Do-it-yourself Opel Astra n heat exchanger repair

In detail: do-it-yourself repair of the Opel Astra n heat exchanger from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

Image - Do-it-yourself Opel Astra n heat exchanger repair

The instructions for replacing the heat exchanger gaskets are, in principle, the same for all GM engines of the A / Z16 / 18XER / LET series.

Below is: the essence of the problem, a few photos of the process on the Zafira Z18XER, instructions with tightening torques on the Z18XER and at the end of the spare parts number.

The problem of GM engines of the XER / LET series (A16LET, Z18XER, etc.) common to Opel, Chevrolet is oil leakage through the heat exchanger gasket (aka the engine oil cooler) / or oil getting into the antifreeze through the heat exchanger.

The heat exchanger is located in a hard-to-reach place, behind the exhaust manifold, therefore, if you do not pay attention to the sweating of oil or the appearance of smudges, you may not notice it in time. But as soon as the oil starts to flow in full and falls on the exhaust manifold, this fragrant smell of burning will immediately notify you of a malfunction.

Antifreeze and oil pass through the heat exchanger. The assembly is heavily overloaded with many gaskets and tubes, the seals of which are made of rubber.

Over time, rubber loses its properties and "dubs". The seals lose their tightness and oil starts to flow through the cylinder block, or get into antifreeze, because the pressure in the lubrication system (oil pressure) is higher than the pressure in the cooling system (antifreeze).

We had a Zafira X18XER, the instructions were taken from the CRUZE Z18XER, no different. One caveat: somewhere it was written that it is necessary to remove the air conditioning compressor on the Zafira. They did nothing of the kind, they just removed the cooling fan. It is better to do it right away, because with a fan, it is problematic to even remove the exhaust manifold heat shield.

Video (click to play).

1. Remove the cooling fan, oil dipstick.

2. Drain the coolant. Radiator plug. In the direction of movement of the car from the bottom right, from the end of the radiator.

3. Disconnect the lambda block, exhaust manifold heat shield.

3. Remove the exhaust manifold spacer (6)

4. Nuts securing the catalytic converter to the flexible exhaust pipe (1)

When assembling, tighten to 22 Nm

5. Nuts securing the catalytic converter to the cylinder head (8)

When assembling, tighten 20 Nm

6. Remove the 2 bolts (1) from the engine oil cooler outlet pipe. Remove the engine oil cooler outlet pipe (2).

7. Remove the 2 bolts from the engine oil cooler inlet pipe (4).

8. Dismantle the engine oil cooler inlet pipe (3).

9. Remove the 5 bolts (2) of the engine oil cooler housing.

When assembling, tighten 25 Nm

10. Remove the engine oil cooler housing (1).

11. Remove the 6 engine oil cooler bolts (2) and remove the engine oil cooler (1) from the radiator housing.

12. We wash everything, change all gaskets, assemble in reverse order.

13. If desired or necessary, change the oil, filter, flush the cooling system, change the antifreeze.

Watch an interesting video on this topic

06/10/2016 21:11 2016-06-10T18: 11: 50.000Z

We are changing the oil cooler gaskets for the Opel Astra H 1.8 Ecotec Z18XER. We flush the cooling system and change the antifreeze.

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Opel Astra H - Replacing Heat Exchanger Gaskets

Video (click to play).

  • Image - Do-it-yourself Opel Astra n heat exchanger repair

    There is such a contraption at the Z18XER (Z16XER) - a heat exchanger in which the engine oil is cooled (heated) with antifreeze. Installed on the oil filter housing under the exhaust manifold. Assembled on gaskets, which become tanned / exfoliated / softened over the years and begin to flow. I was comprehended at 86000 km and 8 years. In advanced cases, the oil gets into the antifreeze, the cooling system becomes heavily contaminated, then the thermostat and pipes die. The consequences are sad ...

    Knowing this, I regularly checked the condition of the antifreeze in the expansion tank and the presence of leaks / wetting on the engine in the place of the heat exchanger. The reservoir was always clean, but last winter it began to get wet on the engine under the manifold. I decided not to delay, bought a full set of all gaskets (only the original! - who does not want to climb there again after six months) and related materials (flushing the cooling system, distilled water, flushing oil, new oil, new antifreeze, sealant, copper grease, gasoline, diesel fuel, rags, brushes / brushes, sponge with an abrasive layer, wd40). It turned out for all 5 thousand rubles. with a penny. I was lucky with gaskets - I managed to get them in early January, and literally a week later their prices increased 1.5-2 times and the delivery time increased to 1-2 months!

    Looking ahead, I will say that the same basic "curly" gasket 55354071 had just begun to decompose, the mixing of liquids inside the system had not yet happened, and antifreeze was oozing out - those wet were not oily! Those. my case is easy, but it happens much worse when the gaskets are passed inside the heat exchanger and then everything is clean on the engine, but there are oil droplets in the expansion tank, then mucus, porridge ...

