Cockroach cars - A short story of an Astra H 1.8 16v Auto

[Split_Pin]

On 15/02/2026 at 11:34, cort16 said:

Is the old 8v 2.0 Vauxhall engines in cavalier and stuff not one of the great unburstabke engine .

The one-time forum Cav L547JBM that I put back on the road had 226k. It was a C18NZ which is basically the same engine as the 2.0 8v with a shorter throw crank and single point injection. It had a replacement engine at some point in @Burnside s ownership which was actually higher mileage! It had been meticulously serviced and ran like a Swiss watch.

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

The one-time forum Cav L547JBM that I put back on the road had 226k. It was a C18NZ which is basically the same engine as the 2.0 8v with a shorter throw crank and single point injection. It had a replacement engine at some point in @Burnside s ownership which was actually higher mileage! It had been meticulously serviced and ran like a Swiss watch.

I used to work on a K reg Cavalier saloon that had done 200k + miles, that was back in the 00’s. Pretty sure it was a 1.8 and a pretty basic spec car but it just kept going and going. 
Rust was starting to get into the back end of the sills and wheel arches but it was still a solid old thing back then. They were brilliant cars though. It’s a pity people didn’t take much notice of them until they’d disappeared. I’ve not seen one in ages but would definitely have one.

[Split_Pin]

Dougie from Once Driven has just bought my old K reg diesel shaker! It's rough now after being used through several wi ters but was very solid when I had it in '21.

[Lonestar]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Dougie from Once Driven has just bought my old K reg diesel shaker! It's rough now after being used through several wi ters but was very solid when I had it in '21.

Shame it's now going to be stripped for parts, but at least it will help keep other Cavs on the road. The former owner that bought it from the Retroshite winner seemed delighted to have it back, but that looks unfortunately not to have worked out.

[Split_Pin]

That's what a string of unsympathetic owners does. After me and then CMS had it, a guy bought it and really transformed it. He then sold it and last I saw it was being used as a winter hack in Fife, with obviously no additional rust proofing measures taken. Last guy that had it was a bit of a dreamer, he came up to me in B&Q car park randomly when I was in my green Cav (the main reason I sold it as I was fed up of randoms following me to talk to me). 

[vaughant]

I think peak Vauxhall was more 1990's really. 

Yes those Astra's may have reasonably tough engines but stupid things like the CIM module faults and general wank like that cost and put people off then hence they're utterly worthless.

My mum had an Astra f and I had a few of them as well, really good cars, never any real horrors with them and always felt very solidly made. Estates were great. 

As for boiling cars over and they still run ok my Berlingo I bought from @Eavb did this a few times, ran it right into the red, really hot, had the stop light on etc but I had no option as it was my home on wheels as well at the time and I was on my way to work in Somerset 😬😬😬.  Can't remember exactly what I did to fix it, I think that was thermostat based as well but it soldiered on with another owner for 2 more MOTs needing nothing, he just put the interior fans on when it got hot.

I had an xr2 that had a bad oil leak, I don't know where from because I never found it, ford oil was so cheap with my discount it wasn't worth the bother. Ran it out of oil 3 times, filled it back up, knocking noise went away and all was fine. 

Fords of that era, 90's/00's  always seem to suffer hideous abuse and keep going.

[Bren]

6 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

That's what a string of unsympathetic owners does. After me and then CMS had it, a guy bought it and really transformed it. He then sold it and last I saw it was being used as a winter hack in Fife, with obviously no additional rust proofing measures taken. Last guy that had it was a bit of a dreamer, he came up to me in B&Q car park randomly when I was in my green Cav (the main reason I sold it as I was fed up of randoms following me to talk to me). 

I used to be a member of the Rover SD1 club. You would see cars being broken for spares that previous owners had spent thousands on. It just takes one uncaring owner.

[Split_Pin]

Thats why you can't care about what happens to a car once you sell it. If you do, keep it!

[Burnside]

14 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

The one-time forum Cav L547JBM that I put back on the road had 226k. It was a C18NZ which is basically the same engine as the 2.0 8v with a shorter throw crank and single point injection. It had a replacement engine at some point in @Burnside s ownership which was actually higher mileage! It had been meticulously serviced and ran like a Swiss watch.

The original lump had suffered from oil starvation, due to a blocked oil pickup in the sump. Which was thanks to the previous owners lack of oil changes. So I just went out to a breakers and got another engine for £80.

L547 JBM had around 120k at that time and the replacement engine was on 140k. It came off a Mot failure for rust. I actually tested the donor round the yard before they pulled it out.

In typical Cavalier fashion, it still drove okay though. We even fetched the replacement engine in the Cav pulling a small trailer. Despite the constant knocking! 

