sparky Paul

No, there shouldn't be anything escaping there, but make sure it's not a bit of oil burning off. The steel mesh bit contains a convoluted steel hose (like a concertina), but should be completely sealed - a hole here would be noisy. It's uncommon for flexies or cats to fail quickly, but not unheard of - especially if the exhaust is roughly assembled.

Perhaps the marks were made by the exhaust fitter joggling the new pipe in. Good old Vauxhall, they haven't changed the handbrake arrangement then. Pain in the bum... :rolleyes:

The SP2020s are symmetrical, i.e. NON-directional. The 'D' inside the chevron is just Dunlop's logo, and if you look on the inside wall of the tyre you'll find another one pointing in the opposite direction. If you have an axle pair fitted, the writing and logo will always read clockwise. :rolleyes:

AFAIK, unless the gas was lost very quickly, it's unlikely that you have lost much of the oil. Although the oil quantity is given in the TIS, this is normally distributed around the system in the various components. Unfortunately, Ford neglect to tell you how much oil should be in each component, so I've been told that when replacing the dryer you should empty the oil out of the old dryer and measure it, and then put the same plus 20% back into the new one. The only way to be absolutely certain that the oil quantities are right is to get it completely flushed, as seatkid says.

I wouldn't even put my fingers under the car with the Vauxhall supplied jack, they're crap. Get some axle stands under it if you're going underneath, or get the front wheels on ramps or a high kerb. The cross member is a structural chassis part and a pretty solid affair - if it was damaged it would be more likely to be deformed upwards by bouncing the bottom of the car off something...

Yes, there definitely looks like there's been some interference there, although it does look like there's a good clearance... When you can get under, it might be worth seeing just how rigid it is. Can you force the pipe up to the cross member, it should be pretty hard to move.

Get the wetsuit and snorkle out! :blink: I'm not that familiar with the Vec, but I would have thought you should be able to get your hand behind it - it will move about a bit on the flexy.

Yes mo4, I think they mean this bit in front of the flexible. It's worth checking the clearance between the pipe and the cross member, there's definitely something going on there. You could also have a problem like this if an engine mounting or roll restrictor failed, causing the engine to rock under load, making the pipe touch the cross member - you would probably feel the rattling and engine vibration through the car body. Hope you get it sorted! :blink: You're right - according to the exhaust catalogue, the front pipe and cat are one piece. That's some front pipe!

20mpg is a definite possibility if you are doing lots of short runs, but 30mpg on a run sounds below par to me. I've done quite a few holiday runs at 35mpg, a little higher if I don't clog the car, or the aircon.

Hey, that's not fair! Some of us a stuck with our nippy petrols! I can't really help diagnose, but if it helps for comparison ours does about 28mpg on petrol with a mixture of short and medium distance runs, and about 37mpg on a holiday run, reducing to about 35 with the top box on. Lots of cold, short journeys does knock the mpg down however, and I wouldn't be surprised by 20mpg in the winter if was regularly doing 3 mile journeys. Idle speed sounds about the same as ours. After sorting the aircon (which is the current task in hand), my next task may be a LPG conversion... :angry2:

Pretty good tyres IMHO. My tyre fitter man says they look a good quality tyre too. Mine have about 6 months wear left on them, and I will definitely be buying the same tyres again. Wet performance better than the previous Dunlops, and much quieter too.

'Reinforced' and 'Extra Load' (XL) mean the same thing, it's just different manufacturers' terminology. Most manufacturers (including Dunlop) are now using the term 'Extra Load' as it more accurately reflects the purpose of these tyres. Reinforced implies a different construction, and is a but this is not now necessarily the case. edit - Sorry MADBAZ, I typed this reply out and got interrupted before pressing submit... :rolleyes:

My Mk1 has suffered a slow, but total, loss of gas due to a corroded pipe - the one which goes from the dryer back along the O/S chassis leg and back up to the expansion valve and evaporator on the bulkhead. The pipe is pin-holed where it goes through the engine undertray, I removed it for servicing and disturbed a lump of crusty mud between the pipe and the chassis. :rolleyes: I'm currently awaiting a quote for the pipe and o-rings, and I'm replacing the dryer too while I'm at it - it is the original and 8yrs old. If anyone's interested in knowing how I get on, parts numbers, costs, etc., I'll post back later.

Oh yes. :) Unfortunately, there's not a lot I can do with the aircon... :( ...but I do know a nice chaps who does the tractors round here, so hopefully it won't be too painful... :)

I know this is an old thread, but I know just how you felt. This car has driven me nuts over the past month or two. :lol: Mine started with the bust rear wash pipe flooding the footwell, then two exhaust hangers broke off, then the wiring broke in the tailgate anaconda. I then had to replace the N/S headlamp due to an encounter with a stone. After that, the windscreen wiper rack seized. Now the auxiliary belt tensioner is squeaking, the clutch release bearing is whining, and to put the top hat on it, the aircon pipe is blowing green goob through a pinhole where it goes through the undertray. Aaaargh! Now where's my pills... :)

There seems to be about a litre left (from 5l) when I do a change, perhaps a little less, so I'd go with 4 litres too.

Yes, limit is 21mm - it's often stamped on the discs somewhere. Unless there are other problems with the discs, e.g. corrosion, scoring, etc., I wouldn't touch them.

The garage shouldn't have touched this.... Should be a tight sealed fit, no leaks. Looks like something is missing. Hope nothing has pulled off and dropped into the camcover....... Anyone with a 2.3 like to examine theirs? Mine's quite a snug fit, it needs the heel of the hand to push it back in - it should be an air (and oil) tight seal. Yours looks complete from the pictures, but the rubber insert in the cam cover looks a bit deformed...

What a logical idea to reduce the oil level! :D If the filter is new, you could just remove it, tip the oil out and replace...

Not sure, but I would have thought so. Perhaps someone else could help with this one, or you could just try unplugging the unit...

I understand they can usually be resurrected by removing the pcb from the box, thoroughly drying it out, and giving it a good clean. Where was the water from - the rear washer pipe? That's where mine came from... :rolleyes:

Looks a spiffing job, well done! :rolleyes: The caliper bolts are very often really tight, the best thing is a good breaker bar, garages often use an air impact driver.

Don't worry - as the other guys have said, I would be very surprised indeed if you have damaged the engine in any way. Just follow the advice given, and the car will be fine. :o

Even better still, ninety-odd quid for a pair of OEM discs isn't too bad really. As you say, it is worth asking for a discount too. When I had a Vauxhall, I used to be quite friendly with the chap behind the parts counter at the local main dealer - As I went back regularly, he always used to put everything through at trade. It was a very small discount on some parts, but some of the service parts were discounted by up to 80%... It certainly opened my eyes after being charged full retail price for everything when they did the servicing. I never used pattern parts on the Vauxhall, as the genuine items almost always worked out cheaper - sometimes considerably so, though it does rely upon finding a helpful main dealer stores...