    The part of the gasket that comes in contact with antifreeze has softened and cracked, and the oil part is in good condition (like all the other 8 gaskets, but I changed everything for new ones!). Why is that?

    There are suggestions that this is the original GM antifreeze! For some reason it is produced by a separate brand only for GM (and the antifreeze concentrate is made by one manufacturer BASF and for GM they have an "exclusive" Glysantin G34) and contains components that are aggressive for the gasket material. More details here:

    You need a tool, a normal set of keys, heads, torx and conventional bits, extension cords, ratchets - don't even start without it!

    I will say right away - "the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing!" - all the "iron" work is simple, like a children's designer - the keys from the scanty E8 to the head by 13. More fuss with flushing the cooling system (soaps 4 times) ... .Pull out / push back the dipstick tube. The rest is VERY simple, fear not! But painstakingly and scrupulously! Disassemble - rinse / clean - assemble.

    - Drain the oil - filled in flushing oil. I drained the antifreeze (clean as a tear, but still decided to wash the system!) - I filled in distilled water with wynns rinsing.

    - At idle until the thermostat opens and the fan operates.

    - Drained water - refilled with distilled water with wynns rinsing.

    -At idle until the thermostat opens and the fan operates.

    - Drained the flushing oil, drained the water from the wynns.

    - Spattered nuts (3pcs) of the intake pipe wd40

    In the intervals, while the slurry / rattled on the XX - began to disassemble.

    Bainki went. And all night the leftovers merged drop by drop ...

    On Saturday morning, I started disassembling: we unscrew the intake pipe (it was easy!), Remove the radiator grill, the cover over the radiators (this is where the hood lock is), the air intake, the radiator fan, the probe tube (it's hard for me!), The collector heat shield (hemorrhagic!) , manifold, oil filter housing. We disassemble, clean, wash, three, rinse, blow with compressed air, dry, put new gaskets. Putting it up in reverse order. We are also installing new metal gaskets for the collector and inlet pipe.

    We fill in oil, and I decided to rinse the cooling system again, now from the wynns rinsing itself - a lot of foam, washed twice with distilled water. We observe - there are no leaks, they suddenly collected crookedly. Then I poured 1.5 liters of Glysantin G30 concentrate with distilled water 1 to 3 - I will go in the summer, in the fall I will change it again in a normal concentration of 1: 1.

    What an ode! Outrages: 1. the design of the heat exchanger on a "curly" gasket 2. The location of the heat exchanger. Disassemble half of the muzzle to replace 1 rubber band. No good!

    I will answer the questions. Sorry for the photo - as best I could, not before ...

    I received the whole set of these gaskets, I wonder, but there is such a proprietary set that would not be separate.

    now you need to make up your mind and change everything.
    what other recommendations can there be?

    Well, I coped with the task of replacing the heat exchanger gaskets, I counted on it in three hours, but spent six hours, of course, at the same time washed the radiators, the dirt was notable, I fiddled with removing the thermal protection of the collector, she stubbornly did not want to climb out, because the pipe from the air conditioner compressor interferes, also due to the lack of a special tool for removing the rings of the clamps from the hose that goes from the thermostat to the radiator, I had to pretty much strain my engineering thought how to remove it, and the most flush, this is when I collected everything and put protection, I slammed it the hood to roll the car out of the garage, and and and and the hood does not open
    I forgot to put the cable in the loop of the lock, I will not tell here how I opened it.
    conclusion, about about 100 thousand km of gaskets on the oil channels hardened and dried out, so the oil began to ooze
    on the antifreeze, the rings swelled a little and sat very well and tightly.

    A clear instruction on how to replace the heat exchanger gaskets in an Opel Astra H. On these machines, this is a fairly common problem when the heat exchanger gaskets begin to leak, since the heat exchanger itself is located behind the exhaust manifold, due to the temperature difference, the gaskets very often become tanned. In this case, an emulsion forms on the cover of the expansion tank, someone may say that this is due to the cylinder head gasket, but then the tank would constantly inflate, since we do not have this, then the problem is in the heat exchanger. At the moment, we will get oil into the cooling system, there is a possibility that with such a malfunction, oil will soon begin to flow from the heat exchanger itself, but we did not wait for this and began to replace the gaskets.

    First of all, we drain the antifreeze, then remove the heat shield (insulating casing), the oil dipstick, and the cooling fan. From underneath, unscrew the catalyst from the intake pipe. We detach the lambda probe. In order not to remove the air conditioner compressor, and this entails the removal of the belt, we will bend the heat shield, then we will align it. We unscrew the exhaust manifold 9 nuts by 10. Remove the old gasket and unscrew the heat exchanger, removing it. All gaskets can be disassembled and replaced:

    When reassembling, use a torque wrench, observing the correct tightening torque, if you do not have one, do not pull too hard.

    Video of replacing the heat exchanger gaskets in the Opel Astra H:

    Backup video how to replace the heat exchanger gaskets in the Opel Astra H:

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