AndyR

Hi all, hope everyone is staying safe, and making the most of their time pampering the cars. How do i tell if my Astra has ABS braking .I cannot see an abs pump near to the master cylinder/servo, but knowing my luck it's probably hidden somewhere else. Its getting near mot time and need to get everything sorted, and as there is no school/college runs this week, I am hoping to get stuck in to the old girl. Brakes, service, and at last I can get that crappy old gear oil out and put in proper automatic transmission fluid. I will get some pics of the gear oil and show you all what some numpty at a garage had done at some point in the past. Watch this space........

Hi, certainly sounds like you have having fun, my old cab was the 8 valve 2.0 Sri. Pulled like a Trojan, would probably still have her if it hadn't been for the rot. I'll see if I can find some pics of her too. It didn't owe me anything as my brother in law gave me two Cavs, one was a beaten up saloon, and the other was the Sri hatch. So I went for the hatch. Good luck with the rest of the rebuild.

Hi DandyP, Welcome to the forum. Would your cavalier be the one before they went to vectra? I had a cavalier SRi a few years back, loved the old girl, but the dreaded tin worm was hungry, and i couldn't keep up, especially when the springs came through the rear floor pan. Would be nice to see some pics. Regards Andy.

I certainly hope so. The strange thing is, the car runs so well, gears change without any problems. Next payday will see filter and oil for gearbox. I definitely won't be going to the garage the previous owner used.

Well i put the original cap from the 16v on, and it has cured the problem of the top hose collapsing. Going to buy some rad flush this week and give it a good flush through. Fresh anti freeze, and then its service time again. And try to get a filter for the auto transmission, and freshen the oil as some dips**t has put ordinary gear oil in and not proper trans fluid.

I've found 5 of them on the wheels . Just need to find the others and I'll be good to go

And just noticed that I have a 26 valve engine Better start looking for the other 10....

Hi folks, just done 240 miles in my Astra G. It's working out @ 47.5 mpg, and due a service. It is now sitting on 210019 miles. I am a happy bunny with that. I'm glad I made the move to Vauxhall.

Hi, yes thanks I am keeping well, and hope you are too. I going to get a new cap, but will put the original one on and see how it goes. Have got to do another flush through too, as don't think I cleared out all the crap. Coolant still oily, but not as bad as it was. Regards Andy.

Hi all, went out shopping yesterday evening, a bit cold so had heater on. Noticed this morning that the top hose had sucked in. Could this be due to the header tank cap being off the 8 valve engine, and is now on a 16 valve ecotech?

Yes it is. I managed to scale down settings on my phone, and then cropped the picture before uploading it to the forum. I found this works better too if I do it all with my phone, rather than using the PC indoors.

Yay I've managed to get a photo loaded , and it's clear

Well you got the blurry one. I GIVE UP............ I am going to try a different camera tomorrow. I WILL get some nice pics to show on here. Andy.

Well i have been playing with my camera on my phone, and i think i've got it sorted. Quality might not be as good as i hoped for, so here goes. Old and new shocks, a nice clean engine cover , and a bit blurry one of the car itself.

I kept trying different ways to get photos on , but it kept telling me that the files were to big. I'll have another play later.

I am hoping that this will work regarding photos. file:///C:/Users/andrew/Pictures/mobile%20pics/Astra%20G/IMG_20200704_file:///C:/Users/andrew/Pictures/mobile%20pics/Astra%20G/IMG_20200729_file:///file:///C:/Users/andrew/Pictures/mobile%20pics/Astra%20G/IMG_20200730_file:///C:/Users/andrew/Pictures/mobile%20pics/Astra%20G/IMG_20200717_155617.jpg

Well I received new shocks as planned Wednesday. Thursday morning I got stuck in to change them. Surprisingly all bolts came off easily, which was better than I expected after how ever many years. New shocks bolted in and springs replaced, and now it is a much smoother ride, and sitting somewhat higher, which is good for up and down my driveway with a full load.

Thanks for the good luck. The paperwork I got with the car gave rear shocks as an advisory because the outer casing was rusty. Well that's completely gone, and the shiny ram is visible. Also the springs look like they've been doing all the work. Hopefully it will be a better ride. Like you say, you get so used to how it is. I'll keep you updated on my progress. Andy.,

I just can't seem to get pictures small enough at moment. Need to configure camera somehow. As regarding checking out the underneath of car, have found rear shocks are shot!! So have ordered a pair from ebay, £28.99. Should be here Wednesday, so hopefully Thursday, weather permitting, i'll be swapping out the rear shocks and springs. Looking at springs, and comparing them to my old Astra, I have a feeling that the springs have been doing most of the work, as there is no bounce on the rear of car, and they look quite squished. So as I have a pair of new springs, which were bought for old car, I might as well renew the lot. I will take pics of the car and find some way of getting them on here. She is a fine example of the model, and I aim to keep her looking as good and original for as long as possible.

She certainly seems a lot healthier now. Time to get underneath and check for anything that needs doing for the upcoming mot. Should be ok, as previous owner had things done as soon as, by a local garage. Need to work out how to get pictures small enough to post on here too. Regards Andy.

Well after having a good long run out with the car the other day, i still had oily coolant. Decided to go with another good flush through. This time removing hoses and swapping out the header tank for a clean one. I found that all the hoses were quite gunked up, so they got cleaned out, or replaced. Unfortunately whilst putting the top hose back on the thermostat housing, i broke the small pipe off the top. So a new thermostat and housing was ordered, £30, and replaced the next day. Good news, the coolant is staying clean, and the temperature gauge is now working properly too, and so is the heater. Seems like the poor old girl needed her arteries cleaned out.

Thanks for the info Trevor. I have a good run out planned for tomorrow, so i'll see how it goes. Hopefully it will sort itself out, will let you know how it pans out. I have another question for you regarding the seat belt buckle on the drivers seat. It sometimes doesn't clip in properly, and i was wondering how it is attached to the seat, is it connected to any safety devices? Regards Andy.

Hi all, I have a 52 plate Astra G auto, 1.6 16 valve that seems to be getting oil into the coolant. I have done a couple of coolant flushes, and it seems to be ok for a little while, and then starts going oily again. I was thinking along the lines of head gasket failure, but there is no water in the oil. I have noticed that when it starts to build up, the engine tends to be a bit hesitant at steady driving speeds, but still powers away when you need to. Pulling away from junctions its very hit and miss, almost like fuel starvation. Could this be the head gasket failing, or is there something else that is causing this. Apart from this, the car is performing well, and giving good mpg. Thanks in advance. Andy.

Hello Iain, yes you do have a couple of great cars there. I myself have a couple of Astra G's. One of mine is the 16 valve 1.6 auto, and the other is an 8 valve 1.6 manual. Hope you get the HC Viva up and running soon. Regards Andy