G'day hezzy did you check the fan belt????

yeh did try to see the fan belt but it was getign dark and it seems to be under a plastic cover on this thing , as you can tell I don't usually drive it lol

hezzy

 Hope you didn't snap the timing belt and damaged other parts lots of $$$$

PM sent

 I reckon the timing belt has had a couple of teeth strip off the rubber belt.

if they are what they call a "free spinning motor" them you will be ok. But from memory they aren't and it could be a costly fix!!!

Could be timing belt from the syptoms you have said. When was it done last and how many ks you got on it now? If its broken the belt the head will most likly have to come off and the bent valves replaced.

ok

thanks timo for the pm etc

its not the timing belt , I don't know when it was last replaced ,as we have only had it 10 months
but I have been able to open up the cover slightly and when the car is turned over it is moving around ok , can see the belt and splines/teeth on it , at the top on the left hand belt side

so im now thinking ignition pack/starter coil , ?or back to the fuel pump ?
cant get a mechanic to look at it till at least wed , maybe even frid , due to the short week this week

any other ideas ?

hezzy

I wouldnt think coil pack as normally you dont loose all cyclinders with the astra coils. Could be crank angel sensor? Could be the fuel pump can you hear it prime up when you turn the key on or when cranking? Get someone to crank it and bash the tank with a hammer, done this many times to get them going. Cant absolutely rule out belt as I have seen one turn the engine but it had jumped about 10 teeth. There is so many thing that a few simply tests can point you in the right direction like is there fuel coming up, injector pulse or spark.

fuel pump is primimg when the key is turned on , can hear it under the tank for a few seconds ,

took the timing belt cover off , belt and all teeth look ok when turned over , marks on spline teeth belt seem to lign up ok with marks at top of belt cover , tension seems fine enough , no play in belt maybe about 5-8 mm up-down
bottom marks seemed slightly out of whack with the small nob to align them ,
took the rocker cover off , all the top seems to turn over ok with no signs of noise or scrapping etc ,
had oil in the two right hand side spark plugs , about 200ml in on top of em , but no signs of any crack or break in the rocker cover or gasket or even on the surrounds ,

left side plugs dry as normal ?

checked all the ignition fuses , they seem ok too

so now thinking to get the cylinders compression tested ?? see if pressure is ok
anyone know where I could get a gauge from and how much to buy it myself ?

hezzy

 G'day hezzy, when I was with Holden we had a lot of issues with ecu's with that year range Astra.. And if I remember right what your describing was a common symptom of ecu failure.

Timing belts,coils,ecu's,cooling modules were the biggest issues

It's just odd that it was running and you switched it off, now it doesnt start...... but hay, it's an Astra.
Did you try sprayin something flammable in the intake Hez? If it fires when you try this, put a globe test light over the two pins (unplug) of an injector connector and turn it over, if the light doesnt pulse then there's no inj pulse.
Have you tryed the spare key? Oil in the plug tubes is common, seal at the top of the tube (rocker cover) is leaking.
Check your plugs too, if they are prehistoric and the tips are worn, huge plug gaps lead to coil failures. Stick the plugs in the coil pack and sit the tips on the engine (earth) and check for spark whist turning it over.
Still gota be certain of cam timing, incase it has jumped, without takin the crank pulley off, get tdc of cyl 1 and the marks on the cam pulleys should meet at an imaginary line put through the centers of both pulleys (either together of directly opposite dependent on tdc of what stroke). A comp test will tell if cam timing is out too should generate atleast 100 psi
What the pic refers to as tensioners is actuall the idlers, the tensioner is below the wpump

 Check if it has spark, if it does then you can rule out coils and focus on something else

thanks for all the help and input

especially to timo , problem solved and car going ,

simple thing like spark plugs ,
yep that was it , still cant fathom the engine noise we heard , or why it died where it did , but that's what been the problem

going now , we will be replacing timing belt and water pump , just as a caution anyway , as no gues as to how many k,s the old one has done

cheers hezzy