My daily runaround Astra van

[3cav3]

I got mine from an ebay seller, but a known Vauxhall parts supplier.
Only about £79... for a proper Pierburg, not a poor Chinese copy Pierburg.

I did see a few on ebay for around £80 odd but have bad experiences with cheap items particularly on there. Work was footing the bill( but I still had to fit it) so reliability was more important than saving a few quid.
The haynes manual stated that you had to drain the cooling system, first, as I suspected you dont. Very pleased I went with my gut instinct.
After a couple of weeks the light still hasn't shown back up on the dashboard so fingers crossed its finally cured.

[Robsey]

Haynes expects you to drain the coolant to change a tyre...

[3cav3]

Haynes expects you to drain the coolant to change a tyre...

For some things the Haynes Manuals are godsends ( sadly the latest cars seem to only have the manual available online only, I much prefer a paper copy to cover in oily fingerprints,) however.....
The worst inaccuracy I seem to remember from haynes was with the mk2 Golf. When the heater motor played up I believe it said you needed to remove the whole dashboard, however if you pulled down the cover and twisted the motor was out. I found if you removed the shelf from under the glovebox access was drastically improved but wasn't actually necessary but still only took about an extra 2 minutes.

[chrisp]

For some things the Haynes Manuals are godsends ( sadly the latest cars seem to only have the manual available online only, I much prefer a paper copy to cover in oily fingerprints,) however...

Be wary of the online only Haynes manuals if you run a newer car alongside your Cavalier as I do. A lot of them now seem to be just generic instructions and pictures culled from all their other manuals and not specific to the particular car at all. They do include some torque settings for the car they are supposed to cover, but the rest is just general instructions on how to do servicing and a few maintenance jobs which, if you've messed about with car jobs for a few years, you know all about anyway. They are not a patch on the original Haynes manuals which really were comprehensive in their coverage.

[3cav3]

Well, issues have reared their ugly head again. The van has started missing and not boosting again. The lack of boost made me suspect the turbo being blocked again. Tried the forte cleaner and seems touch wood to of cured it.
Since I've moved house I'm only doing about 6 miles each way on country roads, so I can see this being an ongoing issue. Apart from moving again I can't really see a solution. All this caused by do gooders wanting lower emissions. A newer van is only likely to lead to even more problems with the way in which euro 6 strangles them, plus I'm yet to find someone who hasn't had issues with the add blue system. Might have to resort to a push bike.

[Robsey]

With such short runs, I suspect the van will barely get up to temperature, so the fuel enrichment will probably still be active making emissions more soot laden.
You need a good 15 minute drive with revs in excess of 3500 rpm.
Only then will the dpf and the inlet manifold have a chance to de-clog.
Forced d.p.f. regeneration.

[3cav3]

With such short runs, I suspect the van will barely get up to temperature, so the fuel enrichment will probably still be active making emissions more soot laden.
You need a good 15 minute drive with revs in excess of 3500 rpm.
Only then will the dpf and the inlet manifold have a chance to de-clog.
Forced d.p.f. regeneration.

At the moment I just don't have time to any extra journeys. I'm working the best part of 50 hours a week for my job, then slowly rebuilding my house and also rebuilding my Bedford, plus add to that trying to have some family life, means that until they start making weeks 8 days long I'm just out of time.
I get what you're saying about forcing a regen, but what I dont get is how burning extra fuel in the process is supposed to be good for the environment.
For work a pure electric vehicle would probably resolve the problem, but have you seen the price of them, plus the electricity cost to charge them? Once the Bedford is finally finished it will probably give a good solution. Such a shame my 57 plate got written off, being Euro 4 instead of Euro 5 that the 61 plate is would probably of saved most of my issues. It also returned about 6mpg better aswell, plus more go - despite on paper being lower bhp.

[Robsey]

I can only assume it is environmentally friendly in so far as the dpf regeneration would only be triggered on a long motorway, which is usually emissions-zone exempt.

The fact that the dpf 'holds onto' the particulates until a forced high speed fart kicks the whole lot out on the motorway, burning many times more fuel per mile appears to be irrelevant in the eyes of the designers and legislation makers.

At least we now recycle pig-piss, which is more or less all AdBlue is.

Hmm the thought of someone's car farting out soot, partially burnt fuel, and pig-piss in my face on the motorway is not very wholesome. Cheers designers.

[3cav3]

The gearbox in this van has been doing the old M32 trick of eating its bearings. The noise had been getting worse and worse so at my bosses request when I dropped it off for the mot I had the gearbox oil changed , and some molyslip additive filled as well. Picked up the van tonight, thought great its actually gone quieter, got less than 100yds off the forecourt and suffered total transmission failure. Had to push it back along the main road in the dark!

