Bad news - Good news.

[aquaplane]

On Sunday evening just as we were passing the farm on the top of the M62 I thought I heard a tinny rattle and wondered if it was us or the lorry I was passing. At the top of the hill after Scamonden dam I couldn't persuade Pugsly to do more than 60 and there was a whisp of smoke in the headlights of the lorries that were now overtaking me, the engine also sounded a good bit rougher. I got off at J23 and nursed the car home with sinking heart, we were down to 2nd gear and 20mph on the hills, it just wouldn't go.

On Monday I got the car to the garage, it was a relief to get there, and started looking at possibilities.

An engine from a scrappers would be £300 to £700 and as much again fitting. Another 406 with similar miles £600 or half the miles £1200.

Investigations showed that a cam follower had snapped, <£20 plus labour, "shall I do that and see if it cures it?", I replied "OK, but I'm not that lucky." I carried on looking at alternative motors that would pull a 1500Kg boat.

It seems that I am that lucky, I feel like I have won £500.

[ash]

It seems that I am that lucky, I feel like I have won £500.

So I take it that she's back to full health - maybe you should throw a couple of quid at the Euromillions / Lotto this weekend and ride your luck.

Ash

[aquaplane]

Yep, back to full health, until somat else gives up that is.

I even had the aircon gassed up so I'm driving round in coolth for the first time since I got the car.

[aquaplane]

Bloody thing has gone and done it again!

Same follower after 600 ish miles. I'm suspecting a faulty part, or should I say I'm praying it's a faulty part and not a fault on the engine that's breaking the followers. There is nothing obvious to suggest a fault elsewhere, except breaking followers I suppose, but if the new replacement breaks I'll be looking for a new (to me) car.

[ash]

Bloody thing has gone and done it again!

Same follower after 600 ish miles. I'm suspecting a faulty part, or should I say I'm praying it's a faulty part and not a fault on the engine that's breaking the followers. There is nothing obvious to suggest a fault elsewhere, except breaking followers I suppose, but if the new replacement breaks I'll be looking for a new (to me) car.

Sorry to hear this.

I think that your man will need to look a bit deeper this time if it's the new follower which has broken.

Lack of an oil feed / bent valve stem / wrong clearance causing the valve spring to coil bind.

If it's a different one then maybe change them all.

Hope that you get sorted.

Ash

[ash]

Bloody thing has gone and done it again!

How’s the patient? Did you get Pug fixed? Cheaply?

I even had the aircon gassed up so I'm driving round in coolth for the first time since I got the car.

.
Is it as easy as just re – gassing? Or do they have to find / repair a leak first? My Astra has stopped providing any cooling and the A/C pump makes a strange noise if I switch on the A/C. Will it do any harm if I run the car as it is?

Ash

[Gardenshed]

Is it as easy as just re – gassing? Or do they have to find / repair a leak first? My Astra has stopped providing any cooling and the A/C pump makes a strange noise if I switch on the A/C. Will it do any harm if I run the car as it is?

Depends...
If the gas loss is due to a leak, then you have to find and fix the leak in addition to re-gassing. There is usually oil in the compressor, some of which circulates with the gas lubricating the system so if you have lost the gas and the oil, then running the compressor will just guarantee that you'll need a new compressor in addition to what ever else may be wrong.

Run the car as is: yes, but pull out the fuse for the aircon circuit so that you don't mistakenly run the aircon compressor.

If there has been a bad leak and your system is now full of moist air, then you need to be sure that the system is vacuumed down properly before refilling. A decen tocal garage should be able to help as aircon is now very common. The compressors are also quite common and standard so one from a scrappy or direct from the OEM manufacurer should't be too expensive.

[aquaplane]

Pugsley has now done about 1000 miles since the second follower was fitted, so it's outlasted the first fix by a good margin, the jury is still out for a while yet though.

Part of the regassing procedure is to do a pressure test which is actually a vac test. All the old stuff was sucked out (0.7Kg) of it aparantly. The system held vac for a while so it was then filled with fresh refridgerant. It's still working 2 months on so there can't be too much wrong with it.

[ash]

Gardenshed / Aquaplane - Thanks for the info.

Ash