Opel Corsa B 1993–2000 Service and Repair Manual: General description

The 2.0 litre 16-valve engine differs from the other 2 litre engines fitted to the range in the areas of the cylinder head, camshaft drive and associated components. The block, crankshaft and pistons are essentially unchanged, except for the use of fully floating gudgeon pins secured by circlips.

The cylinder head carries two camshafts, both driven by the same toothed belt. The front camshaft operates the exhaust valves, the rear camshaft the inlet valves. The cam lobes bear directly onto bucket tappets which incorporate hydraulic adjuster mechanisms.

The front camshaft also drives the distributor.

There are four valves per cylinder, two inlet and two exhaust. The exhaust valves are sodium-filled; at operating temperature the sodium melts and improves the conduction of heat away from the valve head. The combustion chambers are of pent roof pattern, with the spark plugs centrally placed between the valve rows.

The camshaft toothed belt also drives the water pump, as in the other engines, but a separate roller is used to adjust belt tension.

An idler roller is used to complete the belt run.

The engine is pleasing in appearance and obviously well-engineered. Extensive use has been made of aluminium castings, not only for components such as the sump and camshaft toothed belt cover but even for the flywheel cover and spark plug lead cover.

Operations requiring engine removal

The design of the engine is such that great accessibility is afforded and it is only necessary to remove the engine for attention to the crankshaft and main bearings.

Ancillary components - removal and refitting

For information on the fuel injection components.