Chevrolet Optra Engine maintenance Options

[GoodCar]

Hi Gentlemen,

Does anyone know if Optra's engine valve clearance need to be adjusted ? or is it auto adjusted by hydraulic ?

Recently, during engine idling, I can hear a faint "tap tap" sound. Otherwise the car run smooth.

Any advice from bro here?

[LauSaiKia]

The piston knocking sound?

[GoodCar]

The piston knocking sound?

Sound more like the tappet, like diesel engine but very very faint, only can hear inside the car, with low aircon fan and quiet cabin.
I hear people say using V-power can have this problem, but I cannot confirm.

When I open the bonnet, cannot here the sound, but engine have slight vibration which I think is normal for 3 year old car.
RPM and operation all ok.

could it be engine mount old and harden liao causing the vibration to transmit into the cabin?

[Tremor]

Is the cruze using optra engine? So can troubleshoot the same as optra?

[Kklee]

I rem last time i used to get the tapping sound. Now can't seem to hear it, either I'm immune or because of the more expensive engine oil i use.

[GoodCar]

I rem last time i used to get the tapping sound. Now can't seem to hear it, either I'm immune or because of the more expensive engine oil i use.

I have been using ESSO 5w40 synthetic all the while. Just check the oil level it was ok.

When I open up the bonnet, I can see the engine cover vibrates a bit, suspect it is from the cover.

Anyway, almost time for servicing, Will ask the Shifu see wether can "tune" the engine a bit to reduce the vibration and also check on the engine mount.

Rubber engine mount at this age should be harden liao.

[Kklee]

Your engine oil level will go up or down ?

Optra uses hydro-mount which suppose to be long lasting but someone told me it wasn't.

[GoodCar]

Your engine oil level will go up or down ?

Optra uses hydro-mount which suppose to be long lasting but someone told me it wasn't.

Oil level was ok

Oh, I didn't know that It was hydro-mount ....cool
So this car is quite good.

- hydro mount
- hydraulic valve lifter
- remote opening of rear boot
- conti chasis

Anyway, the little sound from my engine is really very insignificant,because I listen to other car also sound the same.
I guess sometime we are just over sensitive.

This post has been edited by GoodCar: Oct 29 2009, 09:54 AM

[Kklee]

Sure got pluses and minuses.

[DOG]

Oil level was ok

Oh, I didn't know that It was hydro-mount ....cool
So this car is quite good.

- hydro mount
- hydraulic valve lifter
- remote opening of rear boot
- conti chasis

Anyway, the little sound from my engine is really very insignificant,because I listen to other car also sound the same.
I guess sometime we are just over sensitive.

What`s the fc like. Thinking of getting the estate. Does the engine temp. gets very high if stuck in traffic for long.

[GoodCar]

What`s the fc like. Thinking of getting the estate. Does the engine temp. gets very high if stuck in traffic for long.

I have upsized my tyre to 195, my FC about 10.5 to 11 km/L 60city/40 highway.
No engine temperature problem.

Have this car for 3 years 10 months liao, This car is design more towards cruzing.
You will enjoy it if you drive up north. very drivable even going up hill.

A lot of feature other don't have during that era.
- remote boot opening
- cool air chiller at glove compartment
- front and REAR fog light ( normally conti car have this)
- conti tune suspension
- strong chasis.

100km/hr at lower end of 2k-3k rpm.
The most important thing is behind is spacious with good leg and shoulder room in this class of car.
This car is design to be drive smoothly one, so more comfy for pax.

tyre noise can be fixed by changing to a comfort and quiet type of tyre instead of performamnce.

simple maintenance, just change timing belt at outside also no issue.

Value for money car for the family

[Kklee]

Hmm...if the Estate is anything like the Sedan, engine does get very hot. The cooling system is set to 87 degrees celcius and during jam, it can go higher than 90 degrees. Not sure abt the Estate, but the sedan has two electric fans (1 big 1 small ) cooling the radiator.

