Head vs heart dilemma

["Big Blue"]

Well 18 months on from the last post on this thread, and things have moved on somewhat, however Big Blue's future still hangs in the balance.

I continued to use my 190 for the rest of 2014, despite the increasing levels of coolant usage. This reached the point where the expansion bottle could be emptied within 300 miles of driving. The car has now covered 71500 miles from new - barely run in!

I had also changed jobs, at the same company but working different hours, meaning I faced an 80 mile round trip daily, and was expecting my first child - born yesterday (16/8/15) . As a result my needs changed, and I now find myself the owner of "Big Blue II"; a 61 plate Skoda Octavia VRS estate.

As I now had a new car, it was time to work out what to do with the original Big Blue, which now sat parked on my drive.
As things stand, apart from the (suspected) HGF issues, it has MOT until January, still drives spot on, but needs new front discs and pads (the wear light came on the last time I used it - perfect timing!), the exhaust is hitting the underside again (not beyond the wit of man to fix) and has an advisory for a tie rod end ball joint (easy cheap fix). I have also fitted a gold resistor to the replacement fan, so that is functioning correctly.

I arranged for it to visit M&G in Bradford, as they were recommended by my best mate, who used them for some big jobs on his ZS 180 Mk2 (Before he stuffed it into a Merc!) They confirmed that it was most likely HGF.

To cut a long story short, I have decided that as the car is effectively "doomed" anyway if it is HGF, that I would take it apart and see how bad it was, and whether the engine was repairable. (after all, it's worth no less in scrap as a non-runner, surely?).

The intent is to take a look, and as long as there is nothing horrific such as a cracked head or block, have a go at rebuilding it.

Here are some pics from the "autopsy" so far:

Still looks the part:


Awaiting it's fate at M&G:


This is what the engine bay once looked like:


All 6 spark plugs had this pink staining:


A pile of parts soon began to build:


The IMG didn't appear to look too bad:


Some mayo around the filler cap, otherwise just black sludge:


The engine bay now looks like this:


I'm at the point where I need to take the timing belts apart. Unfortunately the kit I bought doesn't appear to have the correct bits for the 190 cams - GRR! Looks like I may just have to do without...

With any luck, I can get this back together and up and running again...

[mrsimon]

I think these cars are 'buy with your heart' cars, so doing the maths on a ten a penny but very nice BMW 320i is easy and will always work out a winner rationally.

All depends on what you want and what would make you happy

[Ravinder]

Keep it and fix it over time. Then drive it

[Salad-Dodger]

What tools have you bought? The AST 190 plates are still on the market. They work with the Laser tools ok. Steve

["Big Blue"]

The tools I bought were off of eBay, made by a company called EWK Tool.
At £105.99 for the set these looked just the job, and appeared to be well made (for the money).

Unfortunately since I ordered, the listing was updated with an extra bit warning that these were not suitable for the 190. It didn't have the horseshoe shaped pieces for the primary belt sprockets for the 190 cams, only 2.0 and non-190 2.5

So I'm looking for a reasonably priced set of tools before I can continue with this, as I'm at the point where I need to lock the engine in the "Safe" position. Does anyone know where is best to get a set that fits the 190? I have no problem with buying used tools as long as they work!

[Salad-Dodger]

Hiya Andy.
These tools you have. Do the "U" plates come off the tools? (held in the centre by a countersunk screw)?
If so, I have a set of 190 "U" plates that may fit. Just pay the postage either way and you can borrow them. If you need a pic of them let me know.
They are AST plates and they did fit my Laser tools. Steve

["Big Blue"]

Hi Salad Dodger

Thanks for the kind offer. Those are exactly the bits I was missing out on - unfortunately I've sent the tools back for a refund now

If you have a link to where you bought the AST plates and the Laser tools from, then please will you send me it - I can then buy myself a set and sell them when the job's done - hopefully I won't lose too much then but can do the job in my own time without taking the mick with someone else's tools...

[chris75]

Originally Posted by "Big Blue"

I'm at the point where I need to take the timing belts apart. Unfortunately the kit I bought doesn't appear to have the correct bits for the 190 cams -

Check the manufacturer's site for the kit you bought . The timing plates for the 190 cam setting tools can usually be bought separately