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[Migalot]

I am idly wondering about my 02 2.6V6 with 81k miles on the clock.

It's a lovely car and I only do a few thousand miles a year in it. However, it has always had the blue smoke problem of those iffy valve stem seals that Vauxhall fitted in 2001-02 and now I have a slight oil leak somewhere (noted as an advisory in the last MoT).

I'm a tad too old to fix anything myself (and don't have my own driveway or garage), so i was wondering whether it would be worth having someone recondition the engine. Yes, it would cost a few bob, but whether or not I keep it, I would hate to see it ending up in a crusher. It's completely rust-free, full leather and so on and drives like a dream.

Is it worth considering? And can anyone recommend an engine recon person who actually knows about these engines and cares about doing a good job?

As I said, I'm just idly considering options...

[Nick W]

All you want is to fix the problems: valve stem seals and the oil leak.


The leak is worth investigating further because it could be quite a straightforward job, like the oil pressure sender(£5 part and a couple of minutes work), cam cover gaskets(still a simple mechanical job), sump gasket or the front crank oil seal(do it as part of the timing belt)


The stem seals are a lot more involved and costly, so I would only bother with the work if the car fails its MOT emissions test.


None of these jobs come close to justify even considering removing the engine from the car.


The rest of the engine is robust, durable and is best left alone.

[Migalot]

Fair comment, Nick. 

I think the oil leak is coming from the crankshaft seal, so provided it get no worse, it can wait until the next belt change in two years' time.

It's smoked on start-up for years and has always sailed passed the emissions tests.

I guess you may be right and the best thing to do is just leave it alone for now. Shame though, I do like things to be just right.

[Nick W]

Fair comment, Nick. 

I think the oil leak is coming from the crankshaft seal, so provided it get no worse, it can wait until the next belt change in two years' time.

It's smoked on start-up for years and has always sailed passed the emissions tests.

I guess you may be right and the best thing to do is just leave it alone for now. Shame though, I do like things to be just right.

In that case, the valve stem seals are an annoyance rather than a problem.


The oil leak is worth pursuing: remove the aux belt and the timing cover and thoroughly clean everything. I would replace the oil pressure sender to eliminate it from any further diagnosis as it's a £5 part and 30 seconds with a spanner. Reassemble, and check again after a tank of fuel. If the crank seal is noticeably leaking at this point, I would seriously consider changing the cam belt early just to sort the leak. The seal is relatively cheap, and assuming the crank bolt can be undone without too much hassle shouldn't add much labour time.