AndyR

Welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy your new beast. There is a Boy Racer in all of us, it just needs the right vehicle to bring him out. Years ago i had a Cavalier 2.0 SRi, now that did bring out my boy racer. But only when i was on my own. Enjoy. Regards Andy.

Hi there, were all fine here in Norfolk. Its been quite windy, but no trees down, which is very pleasing as I'm surrounded by them. I did wonder if it had a chip in it, as it has quite a flat fob. I'll give the link you sent a look later and see what I can sort out. Apart from that she's running well, and will be getting a service later this week. Thanks again for your advice, and for running a great owners forum. Regards Andy.

Hi all, hope you are all having a good start to 2020, despite Ciara and Dennis. The previous owner of my Astra found a spare key, which in its self is great news if i accidentally lock my main key inside. Problem being is that although the spare will unlock the car, and fits the ignition, it will not keep the car running. It starts first time, and before you put it in gear, it has stalled and will not start at all. Also the light on the dash comes on and flashes, ( the one that's a car with a key through the middle). The key is just a basic key with no remote lock/unlock. Can anyone shed some light on this please. Looks like i'll be investing in another key with buttons. Was hoping the wife and I could have a key each, but that's not going to happen. Thanks in advance. Regards Andy.

Hi , on the subject of auto transmission oil. My Astra Club 1.6 auto, the dipstick is next to the engine one, I know you don't just check it like you do the engine, is there a set sequence to doing the gearbox oil. In my Datsun Bluebird you had to get to running temp, and then go through the gears from Park to Low, and then back to Park. Is this the same on Vauxhalls?? Regards Andy.

Excellent. Hope all goes well.

Managed to shrink it down in size. Hope this helps mate. Regards Andy.

Tried to upload picture, but it reckons its too large. Have you an email I could send it to?

.Hi, and I hope I have good news for you. On both my Astra's, that wire is plugged into the brake fluid reservoir. And both of my mk4's are hatchbacks. And both silver, although different shades. I will try to upload a picture, but I hope I have been of help. Regards Andy.

Thanks for the info. Where abouts would I find the heater resistor pack please? Knowing my luck its buried deep behind the dash. Andy.

Hi there, both mine are petrol. I will have a look in the morning and see what i can find, if anything. And let you know sometime tomorrow. I have been a member of this forum for a couple of years now, and have found other members very helpful. Judging by the description of your astra being a 2004 Mk5 (H), it must be an early mk5. My pair are both mk4 G , and are 2003. One being march, and the other being august. I just hope your one isn't silver.

Hi there djpk, I have 2 mk4 Astra G's sitting here. One is a 1.6 twinport 8v, and the other is a 1.6 16 v twincam auto. Which engine are you running in your Astra H ? If it's the same as one of mine, i could have a look and try to see where it is supposed to be connected for you. I will be looking anyway, just incase it is a generic connection on the astra model. Hope i can be of help, and welcome to the forum. Regards Andy.

Can anyone give me an idea on how to remove heater controls in my astra g. Fan only works on 4, and the switches below are only working if you move the area control one. Had enough of getting ears blasted off just to clear the screen. Thanks in advance. Andy. R.

I will get some pics of the pair, but other than one having had its wheels painted black, I can't see any differences. They both could do with a good wash, as living in the countryside means lots of farm vehicles leaving loads of mud on the road. I have found a slightly annoying problem that I need advice on how to fix. The bulb behind the temp gauge isn't working, and the blower for the heater only works when turned to 4. 1 through to 3 does not start the blower, but 4 is full bore and blows your hat off. Heater works well with giving out heat, but it would be nice to have a steady blow rather than a full on gale force. I was wondering if this could be a fuse. Wife thought the car had a serious problem the other night, hadn't put it into park after turning engine off, and couldn't get key out of ignition. Then realized what she'd done, dropped into park, and out came the key. It is a great car to drive, and have done about 300 miles in just over a week, college trips, hospital trips, and xmas shopping trips.

