant not so long ago, and it turned black pretty quickly. The engine has now done 120,000 miles so it is not young.

The garage wanted to charge me £300 to replace the heater matrix, as this has a leak, which seems a bit excessive, it doesn't look to me like it would take 3 hours. I have now got the car back from them.

I'm thinking looking for a new engine may be the way forward, if I want to keep it on the road for a while.

Not sure how much this example would be worth with the list of problems it has at the moment (I got a nice 2 page long report from the garage).

if the headvgasket is suspect then even that is not a major job to fix, however the heater matrix is a Bit of a ball ache to change because of the amount of other stuff that needs to come out, it's far easier to do it when the engine is out because you can slide out the heater box in one piece rather that splitting it..

Go on then.... Tell us what else needs doing? Sounds like jimbo is going to be a busy boy fixing this

heater matrix is easy job it slides out no need to remove the heater box etc. I would be interested in buying it if you are thinking of moving it on

sounds like the garage are short of work this week lol I would take it to a skoda/vw specialist (like here lol) as I have never seen an AEE 1.6 have headgasket problems ever...

Or sell it to me cheap

Me , I would do the 1.9TDi engine in it

Am I closer???????

Cos , I know a man who lives quite close to me who can do it

Yes!!!!!!!!! Fun love em!!!!!!

Sarah

I would do the 1.9TDi engine in

Funny you mention that, I've been thinking how well one of those 3 cyl pd diesel units would go in a felicia :yes: 80+mpg anyone??

I would hazard a guess that they are trying to steal it from you for cheap, they probably know that these wagons are worth a fair bit now.

I'll keep mine under cover for a while longer then ;)

hey hands orf.... I happen to have a nice lil 1.6 16v motor that needs a new home :wonder: and I need a truck more than a car lol

You know what, it is as let customary to normally wait till at least the geezer is dead before the vultures start diving in :wonder:

I reckon it should be repaired and put back on the road, besides swmbo would flip her lid if I bought another car, especially one thats yellow

You know what, it is as let customary to normally wait till at least the geezer is dead before the vultures start diving in :wonder:

I reckon it should be repaired and put back on the road, besides swmbo would flip her lid if I bought another car, especially one thats yellow

vultures are circuling