View Full Version : Redtop Reliability
Me and RJ were having a discussion about the reliability of a redtop/c20xe engine, and i dont think they are very reliable but RJ does.
so what experiances have people had with them being reliable etc etc
comptoncj
16-08-09, 11:58 AM
they are if you look after them, check the oil every week n 5000 mile oil n filter changes n regular anti freeze changes, n also not thrashing em from cold, my mate ignored all these checks on his redtop nova and evrrything went wrong with it :( lol but my other mates had one years n it hasnt given him many problems
brainsnova
16-08-09, 12:05 PM
they are very reliable. musts are make sure timing belt is good, oil and water levels are correct and you let it warm up a bit before driving it. mine went 5 years with no faults.
scott.parker
16-08-09, 12:09 PM
Are you ****ing kidding?
Have you had one in a car?
As long as you don't make a silly habit of bouncing valves or thrashing it that hard the rods snap then, they are a SOLID hard pulling reliable engine that will go on for ever and ever, you just need to look after it like any engine, change oil/coolant flush-replace every few years etc.
they are if you look after them, check the oil every week n 5000 mile oil n filter changes n regular anti freeze changes, n also not thrashing em from cold, my mate ignored all these checks on his redtop nova and evrrything went wrong with it :( lol but my other mates had one years n it hasnt given him many problems
Poo. I didn't service mine once in a year, drove 5 miles with zero oil, generally didn't look after it (ok so I didn't drive it like a dick but it didn't get an easy life) and it never missed a beat. All we did was cambelt, water pump, sparkplugs, oil/filter etc when fitting the engine, and I changed the oil once about 1k later when it all dumped out due to a duff filter.
Thats on a £150 ebay wonder with totally unknown history AND Lee installed the engine. All the internals even stayed IN the engine lol
comptoncj
16-08-09, 12:31 PM
ive found them to be more reliable than the baby xe's especially in a nova / corsa coz they aint pulling anything, the onli thing i would say that was weak is the gearbox but if you let it get rolling n dont spin it up they tend to last forever as well :)
scott.parker
16-08-09, 12:37 PM
comptoncj, you got a WIP thread for your nova?
comptoncj
16-08-09, 12:41 PM
theres some pics of it in general car chat sumwhere mate whys that
scott.parker
16-08-09, 12:52 PM
Just wanted to see that's all.
comptoncj
16-08-09, 12:53 PM
oh ryt the threads called my 83' nova mate :)
I've never found anyone, who has owned one, who'd say they were unreliable
Are you ****ing kidding?
Have you had one in a car?
As long as you don't make a silly habit of bouncing valves or thrashing it that hard the rods snap then, they are a SOLID hard pulling reliable engine that will go on for ever and ever, you just need to look after it like any engine, change oil/coolant flush-replace every few years etc.
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
They're as tough as old boots run them on diesel if you like with no oil, they're the bollox!
They are one of the most reliable engines about, hence there popularity in retro fitting into many other marques!
just look after them. my mates astra mk3 gsi 16v had 450.000 km on the XE, and its still a great running engine. no oil use or anything.
scott.parker
16-08-09, 05:27 PM
They're as tough as old boots run them on diesel if you like with no oil, they're the bollox!
lol you sound like you have actually tried this??
loggyboy
16-08-09, 05:33 PM
The most reliable, bullet proof engine ive owned. I use it hard, its quite high miles and all its ever asked for is a headgasket and a few sensors.
I wouldnt be surpised if it did aother 40k, which would mean it will have done 200k plus.
One of the reasons i prefer vauxhall engines, and ive pledge my undying love for the c20xe forever and ever.
djbrowney
16-08-09, 05:51 PM
you should find out the history on ernine's engine as its a very good example. if you realised how much abuse that standard internals had taken then you would belive them to be very reliable :thumb:
me hammer my/Olly's old engine never.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGuOZD7noc4
General Baxter
16-08-09, 09:59 PM
with no oil, they're the bollox!
thats because they leak that bad, you top it up and catch it in a bucket 30seconds later lol
craig green
16-08-09, 10:01 PM
People will always have different stories.
Most opinions of cars etc are based on 100k mile examples tbh & arent fair. My 2 XE engines were sound. Perfect mile munchers.
GRUNT 16V
16-08-09, 10:04 PM
never had a prob with mine
My last one had 139K on the clock, has been quite well looked after, i change the oil every 2.5k. It was the best xe i've ever had and ever heard running.
Very gave me a single prob. I ragged it, and quite a lot from cold.
Never gave me one prob. I've had 5/6 xes the only one that game be prob was build by a nugget.
How anyone can say an xe aint reliable is beyond me tbh....
They take like 7700rpm with just a simple swap of rod bolts......
