8 replies to this topic

[Spedster]

Hi

 

I have had my beautiful opel speedster turbo in France for 7 years and must have done >60 track days on it.

I love the car and want to keep it for ever.

great fast car, maintained by Garage Sport Auto - José was the mechanic for Sebastien Loeb, giving me a beautifully balanced car, fantastic in the wet. even overtook a (badly driven) porsche GT3RS last outing.

Team Dynamics, Toyos 205, 225, nitrons, 240hp, quaife LSD, brembos, carbon lorraine pads and 600 fluid.

However it always overheated a bit in Paris traffic jams coming home, and the ECU would make the engine struggle:STOP.

i blew a few radiators (too!) - now on an elise one with manual fan control. 

I should have got an intercooler I guess;

However the last time it really steamed (temp sensor?) 4 times on the way back despite the temp registering OK.

 

On start there is a little more white smoke/vapour from the bottom exhaust, but no real signs of oil in water or vise versa.  Bits of the engine get hotter than others...

 

José thinks it is a head gasket (not surprising because of the track time) and proposes a complete engine rebuild with light pistons etc but which will be a lot of money, and an intercooler : probably more money than a new (standard) engine, which might be a safer but slightly slower bet.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated ! I run it for track days, but like to drive there, but could get a trailer (but a trailer and a new engine will be over budget).  José is a great guy, a world-class running gear mechanic, and definitely sees it as a project. I am a bit worried about reliability of rebuilt engines which have overheated.  Any advice much appreciated !  Michael.

[Baron Von Scubadaddy]

If it's making you happy the way it is right now 

I would try to cure the overheating problem 

if this is the head gasket then why not just replace it ?

For sure once you start to take the block apart there is a whole load you could do ........

But I would and you should ask if it's really worth all the money and workshop time ?

 

If your not racing for money and you just enjoy doing trackdays then you already love the car for what it is.

 

I'm not too sure of the value of loved and standard cars compared to the value of highly tuned and modded cars 

if you want to blast past everyone on the straight then further mods are probably what you need !!!!

just keep the old bits to return to standard.........

[siztenboots]

Just get a gasket set and head bolts, if cambelt is due then get that kit and water pump Check stat opens. Because the cams will be removed a locking tool makes timing them up a lot easier. Once rear clam is off its easy to do the hg without removing engine

[vocky]

are you using any coolant ?

 

the standard z22se head gasket is good for 500bhp and it is extremely rare for it to fail, the only times it has is when the engine has been run with no coolant.

 

have you done a compression test ?

[Bargi]

are you using any coolant ?   the standard z22se head gasket is good for 500bhp and it is extremely rare for it to fail, the only times it has is when the engine has been run with no coolant.   have you done a compression test ?

Its a Turbo Neil, tsk, tsk, your losing your touch

[Sutol]

are you using any coolant ?

 

the standard z22se head gasket is good for 500bhp and it is extremely rare for it to fail, the only times it has is when the engine has been run with no coolant.

 

have you done a compression test ?

quite likely if the rad has gone a few times

[vocky]

for some strange reason I thought this was a dbilas conversion 

 

vxt with head gasket failure is quite likely, they are crap engines 

[Spedster]

Thanks Guys !

Not a conversion, just a reprog, and yes I dont really need to spend a massive amount on making it go a bit faster in the straights.

I am using a bit of coolant (400 ml per annum)?

In a compression test two cylinders are a little down (0.5). 

Will adding a big intercooler at the front solve the overheating, but give me turbo lag?

Many thanks!

Michael

 

[Nev]

It is unusaual for the Z20LET to over heat in my experience, perhaps the map (and/or ECU) you have has affected things.

 

Head gasket failure is fairly rare too, but if you have been letting it run hot for a long time maybe it is the problem.

 

If you rebuild the engine, fit ARP head bolts, the Z20LET can suffer from the head lifting off the block at highish boost (22+ PSI).

 

good luck.

 

Edited by Nev, 17 February 2015 - 05:04 PM.