[GoodCar]

Hmm...if the Estate is anything like the Sedan, engine does get very hot. The cooling system is set to 87 degrees celcius and during jam, it can go higher than 90 degrees. Not sure abt the Estate, but the sedan has two electric fans (1 big 1 small ) cooling the radiator.

Didn't notice this, had caught up in jam before on hot weather in Singapore, but the temperature gauge seems normal.

So far only have one experience on high temp, but it was on a Honda civic (previous generation.)
It was during summer at oversea, the radiator was very dirty and I did not send for cleaning that year.
So when summer came, can actually see the temperature gauge rising towards the red line

[Kklee]

Didn't notice this, had caught up in jam before on hot weather in Singapore, but the temperature gauge seems normal.

So far only have one experience on high temp, but it was on a Honda civic (previous generation.)
It was during summer at oversea, the radiator was very dirty and I did not send for cleaning that year.
So when summer came, can actually see the temperature gauge rising towards the red line

The temperature gauge on the dashboard, at 87 degC and 105 degC, the needle roughly at the same spot before the halfway mark.

Thus, depending on usage, good engine oil is a must IMHO.

[DOG]

Thanks Goodcar & Kklee for your info. Reason I asked about temp is because my opel since new gives a very high reading like 100c and sometimes a little more when stuck in traffic. Always try to avoid heavy traffic situation. I told myself the next car I get must not have this problem. Tried to attach a third fan in front of radiator but space too narrow.
cheers.

[Yeobh]

Get yr mech to bleed the cooling system with a air lock bleeding vacuum tool as the conventional air bubbles bleeding via a valve may not be able to 100% remove all the trapped air bubbles. The other check is to get the radiator or expansion cap pressure tested to make sure it relief at the rated pressure .
Hope this helps

[GoodCar]

Hi Yeo,

Is this temperature by design or is it due to production lapse resulting in incomplete bleeding?

So far I have no temperature problem, hope it stay this way...

[GoodCar]

Thanks Goodcar & Kklee for your info. Reason I asked about temp is because my opel since new gives a very high reading like 100c and sometimes a little more when stuck in traffic. Always try to avoid heavy traffic situation. I told myself the next car I get must not have this problem. Tried to attach a third fan in front of radiator but space too narrow.
cheers.

OIC, Maybe becos the old OPEL are not tropicalise for our market.
Hopefully not all the conti car here are tropicalise

But I am confident that the Optra has been tropicalise. China has sold more then 2 million Optra to date and the summer is hotter than here.

[Kklee]

Thanks Goodcar & Kklee for your info. Reason I asked about temp is because my opel since new gives a very high reading like 100c and sometimes a little more when stuck in traffic. Always try to avoid heavy traffic situation. I told myself the next car I get must not have this problem. Tried to attach a third fan in front of radiator but space too narrow.
cheers.

If it is designed as such, there is very little you can do about it. Like on the Optra sedan, the cooling system is somehow linked with the aircon. With the aircon off, the coolant temperature can reach almost 100 degC before the twin electric fan kicks in the cool it down rapid to just above 90 degC.

What you probably can try is to buy one or two large bottle of distilled water from the supermarket and replace the equivalent amount of coolant. IIRC, more water = better heat transfer. Alternatively, you can look into Redline water wetter.

Use of a good lighter weight engine oil (w30) helps too.

[Kklee]

OIC, Maybe becos the old OPEL are not tropicalise for our market.
Hopefully not all the conti car here are tropicalise

But I am confident that the Optra has been tropicalise. China has sold more then 2 million Optra to date and the summer is hotter than here.

IMHO, I don't think the Optra is tropicalised, at least, for Singapore - there is actually a hose that route the hot coolant to the throttle body heating it up to above 60 degC. With my limited knowledge, perhaps suitable for countries with cooler or cold temperature but doesn't seem logical for Singapore.

Also, the conventional top-up water type of battery is suitable for hot climate. The Optra can come with one but I don' think the dealer is offering them for replacement. MF type is not really long lasting. I paid close to $200 for a Varta and less than a year, it died. Not sure if my usage has got anything to do with it.