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Project Maybe not so Lovely Astra


purplebargeken

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21 minutes ago, SiC said:

Just reminded me of a past colleague who spent 4 months chasing a parasitic drain on his Focus MK2 where the battery only would last a week of not driving. He left an ELM327 adapter in his OBD port for logging stats on some app and forgot he left it in there. 

Lad has a "black box" on his car and thats drained tha battery more than once during lockdown.

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Just to be the yin to @BorniteIdentity's yang, I have to admit I really like these Astras, vastly nicer to be in than the mk5 and the last decent car Vauxhall made, I might be so bold as to say.  I've previously owned a very late '05 1.6 coupe in a very rare metallic orange and about 10 years ago spent several years tooling around in a very tired company 1.7TD estate  - yes the seats will ruin you, and about 40k miles in the manky estate did just that, but there's something simple and honest about them.  I particularly liked the 1.6 hatch I got off @SiC a few years back for the lad at work to use, had he not ruined it I might have been tempted to have it back when it came up for sale.  If I needed a generic hatchback I'd have another one.

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35 minutes ago, phil_lihp said:

Just to be the yin to @BorniteIdentity's yang, I have to admit I really like these Astras, vastly nicer to be in than the mk5 and the last decent car Vauxhall made, I might be so bold as to say.  I've previously owned a very late '05 1.6 coupe in a very rare metallic orange and about 10 years ago spent several years tooling around in a very tired company 1.7TD estate  - yes the seats will ruin you, and about 40k miles in the manky estate did just that, but there's something simple and honest about them.  I particularly liked the 1.6 hatch I got off @SiC a few years back for the lad at work to use, had he not ruined it I might have been tempted to have it back when it came up for sale.  If I needed a generic hatchback I'd have another one.

My dad had a W Reg Mk4 Astra from new, think it was "club" spec. Felt like royalty sitting in the back compared to the Metro it replaced ? My first "proper" car (to me) was a 3 door Mk4 Astra SRI, felt like such a massive upgrade to my mk2 clio at the time. When I was moving house and skint a few years ago I sold my spaceship Civic for £3k and bought a 1.7 CDTI Mk4 for £500 which was the cheapest car to run I ever had. I'd definitely have another one for nostalgia purposes. Pity that the rear arches on most of the ones left are pretty ugly nowadays

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1 hour ago, purplebargeken said:

I actually find it pretty comfy.

It's a nice little thing to bimble around in tbh.

Im not alone in finding the seats comfy then! I Drove mine about 1000 miles over a long weekend no problems. 

Only issue I find is if I want to rest my head on the headrest it's miles away, very curved backs on the seats. 

Although this is coming from a man who commuted daily in suzuki SJs for years. One being a KJA pick up model, like the one below. So I have a fairly low acceptance of comfort. 

Screenshot_20200526-174719.jpg.5706c6b93e91bdd32184798b3e13e8cd.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Plan for today was to pop over to see Wingz123 to cvarry out a little gentle fettling of the Astra, oil change and oil filter change.

All good so far. 

M4 saw a FTP due to loss of dials, PAS and forward motion. I managed to roll into the road works access bit without vany drama.  It all felt very electrically woe orientated. Thought maybe a dodgy connection or similar. Sadly the battery was devoid of electric and there was no way the car would start. 

Messages to wingz123 saw him heading over in his recovery truck, thankfully he was only about 15 mins away, however, in the meantime an AA truck appeared as part of the get you off the motorway free scheme. Nice bloke took me to the Reading services and then the Astra and I were relayed to wingz123's place of residence.  A replacement battery showed that the alternator was goosed. It was whipped off and a new one was on the cards. Not expensive at all really either. Sadly as Sunday and COVID19 it meant that we couldn't get one straightaway, so the car wil have a brief holiday in Reading and the all round most excellent wingz123 will wave spanners and get it sorted for me this week. I did briefly think that getting rid of all the shite and having something decent might be the way forward but seeing as it is just the alternator, then whats the point of ditching a car that I like to drive. We reckon that it is the original part so that's just how it is.  At least access is pretty good. The belt was in fine fettle, so that will get reused. The throttle body was absolutely vile, that has now been cleaned out :)

A lift back to sunny* and joyous* Edmonton was actioned and all is good.  Micra will be utilised for tomorrows jaunt to Merseyside.

Good news though!!! I fitted the new drivers side wing mirror glaass. Happy face!

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17 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

 I did briefly think that getting rid of all the shite and having something decent might be the way forward but seeing as it is just the alternator, then whats the point of ditching a car that I like to drive.

Where's the jeopardy and excitement of driving something boring and reliable? Where's the story in 'turned up, did oil change drove back'? 

What happened was loads more interesting. As long as it didn't happen to me. I can't be arsed with that type of drama.

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Ok, a bit of an update.

Oil was drained and it was a bit sludgey and clearly nearly as old as the dinosaurs themselves.  Well overdue for a change was the general opinion.

Wingz123 said that the engine was a fair bit quieter, well, I am not going to disagree :)

The alternator was fitted and all was well. The car ran beautifully and much positive comments were made.

Time for a cam belt and water pump was the general consensus.

Huge thanks to wingz123 for the rescue, the work done and helping to restore confidence in the car. Top man!!! 

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Hows it coping with motorways Ken? I think it drives lovely....engine very quiet even for a 1.4. Next time I'm round your way I'll do the oil for you again. Grab oil and filter now and we'll do it in a couple of k miles to flush out any remaining gunk in there  

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It was lovely on the motorway over the last two days. That would be a cunning and wonderful plan mate, thanks.

Just for a bit more of an update, the EML came on whilst travelling on the M25 this morning, car was driving fine and still is. I didn't have the code reader on me but will have a look tonight when back at the house.

I think it is just the M25 that causes the EML to flash.

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