The owner of this 2010 Opel Astra 1.6 was one of the good guys, who regularly checked the coolant and oil levels at least once a month. He had noticed that the coolant level was dropping, and took to checking this every couple of weeks. It now needed topping up every week and so he thought he better let me have a look.

A quick look around the engine bay allowed me to see the tell-tale marks left by the pink coolant. There was a small stain around the thermostat housing. The owner mentioned that the timing belt was nearly due for replacement, and asked if he could have both jobs done at the same time, possibly cutting the cost a little.

The timing belt on the 1.6 engine is a nice simple job and I gave him a good price for the work which he was happy to let me carry out. While doing the timing belt I also discovered that the water pump had been leaking slightly as well. It was good that I had quoted for the pump’s replacement as part of the timing belt job.

Once the job was finished and all was back together and the cooling system bled out, I was confident that the owner could forget any further coolant loss problems for a while and would also not have to worry about the cam-belt for a few years.

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