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x16xe snapped cam sprocket :(

4K views 44 replies 12 participants last post by  lee303 
#1 ·
hello,

im looking for some advice regarding my corsa b , 1.6 16v.



so here is the damage :eek:






basically i fitted this ^^ new engine' and when i started it up, it was running ok'ish for a few minutes and then there was some strange noises.

(i was sitting in the drivers seat at the time so i turned it off straight away)

not realizing what had happened i tried to start it up again later on.. :doh:

obviously it didnt start, i tried a couple of times and then left, (it was late)




the following day i started to have a look around the engine bay, try and figure out what was wrong, and thats when i found the snapped sprocket !






so a summary

the car was running when it snapped
it was turned off pretty much as soon as it happened
tried to start it after a couple of times (not realizing what had happened)

other info..
ive got another x16xe (damage inside them engine due to the end of the spark plug snapping off)

so my question..

1.how much damage is likely to have been caused ? (possible bent valves?)

2.if the valves arent bent, can i take the sprocket from the other engine and stick it on this one and see if it works?

3.if i do number 2' and the valves are bent how much more damage am i going to do?

4.what are my options if any?

5.somebody was saying that if you can turn it over by hand then that would mean that the valves were ok, so just swapping the sprocket over and getting it timed should be ok, is that true?






i have invested a little bit of money into this now.. so want to get it up and running again really asap, but with out spending to much.

thanks very much b3



edit:
in the picture it looks like 3 spokes? are stil intact but they arent.. they are all snapped and the timing notch is pretty much in the opposite position to the other sprocket.

thanks
 
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#2 ·
its hightly likely that you have bent the valves, maybe all 16 :doh: try turning it over by hand and see what happens

if it touches the valves are odviously bent, then you could take the head off and check the full extent of the damage, replace the valves and guides or fit a second hand head, and you dont know if its damaged the pistons either
 
#3 ·
:( dam.

how would i know if it touches the valves ?

im guessing it would be cheaper to get a recon head than replace all the valves and guides? (as long as there is no damage to the pistons etc.





with my old engine, the circular bit in the middle of the spark plug snapped / fell off.. this dropped down inside, not sure if it damaged the piston or scored the bore etc.. but know it has jammed open one of the valves :/

could i use the the old valves from that engine in the new one? (apart from the jammed one)

12 out of the 16 should be ok in the old engine..
 
#5 ·
you will know if some of the valves are bent because the engine should turn over freely without any contact when timed up correctly and if it doesnt then its odviously bent a valve(s)

you could use the old valves out the old engine yh

you will just have to re-ground them into your head using fine and course valve grinding paste and a valve grinding sucker

or the other option is to stick another head on it if its the same
 
#13 ·
the only thing i can think of is..

when i got the engine the plastic case that goes over the timing belt had a crack in it, i thought nothing of it at the time. but something must of whacked it and weakened the sprocket ? im not sure, it wasnt a huge crack so i didnt think much of it.. :/
 
#20 ·
ah ok, i will have a look in the Haynes :D thanks.

i found a guy on corsa sport selling a head its been ported and polished, fast road cams and recent recon... its also about 5 miles away, so depending on how much he wants that might be an option.

only thing is its from a 94 gsi, i thought those had x16cl? engines in and they are different to the x16xe's??

cheers
 
#24 ·
thought a 94 would of had the c16xe lump? im which case its a better flowing head and well worth getting, this is one of the mods i did on mine.
ah yea thats the engine code i was thinking of! thanks.

i will have to find out how much this guy wants for it if its not alot and it is in decent condition it will be an easy fix.

i would rebuild that it doesnt look too bad, lap all the valves in with fine paste only, the bent ones will normally not lap properly.
tbh tho it looks like u only hit 2 and they are £8 each :\
oportunity to port it as well.

ps. clean and check those 2 valve guides carefully.
problem is i have no time, and no mechanical experience (not really, so im learning everything as i go :/)

if i do get this one fixed im going to pay someone to do it anyway, enless it is really easy?

there is a specialist company 10min drive away from me so im going to take the head over and see what they say and also try and get a rough quote



i would like to do it myself, vev learned a lot and enjoyed doing everything but with college at the moment ive all ready fallen behind loads and i really need to stop spending time on this and get on with college :/


thanks for the replies :D
 
#25 ·
Get on with college and play with cars over xmas when you have time off. Also scrap that head get a new one dont bother trying to sort it out if you have little experiance with valve damage. There can be more than what meets the eye and all can seem ok until you run the engine and then you can hit problems again.

Trouble then is, you've spent more money and time at this point to learn you didnt fix the head correctly..... Yes i am speaking from experiance, and unfortunatly I was also a learn as you go person and its not really easy to know at your stage what small tolorences an engine will fail on.
 
#26 ·
Get on with college and play with cars over xmas when you have time off. Also scrap that head get a new one dont bother trying to sort it out if you have little experiance with valve damage. There can be more than what meets the eye and all can seem ok until you run the engine and then you can hit problems again.

Trouble then is, you've spent more money and time at this point to learn you didnt fix the head correctly..... Yes i am speaking from experiance, and unfortunatly I was also a learn as you go person and its not really easy to know at your stage what small tolorences an engine will fail on.
college is over at the moment :D thats why i have finally updated this, got the head off the old engine the other day, and then the new one today.

thanks yea i think this is a job which is to big to do..

ive only got 2 weeks off over christmas (im sure thats alot to some people) but when you take out the days im working ( 7 ) that leaves me another 7 days free. 1 being christmas day so thats down to 6 days. then going down devon to see family thats for 3 days. so in fact i have 3 days off :/ so no time to really work on it. plus gota fit in catching up on all the work im behind on.

so there we go !

bit of a wake up call, will get onto this bloke with the head i was on about a couple of posts up ^^ and go from there :D

thanks again
 
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