Gary-Cornwall Posted September 25, 2001 Share Posted September 25, 2001 I read alot on the site about engine upgrades. The common route from 1.6 VX 8v seems to be Ford Zetec or 16v vaux. The obvious route for an affordable upgrade would seem to be the 2.0 8v Vauxhall as per the SRi Cavalier. Engine dimensions seem to be the same as the 1600 so there would be alot of carry over parts. I would guess that motor with 40's would get close to 140bhp with a good torque figure. Can anyone enlighten me on this subject? Is this a common route? If not, why? Thanks Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barneymump Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 heard the Vauxhall 2.0 story recently, apparantley the Carlton 2.0 auto lump is the same thing - 140 BHP with twin 40's, and easy to find at breakers. BUT the engine was stopped being produced a while back - same as 1.8 8V. ZETEC could be a safer bet 'cos they're still being made (ie. Parts in years to come) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 If you can get your hands on any 16 valver, it gives far more opportunity for the future. If you are of the twiddling type this may be important. For any engine capacity in a similar state of tune, a 16 valve head will give more torque and a better power spread. It can take longer to find a good deal, but from a scrappy the money really isn't that much different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted October 3, 2001 Share Posted October 3, 2001 If you're going to fit a 2.0l Vauxhall and go sprinting or on track days for goodness sake fit an oil cooler otherwise you'll have potentially terminal oil pressure problems. Two laps of Goodwood and its down below 25psi from 60 normal! Fit the cooler to the front of the radiator. You can get all the Mocal bits from Think Automotive in Isleworth. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Flatters Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 Paul, Sorry to jump in on this thread, but you got my attention with the oil cooler comment on 2.0VX. Is this an absolute must for 2 laps of Goodwood, if it's so critical how come Caterham didn't fit them? Anyone else have a comment on this? Yours, WORRIED of Sutton! Steve Mell PTM 88 Edited by - Steve Mell on 4 Oct 2001 08:33:34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 2.016v XE does NOT need an oil cooler. You might get 25psi at idle on hot oil with a 5/40 oil, and NEVER use a 0/40 as this will give problems. Paul, if your engine is a 16V, there is something very wrong with it, or the oil in it. Best oil for this engine is Comma SynerG (up to 8000rpm) or Mobil 1 15/50 for seriously tuned examples. Fat Arn The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 Difference between a 5/40 and a 0/40 is their thickness when cold. I can't figure why an oil that doesn't thicken up so much in the cold should give problems. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 Seconded, even after 2 hours thrashing on test days my VX has never had any oil problems whatsoever...............except the fact that as Arnie correctly stated, 0-40 Mobil 1 did cause preesure to drop. Switched to Valvoline semi 5-40 with a 6mm overfill (on stick) on standard Caterham wet sump and car suffers no trauma at all now. Kenny HPC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 Well I had a real problem. I tried all of Steve Broughton's (SBDev)mods, modified cam chest cover gallery plate, slotted the oil pick up pipe to stop it sucking down onto the sump, new oil pump impeller, new oil pressure relief valve with extra spacers etc. AND tried different oil grades and filters. Arnie you may be right and there is something else wrong but it was the oil cooler that fixed the problem for me. Incidently it was the running oil pressure that was going down to 25 and fading. Interestingly it would take less than about 20 to 30 seconds of idling for the pressure to come back up which would seem hardly long enough for the oil to cool down. The only other explanation I thought of and didn't explore was that the oil was all going 'somewhere' at high revs, e.g. the cam chest, and then draining down after a short time once the revs had dropped. Could be a faulty drain valve back down to the sump. If this was the case though I would have expected a lot more oil going into the catch tank, which it didn't. Incidentally, the 16v Astra apparently did have a cooler on some versions! So don't panic, but if you do have a problem the oil cooler worked for me and is a lot cheaper than going dry sump. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 Paul, Sounds like Steve Broughton has made some money out of you! As an "expert" in the VX engine, it seems strange that he has to made a modification unheard of in any other Caterham installation to get your car to run with proper oil pressure. The dangersous thing here is that the oil may be running too cool, causing excessive wear and reduced power from your engine. If you use your car much in umdemanding situations (i.e.on the road) you will exacerbate the wear issue as the oil will not be anything near track temp. I would point out that in my experience SBD's skills at designing and installing luybrication systems to my car cost me a crank rods pistons and a new block. I still, until this day have reservations regarding SBD's skills. Mike, I know the cold running viscosity of the oil should have no bearing on its hot running characteristics, but this strange theory is true as you can also see from Kennys posting Fat Arn The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 I really did think that the Mobil 1 thing was an old wives tale, It was Richard Winter who runs the Banks Europa