Vauxhall meriva 1.7 CDTi tappets

[Ratchet]

Hi all,

Got a new'ish motor (55 plate). The noise from the tappets (Ecotec engine) is noisier than my old car (Astra 1.7 DTI), noise is more noticeable when cold. Anybody else have similar noise or is a service needed (not due till December)?

[smirnoff_rules]

l have an sri astra h 17cdti m8 .. there all noisey .. the main thing is the oil , get a good oil 5/30 semi , full syn isnt necessary ..

lve got used to mine now .. l also fitted a red box and its upped the horse power by 30 lb , very fast now , no waiting for the turbo its in from 1500 rpm


l looked around the net because of the noise and its common because they played with the timing for the common rail to work well .. also u will find its crap on diesel aswell around town

u can do a ecu reset that helps too .. just test fuel comp first then disconnect the battery for 10 minutes and refit and do the same run , the ecu auto adjust to suit your driving and because its secondhand its used to someone elses driving

[Tizzer22]

My mate has an 07 Meriva and he has to change the oil every 6000 miles to keep the hydraulic tappets from tappeting away rather noisily.

1.7 is a development of the Isuzu TD unit that first saw the light of day in the Cav/Astra circa 1993.

That engine had a 4500 mile oil change interval which for busy sales people could mean a service every month or so however Vauxhall changed the interval to 9000 miles to appease the fleets. IIRC this shook out to be interpreted as higher mileage vehicles could stretch to 9000 between oil/filter changes though lower mileage (read mainly private) should still be done at 4500.

[Ratchet]

Thanks guys.

The garage I bought it from is going to have a "look" at it on Tuesday. Either way the oil will be changed. @Smirnoff ; will try what you suggested about disconnecting the battery. :driver:

[Ratchet]

Tech in garage says nothing wrong, noise is normal for engine type. Also said that this engine fires twice on each stroke!! Anyway, disconnected the battery and went for a run, seems to be a difference in response (still noisy). Got 5/30 oil and will change it when I get the time. Cheers all.

[David Gray]

I think you will find that it is not the hydraulic tappets that are extremely noisy, especially when the engine is cold. This is caused by piston slap, and is bad to very bad depending how lucky that perticular engine was on getting the correct clearance pistons. In days gone by, when engines were assembled, the pistons were graded to suit the variations in the bore sizes in the block in which the were being assembled to. Now it is assumed that all bores and pistons are manufactured to exact dimensions, and the practice of grading has been dropped. The noise is the piston skirt slapping on the bore until the alloy piston expands at a greater rate than the iron block and the clearance is reduced. GM is about the worst offender for piston slap and are unwilling to recognise the problem. If it is something you can live with, it will give you no other problems. See website "GM Piston slap" it makes interesting reading.

[smokey_jnr]

My mate has an 07 Meriva and he has to change the oil every 6000 miles to keep the hydraulic tappets from tappeting away rather noisily.

1.7 is a development of the Isuzu TD unit that first saw the light of day in the Cav/Astra circa 1993.

That engine had a 4500 mile oil change interval which for busy sales people could mean a service every month or so however Vauxhall changed the interval to 9000 miles to appease the fleets. IIRC this shook out to be interpreted as higher mileage vehicles could stretch to 9000 between oil/filter changes though lower mileage (read mainly private) should still be done at 4500.


hi smirnoff, what is this red box you have connected....? where can i get one my 04 vectra is very sluggish.. could do with boosting the bhp, does it drink more fuel..?

[smirnoff_rules]

got it here ,, red box for 19 cdti and green for 17cdti

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vauxhall-Astra-Vectra-CDTI-DTUK-Diesel-Tuning-Chip_W0QQitemZ310090837592QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Ca rsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item310090837592&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A13 08

mines better on fuel as the boost is lower

[smokey_jnr]

got it here ,, red box for 19 cdti and green for 17cdti

Vauxhall Astra Vectra CDTI DTUK Diesel Tuning Chip on eBay, also Chips, Performance Tuning Parts, Car Tuning Styling, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 08-Dec-08 18:44:50 GMT) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vauxhall-Astra-Vectra-CDTI-DTUK-Diesel-Tuning-Chip_W0QQitemZ310090837592QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Ca rsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item310090837592&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A13 08)

mines better on fuel as the boost is lower


i have a vectra 2.0 dti, is there a box available for that...??

[smirnoff_rules]

i have a vectra 2.0 dti, is there a box available for that...??

yes m8 its the red box on them ,, if u email them they will help u out .. the guys r great

[ralph]

Hi all,

Got a new'ish motor (55 plate). The noise from the tappets (Ecotec engine) is noisier than my old car (Astra 1.7 DTI), noise is more noticeable when cold. Anybody else have similar noise or is a service needed (not due till December)?

I have the same. Dealer has had in and says is normal despite assurances on test drive that this was simply down to inactivity of the car. Why does this problem exist at all given what is posted here? surely all drivers would find this unnacceptable, not to mention the wear and tear and therefore long term cost implications! Does anyone have a legal angle on this?

[RTID75]

It is normal. I have an 05 1.7CDTi Corsa C (the last shape) and it is exactly the same from cold. Seems to be more noticeable if you haven't used the car for a while.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it as they all do it, so it's not something that's out of the ordinary or specific to any one car.

Service to schedule and use good oil and don't worry. I turn the stereo on and that cures the problem straight away! ;)

BTW, I don't think whoever said the engine goes back to the Cavalier is right. That was an 8 valve engine and went right back to about 1990 in the (1.5 version) Nova.

It is a development of the 16v 1.7DTi engine though which dates back to about 2000.