Jon Stewart Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I seem to have seized my engine at Silverstone this morning. ☹️ Can anyone recommend a vx engine builder and someone who can remove the engine for me? Thanks Jon Edited by - Jon Stewart on 8 Sep 2009 19:38:16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garibaldi Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Rob Morley of ProTune built my VX... he is part of RatRace in Potters Bar..? Just north of the M25 near the A1. They do a lot of work on se7ens and can remove, rebuild and reinstall your engine under one roof.... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_h Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I've used John Schneider. Blatmail me and I'll forward his phone number. I think he's based in London area (he collected and delivered my car so I don't know for sure). The last work I had was a top end refresh, which was about 3 years ago, but I'm sure he's still involved in 7's, if less so since the 750mc stopped the series he was in. cheers, Andy White road legal 2.0 HPC VX race car - stolen with trailer 27/03/09... found 11/06/09 😬... now under repair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKB Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 There is always Andy McMillan at Hinkley who prepares the Classic Graduate cars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain chaos Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Jon, Where are you based? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavic82 Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Not sure about removal, but Paul Exon in Coalvile is good for building. He is an ex director of QED but now has his own business with a well proven track record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Stewart Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 Captain, I am in Herts but am able to trailer to get the right service. I was going along Farm Straight when i heard a knock and the engine immediatley died. There were no warning lights and pressures and temperatures all appeared normal. I coasted onto a service road and it wouldn't then turn over. The LoT mechanic checked the electrical system and it was OK but couldn't turn the engine over by hand. The plugs were pulled and there was nothing unusual. He came to the conclusion that the engine had seized Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F355GTS Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Jon I saw you pull off the circuit and wondered what had happened, drop me an e-mail (address is in my profile above) with your e-mail address, there are a couple of engine options we could discuss, also I would be happy to help remove/ replace if you are happy to bring it to my neck of the woods (Reading) Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Jon very sorry to hear that you have this problem. Major failures of Vx engines (I assume its a 2litre) are pretty rare so please keep us posted on here when you find out what's happened as I'm sure there are a number of Vx owners who'd like to know. Good luck with it Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain chaos Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Jon Take up Marks offer of help (F355GTS)...if you were in the Midlands I could help get the engine out (mine comes out in under 3 hrs)..and then we would have three decent builders within 1.5hrs from here. As you are in the south, no point in making things more difficult and Mark has plenty of good experience with the Vx. Email me if you think I can help further.... Edited to add: I see garibaldi's chap is quite close to you although paying someone to do a simple job of taking the engine out may needlessly bump the bill up Edited by - captain chaos on 26 Aug 2009 09:33:47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Stewart Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Thank you all for your replies and kind offers of help It's a reminder of how great a club this is Paul, Yes it's an XE with steel crank and rods. Mark, I may well take you up on your generous offer - anything to help keep the bill down *eek*Is there anything straightforward i can do to confirm it needs to come out, such as drop the sump or whip the oil tank out? There's still part of me hoping it isn't an engine failure *rolleyes*I wouldn't want to waste anyones time unnecessarily. I'll drop you an email later. Thanks again all Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Kennedy Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 As you are in Herts you could always try chris at the 7 w'shp in Hoddesdon. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F355GTS Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Hi Jon Yes you could drop the sump and undo the big end caps to see if one or more have failed, of course if you take the sump off and it's full of metal it's pretty certain it's going to need some work, sadly I suspect you will find some damage down there if it wouldn't turn over even by hand although it could be some problem in the clutch/ flywheel area? It's not a huge job to pull the engine so even if it doesn't need much it's not a big deal to do it I know of somebody with 3 VX engines that could be donors should they be needed hopefully at not silly costs. I'm free Sat/ Mon this Weekend if you wanted to bring it over for initial stripping/diagnosis, following Weekend is a bit messy but the one after is OK Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Stewart Posted September 8, 2009 Author Share Posted September 8, 2009 I finally managed to get the sump off and it doesn't look good. ☹️ I took some photos here of the bits of metal in the sump and a lump welded to the crank. Can someone please explain to a numpty what has failed and how it happened? Thanks Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECR Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Difficult to be sure ....Is this a wet sumped car ? If so it looks like the damaged metal could be the windage plate (a plate that stops oil being thrashed by the crank). Why it has become so mashed is not clear from the photo's. It would need something large to become disconnected to do that sort of damage. Were all the conrod caps in place ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie. Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Ooof. Looks nasty. Can't really tell from the photos what's gone wrong though. I'm a bit confused by what looks like a crank bearing surface to the left of the lump of metal in this photo. If that's a conrod big end bolt we're looking at, does that mean we're seeing a main with a maincap missing...possibly mangled up and now stuck to your crank? Could you get a photo looking at the bottom of the engine, face on, if you know what I mean. Lay the camera on the floor and take a few shots straight up into the crankcase. Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Stewart Posted September 8, 2009 Author Share Posted September 8, 2009 I managed to pull two further sizeable pieces of metal out Roger, it's dry sumped but i'm struggling to work out what else that size could have been thrashed around It looks like something has broken off here and has ended up wedged here Edited by - Jon Stewart on 8 Sep 2009 23:27:43 Edited by - Jon Stewart on 8 Sep 2009 23:29:46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Simon Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I'm guessing this engine has the Caterham dry sump system installed. The missing, mangled bit is the alloy oil pick-up adapter that replaces the wet sump pickup. hereThe Caterham dry sump instructions are very pointed about using Loctite on the M6 bolt that holds this piece in place. From the Vauxhall Dry Sump System_master.doc vii) Bolt the oil pick-up adapter in place of the original oil pick-pipe with the lower face of the ‘Wedge’ parallel to the surface of the engine block. Use a liberal amount of Loctite on the threads of the M6x16 caphead screw and tighten to 8 lbft. Seems this piece has worked loose. ☹️ Bummer! -Bob 94 HPC VX Evo III Edited by - Bob Simon on 9 Sep 2009 02:40:34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryT Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 For some reason had trouble viewing all he photos withou locking up my computer but it looks to me like your crank trigger wheel may have broken. Not unknown for the standard steel wheel at high revs. Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECR Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I think Barry may be right. I've been struggling to think what other sheet metal parts are in the sump and that's the only one (of size anyway). I've heard that they are a known weak point in high revving engines but I have never (till now !) experienced a failure. Apparently the early crank trigger wheels are stronger (machined from solid ?). The engine obviously needs stripping and inspecting but it just may be in better condition than it looks. Mark (who has offered ?) will have that out and on the bench in a very short time and then all will become clearer. Chin up ! PS Looking at photo 21 it shows the "bearing" that Willie is questioning. I'ts almost certainly where the crank trigger wheel fits. For me that confirms it. Edited by - ECR on 9 Sep 2009 09:42:08 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Good call Barry. Looking at photo 9 you can see the 'tooth' pattern in the crank wheel pressing. I haven't heard of this problem before but have decided that when the internals come out for balancing this winter I'm going to change to the external crank sensor wheel arrangement that SBD sells here at the bottom of the page.. Good luck Jon, hopefully in reality the damage could turn out to be quite light. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECR Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Now I've seen a failure, I think I'll change at the next opportunity as well ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavic82 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 For what it is worth I concur, timing wheel failure. The rest may well be salvaged. It is worth pointing out that the alloy caterham oil pick up refered to by bob is still in place see photo 15 an 17 so lubrication to the engine should have been fine. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Stewart Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 Oh well, it's good to know what's wrong with it. It had been bugging me since it happened! I'll obviously be changing to external system now. I note the SBD wheel mentions for use with small alternator. Do they work with a standard one or will i need a new alternator? It's also been suggested that the internal wheel isn't usually used with a steel crank. Is it possible to tell if it is steel from the photos? I was always led to believe it was and couldn't tell if one had hit me in the face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECR Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Fitting a steel crank enables higher revs which would then put greater stress on a standard trigger wheel so yes, I would expect an external trigger wheel with a steel crank. Difficult to be sure, but it doesn't look like a standard crank so it may well be steel Edited by - ECR on 9 Sep 2009 14:24:40 Edited by - ECR on 9 Sep 2009 14:26:08 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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