race cars who put me wise. They run cars with engines from VX 1600 single cam to fairly standard 16v xe's right through to monster supercharged 2.0 xe's, they also look after customers Lotus twinks too, and others. It was on a test day, I was chasing one of his new race cars around the track filming it for him and I pulled off with low oil pressure and a nasty feel about the health of motor. He enquired if I was running Mobil 1 (I just thought it was the ultimate to use), he told me that they'd had no end of trouble with 2.0 16Vs losing oil pressure and those on Hydraulic lifters rattling like pigs....the common denomonator was Mobil 1, although it did only seem to affect cars with this particular engine........I acted on his advice as he's done over 200 of these motors........problem solved!!!!! The only other problem I've ever had was with that "special" pressure relief valve contraption, with that fitted my oil pressure didn't know if its ******** was bored or punched.....it was all over the place with various amounts of spacers inserted. I cleaned up and fitted an ancient old standard one and oil pressure went back to how it should be.......you only learn by experience I suppose. Kenny HPC PS I agree it seems silly and none VX owners laugh at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Russell Posted October 5, 2001 Share Posted October 5, 2001 I can only repeat the above, for a long time I used Mobil 1 in my Vauxhall XE and suffered all sorts of problems with rattly tappets (hydraulic) and oil pressure problems. Changed to Comma Syna G and everything now is perfect......well on the oil front anyway! Weird!!! Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swiss_Tony Posted October 7, 2001 Share Posted October 7, 2001 Just to clarify a couple of points: Lack of oil pressure with a vx with the standard caterham sump is most likely caused by a crap design in the sump! ie a large piece of sponge! What happens is the oil cannot travel through the sponge quickly enough at high revs and the pressure drops. I had the same problems until i fitted a normal type of sump with baffles etc. A 15/50 oil would be better than a 0/40 but only if the sump problem is sorted out first! Obviously a dry sump system would be better all round if funds permit. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted October 7, 2001 Share Posted October 7, 2001 I had noisy tappet probs with thinner high tech oils or at least Mobil1 and magnatec. SynerG is fine. The foam wet sump works fine for me even on slicks I have never had any oil pressure problems, (36 psi) warning light never comes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted October 8, 2001 Share Posted October 8, 2001 The Mobil 1 0/40 problem occurs in dry sump VX cars as well, and not just with the Caterham D/S system. Fat Arn The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul edden Posted November 8, 2001 Share Posted November 8, 2001 Don't know whether a comment from a W*******d owner is allowed here! I have a 2L 16v Redtop (ex Astra GTE)fitted to my car. The engine was completely stripped and all major parts renewed in May this year - using all the proper bit and pieces. The oil used was Vauxhalls own fully synthetic - as advised by the local dealer. The problems you have all described became immediately apparant after the first two laps of the Curborough Sprint Circuit - the top end of the engine sounded awful, even terminal ! My oil pressure guage was widly waving between 10 and 90psi - and registered a pressure of about 15psi at tickover when hot - all very scary when you have just spent a lot of money on a new engine. After much "fiddling" and adjustment of various parts - the oil was changed for Vauxhalls own "Semi Synthetic" oil. Hey presto - problem solved! The pressure holds at above 55psi when hot - the needle is rock solid under all conditions and the horrible rattle is a dim and distant memory. At last, I feel confident in letting my (very fine) engine bounce off its 7500 rpm rev limit all day. I have no oil cooler by the way - nor any plans to fit one. Happy track days.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted November 9, 2001 Share Posted November 9, 2001 At Cadwell in Oct (admittedly not that hot a day) 90 deg water and same for oil was the hotest I could get. Same goes for hot summer days. Never an issue. As above use Comma SynerG. Oil cooling is NOT needed on VX XE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0ddball Posted November 12, 2001 Share Posted November 12, 2001 i have a 1989 gte 16v, it has an oil cooler as standard, and its thermostatically operated. Obviously vauxhall thought it was critical for the astra, because the same engine in a calibra has no cooler. no help at all, but thems the breaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted November 12, 2001 Share Posted November 12, 2001 I would agree with Steve on this with the proviso that this is a VX generating less than 235bhp. More than this kind of horsepoower and the oil does get hot - I can get 110 degrees from mine on the road on a cool night. Haven't tired the current oil system config on the track, but in previous guises it would run hot after around 20 minutes very hard driving, to the extent that full welly oil pressure would drop to about 50psi. This was with SynerG - Mobil 15/50 is more stable at temp extremes so it wouyld be interesting to see the change. NOte that my oil temp sensor is adjacent to number 4 big end, so the readings I get are pretty much internal engine. Sensors on the DS tank or bellhousing will give a temp drop. Fat Arn The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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