Corsa 1.3 CDTI Camshaft Snapped!

[T-bagger]

Hi Guys,

Not a regular on the VX forum here, but just a quick question if anyone can help. My Dad's 2005 Corsa 1.3 CDTI has just snapped an exhaust camshaft, I'm absolutely stunned as it's only done 40K and he really looks after it. Has anybody had/heard of similar? I'll be more than likely getting involved in it's repair at some point but wondered how common this was?
I'm from a BMW background and have never had a BMW with snapped camshaft in over 10 years, so this seems really odd to me!
Any feedback appreciated, thanks in advance.

[steve vxr]

ive never heard of a 1.3 snapping a camshaft. The 1.2 petrol engine suffers fromm this fault thou. ive worked in vxl dealer for 8 years

[callyman]

As said the 1.2 i've heard of it before, it was a bad batch produced iirc

[T-bagger]

Thanks guys,
I too had heard of the 1.2 petrols snapping the odd cam but not the diesel 1.3 CDTI. I did however do a google search and it seems that there are a few people out there that have had this problem.
Will repost if I find any obvious reasons for failure when it's stripped.

[callyman]

T-bagger said:

Thanks guys,
I too had heard of the 1.2 petrols snapping the odd cam but not the diesel 1.3 CDTI. I did however do a google search and it seems that there are a few people out there that have had this problem.
Will repost if I find any obvious reasons for failure when it's stripped.

I'd bet you'll find nothing wrong and the shaft will have a clean break....i.e. poor casting.

[neiljohnson]

Have seen 2 cams snap on these engines it related to a brake servo pump fault on both of them but that was inlet cams?? could be a high pressure fuel pump fault or as already said a bad casting

[brianbrew]

YES ITS A VERY COMMON THING THE CAMSHAFT SNAPPING ON THE 1.3 CDTI ENGINE CODE Z13DT ITS ALL DUE TO POOR CASTING AND WHEN IT SNAPPS IT TAKES OUT THE ROCKERS AND ROCKER ARMS AND A SMALL ROUND COG THE BEST WAY IS TO GO ON EBAY AND FIT A NEW TIMING CHAIN KIT THEN REFIT THE NEW CAMSHAFT BUT THERE NOT CHEAP THERE £352 PLUS VAT AT VAUXHALL DEALERS IVE DONE 4 OF THESE CORSA CDTI 1.3 ENGINES AND ALL THE SAME FAULT SNAPPED CAMSHAFT GOOD ENGINES OTHERWISE I THINK VAUXHALL SHOULD BE TAKEN TO COURT AS THE SAME CAMSHAFTS ARE FITED IN THE CORSA D AND THE MERIVA ETC AND ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME WHEN THEY SNAPP ON YOU JUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BREAKDOWN RECOVERY ON THE 1.3 CDTI WITH CHEAP SNAPPABLE CAMSHAFT THAT CAN FAIL ON YOU WHEN YOUR IN THE MIDDLE OF KNOWHERE LIKE IT DID TO ME ON THE 1ST CORSA CDTI

[brianbrew]

ive just been out to birmingham and as i came of the motorway there was a corsa 1.3 cdti 56 reg with its bonnet open stuck in the middle of the road so some of us got out of our cars to push this corsa cdti out of the way and to the side of the road anyhow i went back to my car and drove up to this car behind it just for curiousity i asked what the problem was they said the engine light came on and they lost power then nothing anyhow after inspection have a guess what it was the flaming exhaust camshaft has snapped again another corsa and the best of it is the camshaft has gone up at vauxhall now its a wopping £486 yes thats rite £486 for 1 camshaft that is made out of cheap casting and snapps when it feels like it then you have to buy the followers etc and gues what vauxhall have never had a recall they should be made to fix the job as ive seen this happen on the corsa c cdti meriva cdti corsa d cdti if you want a diesel go for the 1.7 diesel version as they are made better just have the cambelt changed for peace of mind get vauxhall on watchdog

