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Chevrolet Optra Engine maintenance


GoodCar
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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?

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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?

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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. [laugh]

 

 

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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. [laugh]

 

 

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.

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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. :huh:

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(edited)

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. :huh:

 

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.

Edited by GoodCar
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Neutral Newbie

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.

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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 [:)]

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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.

 

 

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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

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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. :huh:

 

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

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Neutral Newbie

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.

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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

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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... [:)]

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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.

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