[Robsey]

Oh joy!!
I brilliant efficient gearbox, spoilt by a crappy bearing set up.
I cannot see your boss having a replacement box fitted.
It would be cheaper than a new car...

[3cav3]

Such a shame as its still an almost immaculate van, ok there's a 160k+ on the clock but for a 12 year commercial thats not a lot in this day and age. There's loads if silly niggles wrong with it, each one not a big issue on their own but added together builds up to a lot. Plus if a gearbox is fitted it will need a flywheel and clutch, plus a new timming belt kit and a major service. It randomly ticks over eratically, but since the last turbo clean it runs fine under load. I really like this van, between this one and the written off one I've had a white Astra van for 12 years now , but even if the money is put into it, what will be next?

[3cav3]

My boss has decided that he now wants to repair this van, does anyone know of a good source of recon M32 gearboxes? I'm guessing mine is not going to be suitable to exchange?

[Robsey]

I suppose any scrapper with a similar aged Astra or Zafira.
It sounds like you will get to keep the van afterall.
Woohoo.

[3cav3]

I suppose any scrapper with a similar aged Astra or Zafira.
It sounds like you will get to keep the van afterall.
Woohoo.

With the labour costs involved i darent take a box out a scrapper, as I know only too well you can have a seemingly decent box deteriate very quickly ,it was only earlier in the year the only symptom with mine was a notchiness going fast into 3rd when hot after a long run, and now no drive.
Its going to have to be a recon box.

[3cav3]

Well this has turned into a weird one. When the garage took a look in day light, even though the gearbox is still very ill, (noisy and needing to be double declutched to get into 2nd and 3rd, )what caused the total loss of drive was actually a c.v joint failing with no warning and no symptoms.

[Robsey]

Not as bleak as it could have been.
Still life in the Astra yet.

Hopefully you will find a decent gearbox, or a good transmission company to fix it for you.

My fingers are crossed for your little jalopy.

[3cav3]

The gearbox has hung in with this van, slowly getting noisier . However combined with all the other little niggles I've decided to finally bail out after 8 years of almost daily use.
As you are probably aware Astra vans are no longer made, the newest now is 11 years old, also I dont really want something with an M32 Gearbox again. This has also ruled out Corsa vans. Because again of bad experiences I wouldn't have any Ford badged vehicle.
Due to parking the van needs to be fairly compact, so my options have been getting narrower.
Anyway on Saturday I secured a deal on another van, this was quite an eye opener as they are now around £5k more than I paid last time for both my Astras, when they were a similar age.
I look forward to collecting it on Saturday morning.

[Envoy CDX]

Kool on the new purchase, but yes, prices have soared lately. Insane prices.

[3cav3]

Its going to feel like the end of an era.Between both of them I've had a white Astra Van for the last 13 years and nearly a 150000 miles. Tbh apart from the awful gearbox there isn't a Van that better suits my needs. Such a shame they were discontinued.

[3cav3]

Kool on the new purchase, but yes, prices have soared lately. Insane prices.

They are absolutely ridiculous, but watching prices they seem to be about a grand cheaper than they were at new year. Will they come down anymore? Maybe but I really need a reliable van for work so have had to bite the bullet.

[Envoy CDX]

Understandable, spent months looking for an automatic for my uncle to replace his astra, in the end had to settle on an 09 plate Corsa D. It's insane what the automatic tax adds to a car.

[chrisp]

"It's insane what the automatic tax adds to a car."

I'm not clear what you mean by "automatic tax". I may have misunderstood but, AFAIK, there is no difference in taxation of manual and automatic cars.

[Envoy CDX]

"It's insane what the automatic tax adds to a car."

I'm not clear what you mean by "automatic tax". I may have misunderstood but, AFAIK, there is no difference in taxation of manual and automatic cars.

Sorry, as in the cost variation between an automatic vehicle, and a manual vehicle in terms of purchase price. It used to be the other way round I'm sure but what you can pick up as a manual for 2k, is often 3-4k (if not more) just because it's an automatic.

[Robsey]

I recalll from back in the 90's, that any car with an autobox was £500 to £1500 more to purchase than it's manual counter-part.

And post 2001, where the large / small cc VED rating ceased, I am sure that auto-box cars were indeed a little bit more expensive to tax.

I presume that this is because prior to the fitment of 'proper' transmission ECUs, autos were slightly less efficient in mpg due to "losses" within the fluid-driven system during gear changes.

Not so bad if you are a motorway mileage muncher on a smooth clear run.

Also manual gearboxes are usually a fit and forget item requiring no follow-up annual servicing.

Whereas autos require meticulous clealiness, and periodic checks, fluid changes and adjustments to maintain optimum gear-changes in various environment conditions. - which I am sure knocks onto the costs of dealership warranties and service plans.

I apologise if I just made all that up. But it feels like something that I know sub-consciously.

[Envoy CDX]

It's all helpful to know really.