My Dad owns a 2003 Combo C with a rare pez 1.6. ( Z16SE ) Currently on about 264,000. The engine was rebuilt by Vauxhall at about 180,000. 

MOT has ran out in December though. It will need some work to pass if he does, but it still runs great. 

 

[beko1987]

I think the 1.6 we had in the Meriva A was a Z16XE, and that was slow and shite, is an SE is lower than XE I bet that's wonderfully grim 😂

No idea of what the different letters mean mind...

[Split_Pin]

Z is emissions level, older ones were x16 although they jumped from C!

X means 16 valve. E probably stands for einspritzung, German for fuel injection.

[SiC]

12 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Z is emissions level, older ones were x16 although they jumped from C!

X means 16 valve. E probably stands for einspritzung, German for fuel injection.

What's the R in Z18XER? I can only assume it doesn't mean Racing as it's not particularly fast 😂

[SiC]

3 minutes ago, SiC said:

What's the R in Z18XER? I can only assume it doesn't mean Racing as it's not particularly fast 😂

Just found this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Opel_engine_codes

"Enhanced Power" 😂

I presume because it's 140bhp VVT over the 120bhp something without on the 1.8

[JMotor]

On 17/02/2026 at 10:21, Split_Pin said:

Dougie from Once Driven has just bought my old K reg diesel shaker! It's rough now after being used through several wi ters but was very solid when I had it in '21.

It's getting burst!? 

Oh... 😢 

It was a nice Cavvy. But "way she goes" sadly. 

But as said it doesn't take much to ruin car in a quick amount of time. 

Just about all of the cars I've owned have met a grizzly end.

Biggest reason why I have kept my Astra Saloon. As I could near guarantee it would had been burst for parts. Lucky for it I'm dumb enough to plough time and coin in. 

It really is up to the next owner to do as they please with their car and there is sod all you can do about it. 

@SiC glad you tackled the Astra. Not because it's a Vauxhall. But a car that normally would had been fragged for a simple(ISH) issue.

Neglect is the biggest killer of cars. Intentional or not. 

[N19]

On 16/02/2026 at 14:29, SiC said:

Problem was that it was a low mileage car that we pushed into much higher distances quickly. Ended up needing rear shocks, cambelt (never been done), EGR valve and radiator replacing before we had something resembling reliability. To be fair it was pretty solid for the most part. I even replaced the thermal fuse in the Aircon clutch and got it working again.

I had this with both the Capri and the Bluebird when I bought them. Neither had been used for the past year or so, and even then only short trips around town. To get both to the stage where I'd happily jump in them and drive a long distance took a little while.

[SiC]

20 hours ago, JMotor said:

@SiC glad you tackled the Astra. Not because it's a Vauxhall. But a car that normally would had been fragged for a simple(ISH) issue.

Neglect is the biggest killer of cars. Intentional or not.

Honestly it really was the only option.

It all started because she asked if I knew of any cars for sale as she was told the Astra was terminal. Problem is that a cheap auto nowadays is a £1.5k+ car. She doesn't really have £1.5k to spare! 

Easy to say that she shouldn't have a car if she can't afford one, but the reality is our infrastructure is still heavily car centric even in the larger cities. 

All in it was £300 from the garage bill and I took £100 from her for the thermostat, rocker cover, coolant, oil+filter and wiring fixes. (Tbh the £52 thermostat, £59.99 rocker cover and £15 in filters meant I'm a bit out of pocket (coolant, oil and electrical bits were off the shelf) but I won't deny, I quite enjoyed the tinkering session and the original brief was supposed to be just the thermostat. However the oil leak was horrendous and she wanted that fixed at some point anyway. Then filters+fresh oil means I don't have to hear about it again for a while from engine sludge/etc...

Anyway £400(ish) for a car fixed, MOT'd and serviced ain't too bad in this day and age.

Part of the problem with servicing is that people spend money on it but don't see any visible appreciable difference. So spending £100 or so every year for a service to do what exactly? (We all know why of course). 

[danthecapriman]

15 hours ago, SiC said:

Part of the problem with servicing is that people spend money on it but don't see any visible appreciable difference. So spending £100 or so every year for a service to do what exactly? (We all know why of course). 

A lot of people think a service on the car is a rip off. Because they can’t actually see anything new and shiny attached to their car afterwards they think it’s all garages and mechanics screwing them over. I don’t think people these days have the mechanical aptitude or know-how to realise what’s involved and why it’s done so they just ignore it and don’t bother.