[callyman]

brianbrew said:

ive just been out to birmingham and as i came of the motorway there was a corsa 1.3 cdti 56 reg with its bonnet open stuck in the middle of the road so some of us got out of our cars to push this corsa cdti out of the way and to the side of the road anyhow i went back to my car and drove up to this car behind it just for curiousity i asked what the problem was they said the engine light came on and they lost power then nothing anyhow after inspection have a guess what it was the flaming exhaust camshaft has snapped again another corsa and the best of it is the camshaft has gone up at vauxhall now its a wopping £486 yes thats rite £486 for 1 camshaft that is made out of cheap casting and snapps when it feels like it then you have to buy the followers etc and gues what vauxhall have never had a recall they should be made to fix the job as ive seen this happen on the corsa c cdti meriva cdti corsa d cdti if you want a diesel go for the 1.7 diesel version as they are made better just have the cambelt changed for peace of mind get vauxhall on watchdog

Great punctuation, here, have a few on me ...,,,,!!!!!.

[Barkychoc]

Just out of curiosity is the 1.3 a Vauxhall engine or is it a Fiat job or something? Not that Vauxhall should be let off the hook if it is.

[gioscimia]

T-bagger said:

Hi Guys,

Not a regular on the VX forum here, but just a quick question if anyone can help. My Dad's 2005 Corsa 1.3 CDTI has just snapped an exhaust camshaft, I'm absolutely stunned as it's only done 40K and he really looks after it. Has anybody had/heard of similar? I'll be more than likely getting involved in it's repair at some point but wondered how common this was?
I'm from a BMW background and have never had a BMW with snapped camshaft in over 10 years, so this seems really odd to me!
Any feedback appreciated, thanks in advance.

Well, here I am. 52k miles and a camshaft probably snapped, same engine 1.3CDTI mounted on Corsa C November-2004. In the next days I'm going to open the engine and check it out. I'll post for confirmation.

Have you started any claim for damages?

[Jainee]

Hi Vauxhalls have recalled all Corsa SXI 05 camshaft failures and it's free

[Defcon5]

Jainee said:

Hi Vauxhalls have recalled all Corsa SXI 05 camshaft failures and it's free

Not according to VOSA

[HellDiver]

Not according to Vauxhall either.

I think someone's confusing the 1.3CDTI camshaft snapping with the 05 model 1.2 16v cam chain tensioner recall...

[Jainee]

Really well that's not what my letter saids from Vauxhalls

[Defcon5]

Jainee said:

Really well that's not what my letter saids from Vauxhalls

what did yout letter from Vauxhall say then? When did you receive this letter?

[H100S]

1.3 is a Fiat engine. Never heard of a 1.3 snapping a cam, usually very reliable.

1.2 16v do seem to have a issue snapping cams, not due to poor cam design but due to the cam retaining bolts failing. This causes play in the cam leading to failure. I do believe this is common only to a certain build phase and owners have been contacted to relplace the bolts.

[HellDiver]

H100S said:

1.3 is a Fiat engine. Never heard of a 1.3 snapping a cam, usually very reliable.

It does happen. A guy nearby has two cams from a 1.3CDTi made in to matching lamps (easy to do as they're hollow).

[adyady1066]

Hi guys, I've been reading your posts and I'm rather confused so If anyone can help me hear I'd be really grateful. I'm a mechanic of many years and have just started a repair on a Vauxhall Combo CDTi with a Z13DT engine in it. It came to me with a suspect camchain fault. It still starts and has done 88k and the management light was on yet it still runs albeit noisy at the timing chain side. I looked through the peep hole on the cover and saw that the chain is running really slack but I'm worried about all this talk of Camshafts failing. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[callyman]

Does the timing chain on this engine have a tensioner that works from oil pressure? If so, it's likely the tensioner is shot and/or the chain has stretched slightly.