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The "please MSG, service your Calibra" thread

11K views 146 replies 23 participants last post by  Gordo 
#1 ·
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#37 ·
Right guys, with a bit of a luck, managed to change the engine oil, and the filter, luckily I had the start shaped tool to fit the sump nut, the oil filter was unmovable so a hefty mate of mine (the Romanian guy i helped bring back that tipper) managed to undo it for me, great lad he is.

Absolutely brillant results, my oil pressure went up on cold idling to 4Bars, rev up to 5 bars, whereas it used to lately ideal at 3bars max when cold and 1.5 bars or lower when hot!!! and after running for 10 mintues, the pressure at idle reduced from 4 to 2.5bars at idle, and shoots up to 4.5 bars when reved about 3K............any ways all done now guys, no need to worry, next is the Timing belt. Took me a leassurly 45minutes for the oil change and the filter.


Now the Timing belt, .................Damn it!! I can't get the Crank pulley out without hammering the engine to pieces!! any ideas what is the best approach, i don't have a puller!!
 
#38 ·
Nice one MSG! Who says peer pressure doesn't work? :D

If the crank pulley is the same as the Vectra one, it will be in two pieces, the outer piece that the belt runs around will be held onto the rest with some torx-headed bolts. Just undo the four bolts, then walk it off with a mallet. :) What's the next job? Plugs? Air filter? Fuel filter? :D
 
#39 ·
Thanks Jack, the peer pressure certainly workd, here, I woild have let gone for another era may be!!

As for the timing belt, I am getting nothing but problems after problems, the pulley still hasn't budged, I think it is a two part pulley as I can see a small what would be a crack line where the pulley seperates from the crank shaft flange, but so far I have not pyrposely forced too hard in case I damage the pulley or the surrounding areas,
the pully is with 4 bolts, I when I saw those star bolts I knew I am stuck as I don't have star drivers, so luckily a 5/16 socket fitted perfectly and managed to undo the 4 bolts!! That is what scares me in case I haven't got proper tools to do vauxhalls.

Yes the plugs and the air filter will be last along with fuel filter, the main and the essential thing was the engine oil and filter and the timing belt.
 
#41 ·
Jack, need desperately your help now mate, I just noticed that the pulley appears to be sandwitched by a thin rubber layer between two parts, the outer and the inner part, do I seprate these ?

I am sure I will have a real problem getting the outer pulley back on to the rubber medium, someone did say that on these cars there isa rubber cusion to stop some vibes,

So I have take the 4 bolts out, but do I need to take the large 17mm nut out ? and if I must then I hope the threads are not anti-clockwise for tightening, and so this nut should open up as all other nuts i.e. anticlockwise. This is what I mean when i say I do not have any first hand experience on Vauxhalls.

Cheers mate.
 
#43 ·
Right, Mision Cambelt abandonad, its just a mission impossible, just could not move the pulley out of the way, may well need a proper pulley remover tool, and I have no idae where from I can get one or hire one or whatever.


iIn the mean time even the centre bolt on the crankshaft is so hard, that I tried removing it, just in case that may also be responsible for the pulley not budging even a micrometer, just the outer pulley moves a fraction thats because it is riding over a layer of rubber layer.


Ok another thing while I was at the main pulley and the centre bolt, I wahacked it as hard as the rstricted space would allow a hammer swing, I thought I would get a better stroke of hammmer at the centre bolt if I were to remove the tyre, so i did, and then I was horrified to see how bad my discs are especially the inner ones, I will be getting some pictures shortly to show what I mean and i had always complained how bad my car's brakes feel, and yet it would pass the MOT brake efficiency tes each time!!! thats crazy now you see even an MOT is completely meaningless, especially if the system passes efficiency and cannot detect a major problem like disc pads not making a proper contact with discs, the caliper is not seized though!!

So for now brakes are even more important than cambelt!!
 
#91 ·
Ok another thing while I was at the main pulley and the centre bolt, I wahacked it as hard as the rstricted space would allow a hammer swing, I thought I would get a better stroke of hammmer at the centre bolt if I were to remove the tyre, so i did, and then I was horrified to see how bad my discs are especially the inner ones, I will be getting some pictures shortly to show what I mean and i had always complained how bad my car's brakes feel, and yet it would pass the MOT brake efficiency tes each time!!! thats crazy now you see even an MOT is completely meaningless, especially if the system passes efficiency and cannot detect a major problem like disc pads not making a proper contact with discs, the caliper is not seized though!!
The MOT test has to take into account all sorts of different cars. For example, a ratty old car from the 60s with drums on the front will have naff brakes, but they can't very well force these people to upgrade their brakes as they were deemed perfectly adequate at the time.

You should be checking your brakes on a regular basis anyway. Discs and pads aren't expensive! :)
 
#47 ·
It rained, it showered, loads of flying ants landed all around me working over and under the car! luckily not been strung! felt a few scratches on my head as they crawled on my head!! night mare, oh well, there you go car maintenece is not for eveyone now I see how difficult are the things, and no one told me I didn't have to loosen my alternator bracket to get the grooved belt taken off, I didn't even know it had a self adjusting roler tensioner!!!! yippy!! learning quite a bit!!

That pulley bwon't come on, scared to whack it so hard so as to damage the pulley! tried wedging it out using a square bit of chiesel, there are 4 slots which I beleive are for this purpose where you would hook the claws of the clamp, and i wedged that witha 1/4 inc chiesel to leaver it out still no luck, loads of WD40 and all failed!!

A guy in the street does car repairs for a living, he came over to get an indicator relay soldered due to dry joints, i did that for him, he said it should just come off whack it hard with a hammer, but I said it would get damaged, I used a piece of hardwood and a hammer and it still did not budge, so he will have alook at it for me sometimes.
 
#48 ·
MSG

on the bottom pulley there is a ring of 4 smaller sized screws, simply undo them and then give the pulley a tap.

It really is so simple to get the pulley off

Does anyone have a photo of a bottom pulley so we can show him??
 
#52 ·
Yes I undid those 4 bolts and a great deal of whacking, and I mean hitting it quite hard just short of making it into a rivett!! of course i did not use metal to metal hamering, I placed a piece of hard wood betwen the pulley and the hammer,

here are some pictures of things I did today just for fun!! loading up.
 
#54 ·
Get under it with a hammer and a blunt ended tool (like an extension bar).
Place the extension bar at the bottom of the pulley (working from under the sump) and just tap it with the hammer. Much more clearance this way, should you need to belt the hell out of it.
Alternatively (I'm guessing you've done this), hit the pulley while working from within the wheel arch.
When I say, bottom of pulley, I mean the 6 o'clock postion on the outside rim, not where the V's are (just in case)
 
#64 ·
Hit the pully. It will need freeing off.

Ok well i had been hitting kind of the corner of the pulley sort of , the corner edge, neither on the face of it nore on the edge of it, so i shall try tommorrow hitting from the bottom using a blow from the bottom so that it hits the pulley from the bottom at 6.0 clock as you have suggested from its perimeter , hopefully without damaging it and I will also use a 5lb hammer to give it some extra shake it needs!
 
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