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1

Omega General Help / Re: dti inlet manifold

« on: 22 December 2018, 10:34:37 »

If it was properly cleaned out fairly recently then unless something drastic has happened to cause a load of crap to get into the intake, then, with no recycling of exhaust related gunge I wouldn't bother to look for about 10 years, maybe more, if ever.

The last MOT smoke test on mine was 0.33 as a guide so if yours is similar then it's pretty particulate free so really no need to worry.

2

Omega General Help / Re: dti inlet manifold

« on: 21 December 2018, 07:26:12 »

Depends on quite a few things but mainly how it's driven. Not a hard job to remove and check, possibly a "nice" little job to do over the Christmas break.

Mine's done 140K and is still functioning exactly as intended. Mapping out the EGR does help. Of all my cars, the DTi is the one 1 drive the least gently, it seems to go better if you don't let it dawdle about too much.

3

General Discussion Area / Re: Word Association.

« on: 14 December 2018, 07:31:36 »

Discover

4

General Discussion Area / Legendary average speed camera placement

« on: 06 December 2018, 20:29:01 »

Not very often that something like average speed cameras really make me laugh.

Travelling across the old Severn Bridge this week, going up the slip lane from Aust to join the motorway, road works sign, average speed camera sign and the first camera at the top of the slip lane.

The second and only other camera is just the other side of the toll booths.

Oh dear,

5

General Car Chat / Re: code readers

« on: 05 December 2018, 17:01:22 »

Autel Maxidiag with Opel specific upload works on mine.

6

General Car Chat / Re: Where is the OBD2 socket on a 2004 Astra 1.6 petrol?

« on: 29 November 2018, 07:47:47 »

Mine's still fine with 5W30 after 112K. I normally look for seepage, signs of heavy breathing and rattliness around the top end, then i'd change to 10W40. I'd stick with changes every 5K, I always flush mine every time as well and the magnetic pick up on the sump comes out clean as a whistle every time.

TC 10W40 might become harder to get over time but it's not a problem at the moment.

7

Omega General Help / Re: glow plug removal

« on: 29 November 2018, 07:30:02 »

Give yourself the maximum chance of success.

I soaked mine in penetrating fluid for a week first before getting the engine right up to temperature. The tops will probably come off some of the plastic clips so have some cable ties ready to secure them back on. A pair of crank nose pliers are useful for the plastic caps on no 3 & 4 otherwise you'll probably burn your hands on the turbo. I didn't use a thread chaser when I did mine but probably would on any others i do.

Copperslip, put the new ones in with the engine hot and about 10Nm only.

8

General Car Chat / Re: Where is the OBD2 socket on a 2004 Astra 1.6 petrol?

« on: 21 November 2018, 07:58:50 »

5w30 synthetic is ok for a new engine , but after 100k and 14+ years it is thin and has detergents and additives, if you had the car from new and did regular oil changes then it may be ok , but with a high mile engine ,that may have had cheap or thicker oil  ,or done short journeys ,not getting up to tempreture, sludge and deposits can be washed off(as you proved  )
10w40 semi or even mineral (with regular changes ) is thicker ,
I've had vauxhalls since i was 18 ,never found a 100k+ one that ran happy on fully synthetic P155 (5w30)  they smoke ,use stupid amounts of  oil ,IIRC vauxhall official oil consumption on a 1.6 astra g was 1 L per 1000 miles 

I'm sure someone will b along shortly to say i'm wrong  but 30 years of vauxhalls under my belt ,none i scrapped for engine problems  the tin worm ate em 
 

I see in the service record the oil and filter have been changed 5 times since Feb 2017, in 11000 miles.

sounds very odd 
unless they tried 5w30 and it smoked /got very dirty 
or maybe they are using  10/40 with 3k oil and filter changes ,which would be fine if the 11k was traffic jams or short journeys which requires more regular service

when buying a car, ask questions about what oil they used etc

are you not going to try replacing the sump + fresh oil on the other 120k car 

GM provide a wide range of suitable oil grades for the engine so it isn't as critical as some. My 1.6 has done 111K has always had 5W30 and is smooth and quiet. it also uses no oil between changes. It's been serviced according to the fixed mileage schedule and used I think really "normally" so i have no reason to change the oil grade.

To my knowledge there are no known issues with sludging so it may be as much to do with how it's driven and the quality of lubricant used and whether it's been flushed at oil changes if needed.

