Are Vauxhall taking the piss?

[L14MNP]

Need to swap the thermostat on a neighbours 1400 mk3 Astra and I just had a quick read on Google to see if there was anything I should know about...

Err WTF please?! Belt cover and timing belt needs to be removed just to access the housing?! What kind of stupid design is that! LOL

I doubt it will be getting done. I was gonna do it in with his service, but if I have to fart on taking the belt off (and I would prefer to renew it) things will work out a lot more expensive.

Surely there's an easier way?

[John]

Belt on a 1.4 astra f (sohc) takes all of about 10 mins mate

[L14MNP]

Belt on a 1.4 astra f (sohc) takes all of about 10 mins mate

Cool. Still a massive design flaw lol.

Cheers for that dude.

[John]

Same as an 8v nova dude, I bet you could almost do it without taking the belt off, reach around with a 13mm spanner and wiggle bolts/ stat housing out. Yep it not in the best place lol

[Edd]

I've never took the belt off to change a thermostat

Is a bit of a crap design tho

[mowgli]

if like me, you are annoyed with it, you can actually remove a large chunk of the cambelt backplate to make it easier... but then, i have owned my engine for 20 years now....