AndyR

Hi Lee, welcome to the forum. I've been on here for little over a year now, and everyone has been absolutely brilliant in helping me sort out problems that I've been finding with my 03 Astra. Hope you have many happy years of motoring in your Insignia. Regards Andy.

YAY!!!!! I finally managed to get the astra serviced at last. How it ran so smoothly i will never know. The spark plugs were finger tight, the air filter didn't look like it had been replaced for years. And as for the oil filter, well i'm sure it was wound on with one of those strap tools to remove oil filters, by heck was that tight. I had to be brutal and stick a screwdriver through the old one to wind it off. New plugs fitted and tightened up, nice clean air filter to help her breath better, and lovely clean oil and filter. On the plus side, it has cured the flashing oil light on the dash, obviously letting me know to change the oil, (thankyou vauxhall). And Trevor i did check to see what the old oil smelt like. It just had a slight burnt smell to it, no smell of petrol. Did seem a little thicker than i imagined. The old spark plugs had double electrodes, where the new ones were single, would this make any difference regarding performance? Andy.

Mmmm, cracked alloys, I can verify that one. Please make sure that if you get secondhand to check they've not been welded. My Astra had a welded alloy on when i bought the car. After a couple of months I noticed it was cracking near the bolt holes. That wheel was removed and scrapped. Replacement found on ebay for £15.

Hi there, if it's anything like the astra g, then there is 3 bolts on the front cross member, under bonnet, a couple of self tappers in each wheel arch. And possibly 3 plugs holding the dust guard in place underneath. Hope we've been helpful.

Hello from norfolk. Whilst out and about today collecting children from a scout camp 50 miles away, i noticed that after engine was up to running temp, the oil light would flicker when i stopped at a junction or traffic lights. If i tickled the throttle, it would go out, and once moving at normal speeds it stayed out. Since being home for a few hours, i went and checked oil level. It is spot on. Does anyone have any ideas as to the cause? Will be doing an oil and filter change tomorrow as its due a change. Regards and Thanks in advance. Andy.

it was certainly a large bill at the end of it, as the van broke down just across the border into Germany loaded with aid for a Romanian orphanage. The van was trailered back to the UK, then the local garage, where it stayed for a couple of months trying to find the problem. ECU checked, immobilizer checked, fuel pump and timing all checked before finding out that it was due to having 1 injector replaced in Germany rather than the full set. So after all that and then finding the mot had expired whilst sat in the garage, so that added onto the bill, my brother-in-law was up to about £8,000. He reckoned at the time that it was the most expensive shed he'd ever bought.

Hi Barry850. Hope you have better luck with changing injectors than my brother-in-law did with his transit. He had one die on him, and had to replace all four as it wouldn't recognise the new one on its own. Regards Andy.

import

Hi Lill, I would imagine any motor spares shop would be able to get the part you need. I don't know part numbers, but describing what you need and vehicle registration would give them a good idea of the right part. I had a toyota townace people carrier a few years back that kept throwing the power steering belt off, and i feel your pain driving without power steering. Hope I've been of some help, and hope you get sorted soon.

That is so true siggyv6cdti. I intend over the year to do quite a few jobs that are age related, i.e front wishbones, rear shocks, and possibly an exhaust system. Although the exhaust is not as essential as the rest of the list. I've also got to stretch the front bumper cross member back to its original position, as previous owner gave something a bit of a firm nudge.

i was using an online mpg calculator. you put in how many miles, price per litre, and how much in pounds you spent. Mine was £20.00 @ 118.9 per litre and 239 miles. It came back with the calculation of 64.6 mpg. Loving it. And its due a service.. Never thought I'd ever be in the 60+ mpg bracket. I used to be happy with 39 mpg in my old diesel townace.

Working out mileage and fuel for my road trip yesterday and it seems bloody brilliant to what I've been used to with other makes of vehicles. After a round trip of 239 miles, and a grand total of £20.00 in petrol. My 1.6LS twinport has returned a staggering 64.6mpg. Is it me, or is this amazingly wow factor. My previous car was a mk4 fiesta 1.25. And the mist I got from that was 38mpg. I am in awe of this wonderful car.

looking over the engine, it looks like i've got a lot of work to do thermostat. All belts, cam and alternator, air-con. Plus engine mount just to get to it. Looks like tax this coming payday, and a thermostat kit next payday, might replace cam belt as i'm already there.

right you are, thank you siggyv6cdti. guess i'll be replacing that next then. I only hope its an easy job to do. But I bet it's not.

I certainly hope so. Would be nice to get the old girl back to how she should be looking. Need to find some original name badges for the boot, and the LS badges for the doors.

Z3, very nice. I've been tripping back and forth to hospital visiting daughter, so all the jobs I HAD planned, have been shelved for a week or two. Hopefully she'll be home tomorrow, then if it ever stops raining, I can get on.

That was going to be the plan this weekend, but my daughter was rushed into hospital with appendicitis, so all jobs on hold as back and forth to norwich hospital. Hopefully get back on the car next weekend once she's home. Heater is pretty crap unless its been sitting idleing and the needle starts to rise on the gauge. And that only moves when its sitting still getting hot. Doesn't move from the cold whilst driving around, but when sat still for a while it starts to move up, and when you get going again, it goes back down again. Could this be the sender for the gauge? or a dodgy thermostat?

Hello and welcome. It seems like most members on here are in your neck of the woods. Last time i was in exmouth i was driving a ford. What year is your vectra? I had one of the last cavaliers before they became vectra.

Hopefully. According to the mot tester, I have a good strong car that just needs some TLC. He has given some advice on what to keep my eye out for, but it is mainly general running maintainence. Warmer weather will be here soon, so I can get outside and do some scratch repairs.

I'll be able to do it in my sleep. Just back from re-test, its a pass. My own fault, I hadn't tightened it up properly. But all sorted now.

Yeah, I'm getting there. Slowly but surely. Fitted new rear springs last week, that was an easy job surprisingly. Have had to re-attach front bumper properly, as previous owner had bashed it somehow and bent the front cross member behind bumper. Had MOT friday morning, tester reckons that i have a good solid car, and that apart from doing a little bit of routine maintenance regarding rear brake pipes, which need cleaning and greasing up. Does help that he is a vauxhall man through and through. He said that he has never had to do any welding on the astra g models, he also uses them as courtesy cars. I've just got to do something with the heater now, as its not as good as it was when i first had the car. A good flush through is called for i think.

Well the good news is that my headlamps are fine, didn't need adjusting, they look dim because the previous owner has fitted smoked glass lamps. Bad news is, car failed mot. On front top McPherson strut bush. I only did it last summer.

Normally i would have thought of doing that. This time that idea didn't even enter my head....... I will be going back outside and having another look. MOT is tomorrow morning, if I don't have much luck, I'll ask them to have a look. They're pretty good at my local garage. Thanks for your help.

Is there just the one adjuster? I can't seem to find a second. Its very hard to see behind the lamps whilst fitted due to air filter one side, and pipes and wires the other. I will be having a play tomorrow night. Thankyou for your insight.

Well i finally got around to sorting out the memory on the radio today. Pays not to rush these things. And yes i just swapped the red and yellow wires around, and hey presto its holding all memory. Would have done it sooner but i needed to do more important jobs for its mot. New rear springs, adjust handbrake again, as the self adjuster had moved on one wheel and slackened itself off. But on the bright side the wife is now happy that she doesn't have to keep resetting the radio each time she uses the car. WIN WIN.... Thanks again for all advice given in the past.