GM Vauxhall Insignia Diesel Crank Main Bearing Delete

[Donald64]

Brilliant!
Had a 318i e36 ragtop.
A truly good and fun to drive car I should have kept.
Dead reliable like old-school BMWs used to be.

If only they didn't have rusty body shells. In the four years of owning, I have only seen three others. Even the E46 is a rare sight in the last few years.
The four cylinder BMW engine is a perfect design. In F1 BMW tuned the hell out of it to give 1500 bhp in qualifying. All from a cast iron block from the early 1960s.

 

[Donald64]

So I worked late last night. I put it back together in the minimum number of bits to allow it to run.
Started up fine, but has a vibration. Went home.
Fresh brain today and I realised that the front engine mount was just resting, rather than bolted to the body.
Second try, sounds just fine. Oil light goes out on cranking. No vibration.
I left it running for a few cycles of the radiator fan. Seems okay. No snapped crankshaft
I'm not as daft as I was when I was a teenager (I started my first Japanese car business when I was eighteen) so I will build up the courage and finish putting the driveshaft and other stuff and hit the road on Sunday.
Hopefully I won't end up stranded

 

[fdcg27]

So I worked late last night. I put it back together in the minimum number of bits to allow it to run.
Started up fine, but has a vibration. Went home.
Fresh brain today and I realised that the front engine mount was just resting, rather than bolted to the body.
Second try, sounds just fine. Oil light goes out on cranking. No vibration.
I left it running for a few cycles of the radiator fan. Seems okay. No snapped crankshaft
I'm not as daft as I was when I was a teenager (I started my first Japanese car business when I was eighteen) so I will build up the courage and finish putting the driveshaft and other stuff and hit the road on Sunday.
Hopefully I won't end up stranded

Best of luck to you!
Be sure to let us know the outcome on your holiday.

 

[Donald64]

So I worked late last night. I put it back together in the minimum number of bits to allow it to run.
Started up fine, but has a vibration. Went home.
Fresh brain today and I realised that the front engine mount was just resting, rather than bolted to the body.
Second try, sounds just fine. Oil light goes out on cranking. No vibration.
I left it running for a few cycles of the radiator fan. Seems okay. No snapped crankshaft
I'm not as daft as I was when I was a teenager (I started my first Japanese car business when I was eighteen) so I will build up the courage and finish putting the driveshaft and other stuff and hit the road on Sunday.
Hopefully I won't end up stranded

An update of the GM Insignia with centre main crankshaft bearing delete:
So I ran the engine numerous times as it sat in my workshop. I finally found the courage to drive it.
Before doing so, I did another oil and filter change. Just Dexos 2 from a local discount store it was a Rock Oil product from Warrington UK. About $25 for 4.5 litre. Fully synthetic.
Hengst oil filter.
Within about 1/4 mile, there was a significant amount of vibration. I returned to my workshop and quickly found the cause. The breakdown recovery had damaged a lower radiator bracket. The radiator was sitting on the front cross member.
$7 for a new alloy bracket and try again.
Well, all seems absolutely fine.
The oil pressure light goes out straight away on a hot or cold start.
The engine seems perfectly smooth.
After 500 miles, I revved the engine to the limit for around ten seconds in each of the lower gears.
I still avoid motorways. A really decent bottom end engine block is on eBay at the moment.
I am tempted to buy, but the car seems fine as it is.
Thank you for your help and commitment.
I will update at 1,000 miles

 

[Donald64]

So I worked late last night. I put it back together in the minimum number of bits to allow it to run.
Started up fine, but has a vibration. Went home.
Fresh brain today and I realised that the front engine mount was just resting, rather than bolted to the body.
Second try, sounds just fine. Oil light goes out on cranking. No vibration.
I left it running for a few cycles of the radiator fan. Seems okay. No snapped crankshaft
I'm not as daft as I was when I was a teenager (I started my first Japanese car business when I was eighteen) so I will build up the courage and finish putting the driveshaft and other stuff and hit the road on Sunday.
Hopefully I won't end up stranded

I forgot to mention: the promised BMW E36 1.6 Touring oil filter which is now about 25k miles old will be charged in the next few days.
I will post the MOT record to prove. It's a Hengst filter. I took the BMW on holiday. About 1/2 miles from destination, I drove through a flood which was nearly at the top of the headlights.
The electric windows complained a little. It went onto three cylinders, but it got me to my destination and home.

 

[Bailes1992]

The Insignia pages are rife with people suffering with this issue. I can't believe Vauxhall never recalled them. It's certainly a case of when and not if.

I'm really interested in how far this engine will go!