I drive an Astra diesel van (Y reg), which I purchased when it was 18 months old with 19,000 on the clock.
It has been serviced regularly (by the dealer). A new starter motor was fitted a few months ago by the same dealer
The van was MOTed and serviced last week by another Vauxhall dealership as the regular dealer was busy during the week I was on holiday. I wanted the drive belt replaced at the same time since the odometer is sitting at 64,000 miles. I was quoted £240 odds to replace the timing belt. They phoned later to say another bracket was required for belt replacement which pushed the price up to £350. This is despite the fact that their mechanic had looked at the engine to decide what parts were needed to replace the timing belt. Needless to say, I got them to service the van and carry out the MOT, but leave the belt replacement for later (which will be carried out by the dealership that sold me the van. They also told me there was oil in the coolant expansion chamber suggesting head gasket was cuffed.
While the van is going in for repairs next week, can I get some idea as to why the head gasket should fail when the van has only done 64k of travel. Is there anything else on this engine that can cause oil to seep into engine coolant?
Is it time I should, having resolved the problem, replace the van?
It has been serviced regularly (by the dealer). A new starter motor was fitted a few months ago by the same dealer
The van was MOTed and serviced last week by another Vauxhall dealership as the regular dealer was busy during the week I was on holiday. I wanted the drive belt replaced at the same time since the odometer is sitting at 64,000 miles. I was quoted £240 odds to replace the timing belt. They phoned later to say another bracket was required for belt replacement which pushed the price up to £350. This is despite the fact that their mechanic had looked at the engine to decide what parts were needed to replace the timing belt. Needless to say, I got them to service the van and carry out the MOT, but leave the belt replacement for later (which will be carried out by the dealership that sold me the van. They also told me there was oil in the coolant expansion chamber suggesting head gasket was cuffed.
While the van is going in for repairs next week, can I get some idea as to why the head gasket should fail when the van has only done 64k of travel. Is there anything else on this engine that can cause oil to seep into engine coolant?
Is it time I should, having resolved the problem, replace the van?
