not exactly a volvo question but...

[osullivant]

My son has a 1.4 2008 Astra petrol, a few weeks ago it began making bad noises, eventually it packed up with a demolished piston... we did not take thehead off yet but with an endoscope we can see right down into the sump through the plughole.

we took this engine out of the car and discovered a hole in the front of the block which had been repaired so it seems this problem... or similar had occurred in the past and a coverup was done....

we picked up a donor car which drove and sounded fine... we fitted the new engine with the original ecu, injectors, coil pack, and alternator...

the car drove fine for a few miles and then began to make strange tapping noises...the codes were erratic misfire etc...

we took out the plugs tonight and there is no compression on cylinder nearest timing chain...

the cylinder and piston look ok when viewed with the endoscope but dirty the plug was wet with petrol when we removed it.....,

we think there must be a valve open explaining the lack of compression...

Questions... what might cause this ...is it possible that a bad ecu would cause misfires and blow the piston to bits...

is it possible that just a duff injector is the cause?...

if it is an injector or ecu issue is there any way that the stuck valve would clear itself with a bit of driving...

thanks in advance

[FunkyMelon]

Did you do a compression test on the new engine before fitting it to your car?

Does seem unlikely (or just very unlucky) that the second engine was a dud too though....

[osullivant]

Originally Posted by FunkyMelon

Did you do a compression test on the new engine before fitting it to your car?

Does seem unlikely (or just very unlucky) that the second engine was a dud too though....

No bit the engine seemed fine for the first test run... just had a noisy water pump...

Really trying to imagine how a bad petro/electrical fault could cause damage three times....