Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

I'm still waiting for the correct 51mm ID polyurethane (ref 131416A) nearside bush to be delivered by FMIC.eu - they seem to be in short supply compared with the 38mm version. In the meantime, i've taken a risk and purchased the brace kit from partsforsaabs.com (their reference PFS902894, £93.90). A...

I have received the 2 (LH and RH) polyurethane steering rack bushes for my V6 Cavalier from the Polish company FMIC.eu. However, BEWARE if you're thinking of ordering these. The "RH" bush (LH or nearside in the UK) inexplicably has the same part number for two different internal diameters ...

I think I've answered my own question in that I've found a Polish supplier of polyurethane steering rack mounting bushes. These are listed for the Calibra but I'm sure will fit the Mk 3 Cavalier. There's a choice of standard or slightly harder 'Sport' bushes. The supplier is FMIC Performance (https:...

I've now found what I think to be the issue with post 1996 steering rack braces - which are still available from Parts for Saabs and Abbott Racing. In or around 1996, the steering rack diameter, where it is clamped to the bulkhead on the nearside, became much smaller. Saab kept the same metal clamp ...

Parts for Saabs (www.partsforsaabs.com) has now replied to my email about whether the brace they sell for the Saab 9-3 (their ref. PFS902894) would fit my 1993 Cavalier. Unfortunately they say they have no experience of Vauxhalls and have never tried such a fitment - and they recommend I take the ma...

Thank you for these replies. I checked the Two-Stroke to Turbo website and a search there did not bring up any steering rack braces. Still, I've submitted a query to them and will post back here when I get a reply. As for making up a brace myself, the crucial aspect is the fit of the aluminium brack...

Yes, it was that episode of Wheeler Dealers, which I viewed last week and that showed a brace being fitted to a Saab 9-3, that got me investigating where I could get a brace from for my 1993 Cavalier V6. The under-bonnet layout of the 9-3 looked identical to my Cavalier, but Abbott Racing say that t...

Thanks for this reply and, yes, Abbott Racing now only advertise for sale rack braces for Saab 9-3, 9-5, 900, 9000, New 9-3 and New 900. I think these are all post-1996 but, unlike the Vectra B that replaced the Cavalier around 1996, the Saabs retained their Cavalier-like steering rack and bulkhead ...

Abbott Racing used to make a brace for the Saab 9-3/Cavalier steering rack that replaced the nearside rack rubber bush and clamp with a solid aluminium one and then had a triangular brace across to the nearside suspension tower bodywork. This was said to stop the steering rack flexing the bulkhead, ...

Actually, I think a slow-acting guage is an advantage - it stops the needle flickering around when driving with the petrol sloshing around in the tank. I'm old enough to remember cars being advertised with such damped gauges as an improvement!

Thanks for looking but unfortunately, if the photo on ebay is correct for the Meyle top hose, then it won't fit the V6. The correct hose loops upward from the engine connection and then back down again to the radiator connection. This gives some flexibility in what is a severely space constrained ga...

Well, I finally got the new RH ARB droplink installed. I suspect that it might be an issue with my V6 Cavalier that the RH drive shaft is fatter than other Cavaliers and thus is too close to the ARB when the car is jacked up and the suspension hanging. This means that there's no room to push on a ne...

If it helps... When I bought a GM timing belt kit for my C20NE from GPS, The water pump was a Meyle unit. To be honest most brands that you listed are good at one specific item range but not all the items that they make. Gates are very well renowned for timing belts. I rarely use any other belt man...

Just suffered a broken push on type anti-roll bar link on my 1993 Cavalier Mk3 V6, and pulled up this string of posts from 2yrs ago. I've got a new link on order and meanwhile got on with removing the old one from the anti-roll bar. In contrast to the advice in the Haynes manual there is indeed no n...

Thank you for these replies. I have indeed replaced the radiator thermo switch when I thought the fan noise was the radiator fan (and I guess it may well have been, in addition to the alternator fan). The radiator fan is now behaving normally but the alternator fan comes on when the radiator is only...

Can anyone tell me where the thermo switch is located that controls the cooling fan for the alternator on the Cavalier V6? This is the small fan that is mounted on the transmission side of the engine with ducting from the front grill and ducting down to the alternator at the back of the engine. My f...

The radiator fan on my 1993 Cav V6 comes on sometimes even when the engine is fairly cold, and stays on for a while after switching the engine off. I've replaced the temp switch on the RH side of the radiator but this hasn't fixed the problem. I suspect the relay. I think this is one of the 3 relays...

Interestingly enough, I managed to free off the tie rod end adjusters on my 1993 Cav V6 by using copious amounts of penetrating oil and some careful prising apart of the split sections around the pinch bolts. But then I had great trouble in getting them to tighten up again. If they're not tightened,...

Thanks for the reply - I have indeed been able to find a supply when armed with the GM part number. It's surprising though the number of vendors who are not specific on their websites as to whether the belt they are offering for a Cavalier V6 is for engines with or without aircon. In the UK most Cav...

Does anyone know a source of supply for the alternator/water pump/steering pump drive belt for a 1993 Cavalier V6 without aircon? All vendors I have currently found on line just sell the longer belt for V6's with aircon. What's the GM part number for the no aircon belt?

The temperature gauge only ever gets to about halfway between cold and the mid 90 point however long the car is driven, at least during the current cold weather. I haven't driven the car in hot weather for a number of years as I've only just got around to putting it back on the road. There doesn't s...

Thanks for the replies. I suspected that the relay would be in the engine compartment box but there are 4 of them located there and, unusually, no key to their function is printed inside the lid. They all look the same so I guess i can get a new one and try progressive replacement, one by one. As fo...

The radiator fan on my 1993 Cavalier V6 comes on erratically and, I think, more than it should. Even in cold weather, when I stop the engine after a run it comes on for a several minutes. I have done the obvious thing which is to replace the fan switch screwed into the side of the radiator, but this...

I have found that new header tanks for the V6 are still available from a supplier in Germany - opelteilekrause*otk - via eBay. They are supplied complete with the level sensor though this appears to point in the opposite direction to the ones used in UK V6s, which may need wiring to be extended or r...

Thank you for that clarification, though the picture shows the sensor orientated in the opposite direction to the one on my header tank! The sensor does unclip from the header tank housing but I would not be surprised if it was only sold by Vauxhall as a complete unit with the header tank. Although ...