Well I've done it now. My Astra G mk4, was starting to sound quite rattly, and although with advice from this forum, it seemed to be getting worse. My main concern was what would happen if the wife was out driving and it died completely? So I heard that a nurse at our local doctors surgery was wanting to sell her husbands car due to his deteriorating health. The wife and i went and had a look, and after a test drive money was exchanged, and we came away with another Astra G mk4. It's 6 months older than our original car, has 204,000 miles on the clock, and full service history from new. It also turned out to be the same colour, silver. The only differences between the two cars are that the new one is a 1.6 16v auto ecotech, and the old car was a 1.6 8v manual. We were a bit dubious about being auto, but it is a great car to drive. I have run some injection cleaner through her as she'd been stood for about a month and seemed a bit spluttery on low speeds (30-40 mph). But she's had a good run up to Norwich and back yesterday and today, and seems a lot better. You are all probably wondering on how much this wonderful beast cost me.............. Well the princely sum of....................£250.00, with 6 months mot too. Bargain or what. Seemed rude not to. Now every body is happy.

Well i got to do the oil change and flush through today. Although the oil did come out very black, it wasn't as cruddy as i expected. The flush came out a bit cruddy, but didn't seem too bad either. Unfortunately it hasn't cured the rattling from top end. It is not as bad, but is still there, and noticeable when sitting in traffic.Does this mean that i am going to have to delve deeper to fix? or would an oil additive help? Remember my dad using STP Oil treatment in an old Cortina he had years ago. That quietened it down. Apart from that it is going well, and has a trip of about 130 miles to do tomorrow ( Monday). Have now got to buy a new drivers side door mirror though, thanks to some stupid old woman that shouldn't be driving.

Brother in law managed to disable it somehow. But electrics were messed up anyway. Satnav would kick in when you didn't need it, and other problems would come and go. He got rid of it in the end. Now drives a 16 plate Astra 1.6 Sensible man..

Thanks for the info Trevor. I will be looking at doing this, it would be worth it for the old girl. There's still many miles in her yet, and I'd like to hopefully have those worry free. Thanks again, and I'll let you know how things progress. Regards, Andy.

That sounds like fun with your radio. My brother in law had a Nissan primera estate, and when you turned left the volume went up, but it would never come down low when you turned right at straightened up. Fun on roundabouts.

Thanks Trevor. That certainly is better news than I was expecting. Going to get oil and filter tomorrow, and hopefully, if weather allows, change at weekend. Will also see about can cover gasket. Its had a tiny oil leak since I've had it, but never been able to find it. Oil wasn't noticeably going down, so I just kept a vigilante eye open. What would you recommend to use for the flush through?? And yes I will keep you in the loop. Regards Andy.

Hello folks, My 03 Astra G has started to sound quite tappy on start up. Sounds like all tappets are loose. Once she has warmed up, it quietens down, but there is still a little tapping sound . I've been told that i need to change the oil again, otherwise i could cause the cam buckets to fail. I have noticed that the spark plug nearest the coil pack is getting oily, is this a major problem, or an easy fix?? Engine has now done 114,000+ miles, and is the 1.6 twinport. regards Andy.

I would certainly be interested in seeing some parts lists too. Need shocks and front wishbones as a starter. Will also be looking for some decals as well, but they're not as important at the moment.

Thanks for the info Trevor, I guess i'm going to have to get the overalls out and go scrabbling underneath to see what i can find. The garage that mot'd it earlier this year said that i have to remove the inner wheel arch to get to it. I am so hoping not. I also saw a video of the battery being removed to get to top up the box. Again i am so hoping this isn't on my car. I will post how i get on, once I've had a look about. Thanks again. Andy.

Hi, can anybody tell me where to find the filling point on the astra g 1.6 gearbox. I've been told there are about 3 different gearboxes fitted, and i don't have a clue which one i have. All i know is its a 5 speed, and its getting a bit stiff going into gear when you first start up. I have found that if i dip the clutch and go through the gears, including reverse, it frees up a bit quicker. Iam hoping its just in need of either a top up, or draining out and fresh putting in. Do you have to change gearbox oil like you do the engine oil? regards Andy.

Hi Trevor. Yes I'm so glad it was a simple fix. I had visions of oil pump dying. I'm going to give it a month and change the oil and filter again, just to make sure its all cleaned through. The suns come out so time to sort out previous owners scrapes, and one of my own(oopsy). Thanks for all your advice. Regards Andy.