In our old place we used to add visual things to the service list, like cleaning the windscreen, cleaning the dust and crap off things like rocker covers and oil caps etc etc. Even giving the wheels a quick wipe over just to show you’ve been there and checked the tyres and pressures etc. It literally takes seconds to do but makes a big visual difference for the owner. 
We included a basic hoover out of the cabin on the more expensive service schedule too. I did one guys old Toyota and he was so impressed with the car after he collected it he sent a nice letter in a few days later saying what good service we provided.

It’s all worth doing!

[Dan302]

21 hours ago, SiC said:

Honestly it really was the only option.

It all started because she asked if I knew of any cars for sale as she was told the Astra was terminal. Problem is that a cheap auto nowadays is a £1.5k+ car. She doesn't really have £1.5k to spare! 

Easy to say that she shouldn't have a car if she can't afford one, but the reality is our infrastructure is still heavily car centric even in the larger cities. 

All in it was £300 from the garage bill and I took £100 from her for the thermostat, rocker cover, coolant, oil+filter and wiring fixes. (Tbh the £52 thermostat, £59.99 rocker cover and £15 in filters meant I'm a bit out of pocket (coolant, oil and electrical bits were off the shelf) but I won't deny, I quite enjoyed the tinkering session and the original brief was supposed to be just the thermostat. However the oil leak was horrendous and she wanted that fixed at some point anyway. Then filters+fresh oil means I don't have to hear about it again for a while from engine sludge/etc...

Anyway £400(ish) for a car fixed, MOT'd and serviced ain't too bad in this day and age.

Part of the problem with servicing is that people spend money on it but don't see any visible appreciable difference. So spending £100 or so every year for a service to do what exactly? (We all know why of course). 

You did a good deed for a friend.

[horriblemercedes]

On 18/02/2026 at 09:08, Split_Pin said:

Z is emissions level, older ones were x16 although they jumped from C!

X means 16 valve. E probably stands for einspritzung, German for fuel injection.

Close....usually in Z18XER for example, it would go like this:

 

Emissions level, displacement, compression ratio, fuelling type and then "model specific code" that's just there to differentiate different specific versions.

For example in the 2.0 turbo Astra H, there's the Z20LEL, Z20LER and Z20LEH. The first is the 170PS, second is 200PS and third is the VXR. They're all close relatives of the Z20LET from the previous Astra G SRi Turbo and GSi

 

I learned this when I had an Astra H and I somehow remember it now. I'm a sad bastard

[Burnside]

On 18/02/2026 at 08:29, beko1987 said:

I think the 1.6 we had in the Meriva A was a Z16XE, and that was slow and shite, is an SE is lower than XE I bet that's wonderfully grim 😂

No idea of what the different letters mean mind...

@beko1987 the Z16SE is actually pretty decent!

It certainly seams to have plenty of get up and go even when it's fully loaded. Maybe the previous engine rebuild, might have resulted in raised compression etc over standard.

Or being a commercial variant, maybe the gearing ratios could be different perhaps?

Never seen another Combo C with a 1.6 like this one, apart from the dual fuel versions they offered. 

[Carlo_Raffo_TDS]

17 hours ago, Burnside said:

@beko1987 the Z16SE is actually pretty decent!

It certainly seams to have plenty of get up and go even when it's fully loaded. Maybe the previous engine rebuild, might have resulted in raised compression etc over standard.

Or being a commercial variant, maybe the gearing ratios could be different perhaps?

Never seen another Combo C with a 1.6 like this one, apart from the dual fuel versions they offered. 

I read this about the Z16SE also.

I have the x16szr in an astra g. Not many redeeming features at all. Kinda slow, I don't consider it very reliable and not great on fuel.

I suppose it helped with the insurance when it was my first car.

 

[Low ontime]

On 22/02/2026 at 20:36, Burnside said:

@beko1987 the Z16SE is actually pretty decent!

It certainly seams to have plenty of get up and go even when it's fully loaded. Maybe the previous engine rebuild, might have resulted in raised compression etc over standard.

Or being a commercial variant, maybe the gearing ratios could be different perhaps?

Never seen another Combo C with a 1.6 like this one, apart from the dual fuel versions they offered. 

Isuzu 1.7 diesel combo went like fuck too! 

[Burnside]

22 hours ago, Low ontime said:

Isuzu 1.7 diesel combo went like fuck too! 

They were a major improvement over the GM 1.7 diesel in every way as well.

Although nothing will beat the misery of a Escort  55 1.8D!!

[Low ontime]

37 minutes ago, Burnside said:

They were a major improvement over the GM 1.7 diesel in every way as well.

Although nothing will beat the misery of an Escort  55 1.8D!!

Yep, made my 1.3 mk5 escort look a bit urgent and that was saying something…