Hello,

I am trying to remove my old sump from my Vauxhall C20 XE engine but can't get the thing off. I have removed all fixing bolts but the thing is stuck solid. Is this normal? Any views on what I can do to get it off as I can see me smashing it to pieces in a little while.

If all the bolts are out, and some may be hidden behind pulleys etc, then a few gentle taps with a hammer and a bit of wood around the gasket area normally does the trick.

Problem with those is that they have 2 sump gaskets seperated by the baffle plate. Can be rock solid (cork gaskets) Can you get a small lever of some type in and gently prise apart to break the seal...not too much force though!! once it starts to move it'll come apart fairly easily

Make sure you don't forget the two bolts at either end. Two by the bottom pulley and two tucked behind the flywheel. See if you can get the 8v windage tray with the rubber gaskets attached for when you put it back together. It does need one of the flaps bending down out of the way but it will be obvious which one when you compare it with the 16v one.

Hi,

done loads of these. As was said, make sure you don't miss the two deeply recessed bolts behind the flywheel.

Lever the sump off, bin the cork gasket, but keep the windage tray.

Don't get the 8v tray, use the 16v one, but fit the 8v rubber gasket. (engine code 20 SEH)

wide blade screwdriver and rubber mallet does the job

Thanks for the help, feel a little stupid having made such a meal of a straight forward job. Anyway got it off with the help of a load of screw drivers and a stanley knife.

Why go for the rubber gasket out of interest?

Much better at staying sealed than the cork ones. Cheaper too which is always nice!

It just wraps around the windage tray. The later Ecotec engines used the rubber gasket and tray setup as well.

Use the rubber one and clean and loctite all the sump bolts, then tighten them very carefully! I use a cordless screwdriver to tighten them, set to one of the higher torque settings, this then easily tightens them all to the same torque (bearing in mind its too low for any normal torque wrench to read. They certainly will actually feel pretty loose, but that's how they are! I'm guessing around 18Nm