The Other Car

[Robsey]

I thought that I had best post up a couple of pictures of our other car

It is the wife's car.
I bought it for her as a Christmas present in 2005.
First Registered on 31st March 2005, I bought it for her on October 31st 2005.

The car is a Vectra-C 1.9CDTi Energy 150.
The colour is very confusing to identify.. with possibles being Olympic Blue or Energy Blue...
This size engine has had some bad reviews due to poor reliability, but upto now
(not tempting fate) ours has been okay

For the geeks amongst you, it is the Pre-Facelift, Full CAN (CANbus) model.

An early picture of the Vectra.

And the engine bay - wall to wall plastic covers

These are quite early pictures, and I have done a few mods / updates in the 5 1/2 years that we have had it.

I have fitted
Front fog lights
High-Line Centre armrest and cup holders
CD70 Satellite Navigation with Colour Display (and Maps)
Twin rear fog-lights (instead of off-side only).

Part way through installing
Nokia Bluetooth interface and Brodit Mount
Steering wheel scroller controls for the radio.

More pictures will follow in due course

[planetc]

This size engine has had some bad reviews due to poor reliability, but upto now
(not tempting fate) ours has been okay

Best to get an alternator lined up ready then, lol, and bear in mind they don't always throw the light on when they fail, first you often know is that the idle is raised by which time you don't have long before it cuts out

[Robsey]

To be honest the main weak spots are the road springs

I had three of these snap in May 2009.

EGR Valves, Swirl flaps and Dual Mass Flywheels .. Uuurghh

Had a few electronic issues last year, but fixed them for free with my Op-Com interface.

On the whole, it has been good so far, but noticed today that this winter's road salt has started to corrode the slam panel
fapping heck- it's only 5 1/2 years old..!!

[Robsey]

Another picture, shows Colour Sat Nav, upgraded centre armrest / cup holder and general interior from rear passenger seat.

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[Cavalier342]

And the engine bay - wall to wall plastic covers

Can't stand modern cars. My parent's have a Peugeot 406 and 407, both saloons, both ugly, and both just french...just like any other modern "car", open the 2 inch long bonnet, and all you see is plastic covers everywhere... that's not a real engine....


Back to your topic, Robsey, I've also heard of vectras having weak springs. Any model up from B. Apparently it's a design fault, due to the shape of the springs, where they connect to the strut, or something similar. Well to be honest, any spring will go, theoretically, if the underside isn't cleaned properly and is put to heavy use.
Andrei.

[planetc]

...noticed today that this winter's road salt has started to corrode the slam panel
fapping heck- it's only 5 1/2 years old..!!

Anti corrosion warranty claim?

[planetc]

Another picture, shows Colour Sat Nav, upgraded centre armrest / cup holder and general interior from rear passenger seat.

...and really dodgy seat covers like the ones my grandad had in his reliant robin many moons ago!

[planetc]

Well to be honest, any spring will go, theoretically, if the underside isn't cleaned properly and is put to heavy use.
Andrei.

don't have to tick all the boxes, crap roads alone will do it

[Robsey]

Vectra-C springs made by Vauxhall are utter tosh...
Most members on Vectra-C.com have changed for either sports or premium make springs.

Our Vectra has a leasurely life...no racing or emphatic driving.

Regarding the seat covers and mats - wife wanted something to match the paintwork..

Fetching Dragon design - ha ha

[Robsey]

Because I haven't had the will or balls to do some real manual engine stripping on the Cav, I decided to finish off the wife's Vectra-C jobs..

That is: -

Re-wire a pair of Scroller wheel controls to allow operation of the radio..

Activate Check Control (Op-Com), looks funky on her colour screen

Fit the coolant level switch.. otherwise you constantly get an message on the screen, about 30 seconds after you fire up the ignition.

Fit Bluetooth kit (CK-7W) same as in my Cavalier.. works well for me, and quite cheap to buy off e-bay - £20 complete with all new parts as required

So - First off..
The Scroller wheels..
Had to remove the airbag and all that...
More concerned about the expense or getting another one and having it programmed in... Silly money from the dealer.

Anyway - it all went really smoothly.. needed to fit two wires and 6 pins..
Then it was plug and play..
After programming in with Op-Com - they worked a treat.

The contact plate before...

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The contact plate after...

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[Robsey]

Then there was the check control - just a nifty bit of programming, but the Fluid level sender was a bitch.. it just would not stop leaking..
Until I shaped the casing to allow the seal / grommet to sit properly.


The front bumper off

washer bottle1.jpg (72.56 KiB) Viewed 492 times

The sender fitted

washer bottle2.jpg (22.86 KiB) Viewed 492 times

The lovely message...

washer fluid 3.jpg (40.72 KiB) Viewed 492 times

[Robsey]

And then the bluetooth was fitted..

Piece of cake

So now the car is finished ready for when the missus gets home from her holidays tomorrow afternoon..

Wheel controls fitted and lit up

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Bluetooth Fitted and working

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The nifty Check Control tells you which bulb has failed..

check ctrl1.jpg (40.86 KiB) Viewed 492 times

[Greig Sri]

Good work on the Vectra. Im planing on getting the check control turned on in my Astra. It has the cd 70 with colour screen like your car. But I need to check if the car has the wiring or if I have to add it and wire it in to the under bonnet wiring center.

Greig

[Robsey]

Most vehicles do... the wife's Vectra is an Energy, which means budget special edition..


Look for a connector tied up near to your washer pump..
A sensor is about £8 from Flea-bay
The cheap method for now is to short out the sendor connector pins
it will stop the message popping up whenever you start the car..

Check control is purely a programming issue... no extra wiring.

[Envoy CDX]

Excellent progress Rob

[Robsey]

Cheers Gary,

Hopefully the wife will be happy..
I was hoping to surprise her, but she knows all about it after asking this evening

[Envoy CDX]

Cheers Gary,

Hopefully the wife will be happy..
I was hoping to surprise her, but she knows all about it after asking this evening

Should have said you've just lazed about the house all weekend then..

[planetc]

Cheers Gary,

Hopefully the wife will be happy..
I was hoping to surprise her, but she knows all about it after asking this evening

She reads the forum, lol.

[Greig Sri]

A lot of Astras didnt come with the wriing for the water bottle sensors. So that is the wire I wound have to check for. I know how to get the program turned on to work witrh tech2.

Greig

[Robsey]

She reads the forum, lol.

Nope, not trained her that well, however she has been on a few meets with me..
So she's met all of the Northern Admin Team ( Gaz, Squig and Envoy CDX)

Possiby meet Humbucker in due course as she does like to travel...
Then we'll have seen the whole team..

But she is the driving force that stops me from giving up on the Cavalier.. so she is a damn good girl

No she knew, because she rang me up each evening to see how I've been getting on whilst she's been away on her jollies in Jersey.

She got back tonight, sun-burnt and red as a lobster

[Envoy CDX]

[humbucker]

Possiby meet Humbucker in due course as she does like to travel... Then we'll have seen the whole team..

all in good time old fruit, all in good time! looks like you've been busy with your motors lately, keep up the good work!