Update to this - reinstall of pump went fine. No coolant leaks, surprisingly . But during the reinstall , I discovered that the Repco comparable belt was too short. Looking online , they actually have two “this will fit your car” drive belts listed. So I rushed up a few minutes before they closed to get the longer belt, ffs.
That sorted that out. But Suzuki’s tensioning guide for the alternator basically states “ 4.5mm deformation when a 10nm load is applied at an angle of 87.2 degrees during the winter solstice on the northern coast of Haikkado with barometric pressure of 1045 hectopascals”.
I took a guess, and for two days it seemed a good guess. Then it started squealing on start up….
Ffs, back into the garage, on the jack , front wheel off blah blah blah. Sorted now. But yesterday she started talking about getting a bigger car. Lol.
They said that the head gasket has blown (suspected between cyl 1 and 2). Requires a replacement head gasket, associated gaskets, radiator cap and coolant.
That is all the said. I know that there is a lot of work involved in replacing the head gasket, but this seems excessive.
Just further to this, I’m going to guess that that price is allowing for worst case scenario - pull the rocker cover and head off , see what else - if anything - is damaged ( if they’ve narrowed it to cylinder 1/2 via a leak test then you don’t really know if it’s a cracked head , if coolant has entered the cylinder etc until you’ve opened it up) . If it really is just a failed gasket and no further issues then they probably pocket $4k raw profit….. Even at $150-$200 per hour there surely can’t be a weeks labour for a trained professional dealership doing a head gasket alone?
Incidentally, a quick look online suggests that a shitload of these engines have cooked themselves, Mazda were replacing full engines at one point and it’s surely no coincidence that they dumped the diesel altogether after a few years. I only know a bit about them because I looked at buying a manual Mazda6 with the diesel and decided not to go with it, but I hadn’t realized that overheating was such a big problem. It was more that the turbo’s and water pumps invariably fail , oil dilution plus the inevitable DPF / EGR troubles that all modern diesels have.
And knowing those engines it will be a lot more that needs doing and most reputable mechanics will not simply replace the head gasket and machine the head. I’d almost bet that there are cracks in the head that need welding and most likely the head will be warped. They are hard on valves, guides and cams so most mechanics won’t want to slap the head back on only for something else to go wrong a month later. Still wouldn’t cost half what they want though
Against my better judgement, i let my daughter buy a Peugeot with the 1.6THP abomination engine, figuring it only had to get her through her P plates for us to be infront. 4 years of money, swearing and me working on it all the bloody time fixing idiotic design issues later…….. I should have known better.
There are diesel options in all sorts of cars these days. Europe in particular have loved smallish turbo diesels for a long time.
The biggest problem with them all are the anti pollution requirements. The EGR valve setups - which essentially makes the car burn the exhaust gasses twice - inevitably clog up with particulates and crud and choke off the engine. The presence of Turbo’s make it even worse, you end up with ■■■■ leaking past the rings , crankcase valves block, you get oil leaks under boost pressure, the use of direct injection carbonises the valve stems and they stop seating properly ( also happens on petrol engines , this bit) , the DPF system in the exhaust blocks up if you don’t do a long high speed run every month or so ( which is a massive problem for short drive city cars) and cost a bomb if they block. And that’s before you even get to the individual engine design problems like moronic locations of water pumps, brittle engine plastics etc etc etc. Again, that last bit is not restricted to diesels but you get my drift.
Unless you need / want the specific characteristics of a diesel or there’s another compromise you need to make ( after the Peugeot, we found a diesel Mitsu ASX with selectable 4wd. I accepted the risk because the diesel came with a genuine automatic transmission rather than the CVT’s in the petrol models , plus she goes snowboarding / camping and the 4wd might be somewhat useful one day) then i still think petrol is the way to go for most people. Though electric might make sense for some. just imo.
There are plenty of very expensive, prestigious brands that you’d not want to own past their warranty period, imo. And you know what, since most are probably bought on corporate leases , most probably aren’t kept beyond 5 years anyway.
Of course, we are all prone to our fits of stupidity in pursuit of our passions. I own and ride Italian motorcycles , and i have a lusting for a couple of Alfa Romeo’s despite knowing that it would almost certainly be an expensive, frustrating experience .
There’s an Alfa 159 TI JTS AWD with a manual gearbox that keeps calling to me. I’ve resisted, so far.
But i tell myself that the non-daily vehicle doesn’t have to be the common sense one…
