Swirl flaps flapping
It was probably the moment when the realisation hit that the inlet manifold could not be removed without taking the cylinder-head off - or hours more dismantling - that I realised how much I really can hate working on cars. Well, not all cars, but ones that have clearly been designed in such a way that repair is often impossible without a huge amount of dismantling.
The 1.9 GM diesel engine isn’t a bad one but many of them suffer from swirl flaps failure - a great idea on paper though like so many other ideas, just rubbish in reality when the engine gets older. Our 9-3 puffs out a bit of smoke occasionally as it might if a flap was acting independently of the others, so I ordered a set of four blanks with screws and set to. The plan was to make a very early start and do this and the cambelt swap in a day. Ha!
CDTi bits
What we know now is that the TTiD engine combines the old 1.9 diesel capacity with 2.0 CDTi (Insignia) engine bits - including the later-type, all plastic, manifold with swirl flaps - and, unfortunately, that awful oil pick-up O-ring that has finished off many a 2.0 CDTi Vauxhall. We hope to get the sump dropped on ours and a new seal fitted before it goes the way of our ill-fated Insignia project (CM, Feb-Dec 2018).
It’s also obvious that the cylinder-head is fitted with the manifold
