Devastated

[Suzie2612]

I purchased my Astra 63 GTC 1.4 turbo from a local garage in July 2017 23,000 on the clock,one owner full dealer service history. With year warranty.

Im a lady owner dont do massive mileage drive safely and at speed limit.

And I look after the car.

After 6 months noticed a def drop in performance had it serviced by same garage.

It seemed to improve but not long after started noticing heat coming from behind steering wheel, when i mentioned it to garage they said its normal to feel some heat from the engine. At the time weather was very warm.

Things got worse overheating terrible noises and problems with water/coolant. I took it to garage they toldbme water pump failure and changed it.

The car ok at first but again after a while, something felt off.

I didnt use the car much over next few months maybe once twice week.In December last year 2018 My fans started staying on after engine cut off then it started overheating badly sounded terrible. Managed to get it home ,this was just after xmas.

I tried to get a friend to look at it because i had no money..but he took ages to get round to it.I didnt drive the car. I eventually got guy from garage to come over. He couldn't start it. Had itbtaken to garage.

He told me after investigating Id quote "fried the piston rings"and need new engine cost 3500. Have no warranty 

Help what can I do desperate for advice ive got very little money need a car for health reasons. What can I do???? Get it fixed, sell it, scrap it,contact Vauxhall??

 

 

[Vauxhall Owners Club]

Hi....welcome to the Forum

Sorry to hear you've had so many issues with the Astra.

I would say that as it has had work already done on the engine cooling system then that's clearly where the fault is.

Engine coolant does just that 'cools the engine' and if any components fail or are lacking in an ability to achieve a regulated operating temperature then this is where the fault lies.

If the engine is driven to destruction then this clearly is as a result of running out of coolant (leaks, etc) or it is something else, like a head gasket which could have been the original cause of the problem.
As regards the piston rings being fried, it would only be evident upon tearing the engine down to examine it properly, or if you are very lucky, a compression test and a leak down test would reveal whether there is a lack of compression in the cylinders.

I would advise taking it to another garage or have a mobile mechanic come round to diagnose it

Let us know how you get on with it

Cheers   Trevor