Im on my 4th, one of them had some wiring problems but with a new loom was sweet as a nut. Never had any major problems, bullet proof in my opinion
How anyone can say an xe aint reliable is beyond me tbh......
Cause stupid people own them, dont change the oil. Rag the utter nuts off it then moanit taps and knocks.
craig green
16-08-09, 10:17 PM
Or bodge them into project cars & make a hash of wiring looms.
djbrowney
16-08-09, 11:33 PM
me hammer my/Olly's old engine never.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGuOZD7noc4
thats with out the abuse jonboy gave it before olly purchased it lol
one think i do like about the xe's is if it ever breaks it only ever £20 to get it fixed spare parts make peanuts lol
Thats on a £150 ebay wonder with totally unknown history AND Lee installed the engine. All the internals even stayed IN the engine lol
You forgot to mention the fact it was sat on a pallet in a pretty much open to the elements barn for nigh on a year with small animals making nests in the inlet as well lol
Hell, ive blown up 4 of the buggers in 5 years and I still think they are bulletproof lol
I've had loads, only bother I've ever had is when someone else has installed the engines and done a poor job on the looms.
I even filled 1 right to the brim with anti freeze! I drained it all out and it was still sweet as a nut!!!
see! lol
http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u324/adam_den/DSCF2015.jpg
scott.parker
17-08-09, 05:03 PM
**** i didn't think you meant literally! lol
vaux nut
17-08-09, 10:40 PM
alright folks i have never had a more reliable engine than tha c20xe mine had done sixty thou of being drove like i stole it and it never wanted anything it never even tapped when cold legendary motor in my eyes
see! lol
http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u324/adam_den/DSCF2015.jpg
Thats class!
joff-turbo-nova
18-08-09, 01:23 PM
I've had a few of the C20XE engines over the last 11 years.
The only problems I have had are :-
1. Porous/cracked head (sorted with a new head) - in the Nova
2. Aftermarket crank sensor not sitting far enough into the block and therefore not picking up the trigger wheel
The C20XE in my vectra has done an unknown amount of mileage and is now starting to burn a fair bit of oil - nothing that a set of rings, a bore hone and some stem seals won't sort out at some point .
Having had/currently owning X14XE and X20XEV engines , the C20XE engine is very easy to work on and has no major faults.
The X14XE engine is a great little engine when working fine, but has so many sensors and emissions gubbins and has such a stupid inlet tract it is a pig to work on. The X20XEV engine out of the vectra was just unreliable - head gaskets, numerous sensors, rocker cover gaskets every couple of months - these engines are just BAD !
Joff
dj_wudgey
18-08-09, 05:43 PM
never had one in a car but a few mates have and not really had any major problems and most off my mates cars will get some b*stard!! so id be going for pretty reliable aswell!!
Or bodge them into project cars & make a hash of wiring looms.
Oh man, a few years ago at Pv, me and Dan talked over and looked at the Just Novas and Corsas "show cars". Funk me they had used the x5 plug and cut and joined every wiring in the loom and crimped the ends to fit the plug..
It was shocking! I really couldn't believe these cars(3 of them) where the cars they used to show off the work they could do..
see! lol
http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u324/adam_den/DSCF2015.jpg
Was that you? You became a Mig legend cause of that..
Yeah, that was me! lol
Thats what happens when ya fitting an engine in the dark outside the house when it's lashing down and you've had a couple of tins of pop!
I connected the bottom of the expansion tank to the breather pipe that would go to the SFI box!
Never mind tho, it was drained and all was well. Give the inside of the engine a wash out if nowt else!!!
L33 LEG
19-08-09, 11:12 AM
lol what an effort.
thats with out the abuse jonboy gave it before olly purchased it lol
one think i do like about the xe's is if it ever breaks it only ever £20 to get it fixed spare parts make peanuts lol
It only came through me, It wasn't an old engine of mine though ;)
Xe's generally are superb engines, porous heads being the biggest problem although I've only owned one myself that did that.
My last xe trackcar was used every day for a year, totally stock engine, did around 10 trackdays and 30+ bottles of gas thrown down it on the strip and road.
I melted a piston 4 days before going to the ring, hone, new pistons and rings and ran it in on the way to Germany, did a sub 9 min lap then towed Keith Robinson back to England, that was sadly when the head decided to do its oil and water mixing trick, a quick flush through every week saw it do another few Santa Pod events on gas and 2 months more motoring lol
I also think Gav and I hold the record for the most powerful stock xe, ofcourse I won't class that engine as overly reliable though :p
Great engines even with a zillion miles on them, the small block xe in standard form is crap and certainly doesn't take the mileage anywhere near as well as the 20xe.
IIRC all Corsa GSi's when new came with 5 litres of spare oil in the boot to top it up every few miles as they burn so much <cough cough> lol
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