Corsa-B.uk - Vauxhall, Opel and Holden Corsa B Owners Club

Hi all! This is my first post here

I'm hoping someone can help me with a small'ish issue.... My front anti roll bar looks like it's about to break (due to rust) and i can't seem to source a replacement or even know how much a replacement will cost! It's for an old 1999 Corsa SXi (1.2 16v). It's due for it's MOT in a couple of weeks and i'm sure it's going to fail with this problem (amongst a couple of other minor things).

Is this part likely to be expensive? And where can i buy it? I've tried emailing Vauxhall and i've had no luck with them yet .

Cheers!

PowerPie5000 wrote:Hi all! This is my first post here

I'm hoping someone can help me with a small'ish issue.... My front anti roll bar looks like it's about to break (due to rust) and i can't seem to source a replacement or even know how much a replacement will cost! It's for an old 1999 Corsa SXi (1.2 16v). It's due for it's MOT in a couple of weeks and i'm sure it's going to fail with this problem (amongst a couple of other minor things).

Is this part likely to be expensive? And where can i buy it? I've tried emailing Vauxhall and i've had no luck with them yet .

Cheers!

Hi and welcome to the forum

Try ring autovaux they might have them, i got my replacment from a scrappy for a tenner so check your local

I was just about to say just go to a scrap yard, it doesnt matter what engine corsa you get it off as they are pretty much the same! just remeber to get all the clamps too!

Thanks guys . I'll have to try and find a local scrappy and take a look, but i'm guessing they're all going to be a bit knackered at this age and a mechanic told me not all of them had these bars in the first place. In the meantime i've emailed both Autovaux and Vauxhall, but i suspect the price will hurt a bit (i've seen Whiteline branded ones for nearly £200!!).

If MOT repair costs end up being too much then i'll probably just scrap this car (which is a shame as it's quite tidy for it's age)... I also suspect the timing chain has stretched and will need replacing, even though it's only done 69k miles (engine rattles like a diesel when it's hot and idling). The old oil filter had disintegrated on the last oil change too and it's only been rattling since then .

Whiteline is a performance brand your only getting a gm one it will be about 10-20 pound and just because the paint is flacking doesnt mean its fubar

Just make sure its not bent and it will do perfect

johnny wrote:just because the paint is flacking doesnt mean its fubar

Just make sure its not bent and it will do perfect

I thought it was just the paint at first, but i looked a bit closer and the bar is pretty much rotten... The curled up parts i thought were just paint is actually thick rusty metal (the bar is basically splitting up ). The car doesn't really have any other rusty/rotten areas apart from some rust bubbles along the front edge of the bonnet (under the paint) and the odd small patches in the engine bay. Hopefully it's as cheap as you say from Vauxhall/GM or Autovaux, or at least nowhere near the cost of the "performance" part (which sounds funny as it's far from being a performance car anyway ).


I'm trying to make a list of the small jobs that need doing and this is what i've come up with:

1. Anti roll bar replacement along with new clamps (probably an MOT failure)
2. Reverse light switch on gear box has stopped working (definitely a small MOT failure)
3. Brakes occasionally judder when slowing down from 40+ mph, even though they were replaced about a month ago with genuine GM vented discs and pads... The brake pedal judder wasn't there before
4. Need a new spare tyre (a cheap one will do from the garage i'm getting it tested at )
5. I was told one of the front CV boot caps is missing... I'm no mechanic but i can see both gators on the front, unless he meant something else? This is probably an MOT failure too

This car isn't worth much so i don't intend on spending too much on it. I know a timing chain and tensioner replacement can be quite costly, but what are the chances it would snap if it's just slightly rattling and done only 69k? Also, occasionally the car will hesitate when pulling away (when the engine is hot)... But this could be anything.

Tbh your best to throw the car into the mot and see what it fails on, theres no point doing quess work as you change parts that would pass, because really the guy doing it could miss some of ehat you listed

As for the chain they good to 100000+ miles, how often do you change the oil, what grade oil you using

johnny wrote:As for the chain they good to 100000+ miles, how often do you change the oil, what grade oil you using

I've not had the car that long, but it seems the oil has been changed once every 5 or 6000 miles or at least once a year according to the service history (10w40 grade). I had the oil and filter changed again (10w40) a couple of months ago along with the sump gasket and i've only done about a 1000 miles since (i don't do lots of driving). The mechanic told me the old oil filter had disintegrated and collapsed so they had to fish out all the bits... I wonder if any left over debris is causing a blockage? The previous owner (or garage) must have used a cheap and nasty filter.


Anyway, i think i managed to get a good price on replacing the timing chain (the whole kit)... My local mechanic has quoted me £135 + VAT if i supply the kit (which will probably cost me around £80 to buy). The kit includes chain, tensioners, gears/sprockets, guide arms, bolts and gaskets etc... It's the best price i've been quoted so far, but i'll put it through the MOT first before doing anything else .

If one of your cv boot clips is missing put a cable tie around it. As long as there is no grease coming from around the boot and the boot is ok if it looks secure it should pass

galligan3103 wrote:If one of your cv boot clips is missing put a cable tie around it. As long as there is no grease coming from around the boot and the boot is ok if it looks secure it should pass

I noticed some thick goo on the inside of one of the front alloys a while ago... I'm thinking it's probably CV grease now you mention it. I'm sure it won't cost much (hopefully) to get it sorted if it does fail on that.

PowerPie5000 wrote:

galligan3103 wrote:If one of your cv boot clips is missing put a cable tie around it. As long as there is no grease coming from around the boot and the boot is ok if it looks secure it should pass

I noticed some thick goo on the inside of one of the front alloys a while ago... I'm thinking it was probably CV grease now you mention it. I'm sure it won't cost much (hopefully) to get it sorted if it does fail on that.

Can you hear any clunking on full lock ? If yes then the joint is dry, new boot is only a couple quid from vauxhall

johnny wrote:

PowerPie5000 wrote:

galligan3103 wrote:If one of your cv boot clips is missing put a cable tie around it. As long as there is no grease coming from around the boot and the boot is ok if it looks secure it should pass

I noticed some thick goo on the inside of one of the front alloys a while ago... I'm thinking it was probably CV grease now you mention it. I'm sure it won't cost much (hopefully) to get it sorted if it does fail on that.

Can you hear any clunking on full lock ? If yes then the joint is dry, new boot is only a couple quid from vauxhall

I've not noticed any knocking or clunking noises, but i'll double check tomorrow when it's not p*ssing it down outside .

Checked for clunking/knocking noises and i couldn't hear any, so i'm assuming the CV joint is still ok. The MOT is booked in for Wednesday morning and the test itself costs only £25 and that includes a free retest (within 10 days)... Now lets wait and see how much extra i'm going to need to pay on top of that.

My old biscuit tin passed it's MOT yesterday with no advisories . The mechanic fitted a new reverse light switch which i supplied and put a new clip on one of the CV boots along with more grease... The whole lot cost me a grand total of just £25! That's the cost of the MOT (which is cheaper than most places) as he sorted the little bits for free . The anti roll bar is nothing to worry about as it's still intact and sturdy (It just looks worse than it is due to rust and chunky bits of dried on dirt ).