I'd look for signs of swarf and sludge in the sump. I have a simpler way of checking the sump for sludge using a thick gauge wire or thin gauge steel rod with a shortish 90 degree bend inserted through the drain plug hole and then rotated gently across the inside of the sump pan. it's not perfect in that it won't show what's under the baffle but it gives some idea of whether it's fairly clean or slimy and the sump needs to be removed. Even if you pull no sludge out you can feel the rod pulling through it.

Out of interest do you use a flushing agent at oil changes?

Did you suss out the owner to see if:

1. They were trying to hide something or
2. They were paranoid ?

9

Omega General Help / Re: dipstick tube

« on: 20 November 2018, 07:23:05 »

I was also wondering, unless you are utterly incompetent how do you snap a dipstick, maybe the clue is in the word.

10

General Car Chat / Re: Where is the OBD2 socket on a 2004 Astra 1.6 petrol?

« on: 14 November 2018, 07:40:12 »

This car is nearly MOT ready. However, when I bought it (last Saturday) the engine management light was on, and this was listed as an MOT failure matter. After Webby the Bear kindly told me where to find the OBD2 socket I plugged in my simple code reader, read the code (lean mixture bank 1) , cancelled it, and the light has stayed off ever since. Today I plugged in my laptop diagnostic device, and read live data. Code P0621-04 came up as a fault code, Generator Lamp "L" Control Circuit Malfunction. O2 sensor 1 was switching RICH/LEAN/RICH /LEAN satisfactorily, but O2 sensor 2 was steady on LEAN. Engine light remains off. My worry is it will come again.

What should I do?

Terry, sorry I have come to this conversation a bit late. Your Z16XEP fault will keep re-occurring. In somewhere between 60 and 100 miles P0170-2 will show. It's a common fault i have just sorted on mine. The EGR recirculation channels in the intake manifold where it butts the cylinder head become blocked preventing the gas from entering the manifold. The ECU discovers this and finds it cannot enrich the mixture to accommodate it in the warm up cycle and throws the code.

Solution, take it to bits, about 2 hrs work, clean it and put it all back together again. You might also find some muppet has blocked off the EGR channel from the valve. If so this will have the same effect. Having done this, if the fault re-occurs then the EGR is not functioning correctly.

Thanks for that. Might that explain the MOT emissions failure?

Mine passed it's emissions for the last owner with 2 dying lambdas and the EGR blanked. He was lucky as it was before EML on became an MOT fail. Dropping the sump is fairly simple so I'd start there too. The reasons for emissions failure can more easily be sorted when (if) the engine is running properly.

11

General Car Chat / Re: Where is the OBD2 socket on a 2004 Astra 1.6 petrol?

« on: 13 November 2018, 14:16:32 »

If the engine had seized I'd expect it to give a series of fault codes. It could just be a blocked fuel filter or a failed fuel pump/fuse. Or, if it hasn't been serviced properly the spark plugs could be so far gone there's no electrode left.

The rattle might be nothing to do with it. Early twinport engines had rubber edged flaps in the first stage of the intake manifold. The rubber wears away and people think the engine is rattling. It's not. A later version, same pt number different serial number is the revised version which is fine.

Don't give up too soon, might be a simple fix.

12

General Car Chat / Re: Where is the OBD2 socket on a 2004 Astra 1.6 petrol?

« on: 13 November 2018, 07:34:27 »

This car is nearly MOT ready. However, when I bought it (last Saturday) the engine management light was on, and this was listed as an MOT failure matter. After Webby the Bear kindly told me where to find the OBD2 socket I plugged in my simple code reader, read the code (lean mixture bank 1) , cancelled it, and the light has stayed off ever since. Today I plugged in my laptop diagnostic device, and read live data. Code P0621-04 came up as a fault code, Generator Lamp "L" Control Circuit Malfunction. O2 sensor 1 was switching RICH/LEAN/RICH /LEAN satisfactorily, but O2 sensor 2 was steady on LEAN. Engine light remains off. My worry is it will come again.

What should I do?

Terry, sorry I have come to this conversation a bit late. Your Z16XEP fault will keep re-occurring. In somewhere between 60 and 100 miles P0170-2 will show. It's a common fault i have just sorted on mine. The EGR recirculation channels in the intake manifold where it butts the cylinder head become blocked preventing the gas from entering the manifold. The ECU discovers this and finds it cannot enrich the mixture to accommodate it in the warm up cycle and throws the code.

Solution, take it to bits, about 2 hrs work, clean it and put it all back together again. You might also find some muppet has blocked off the EGR channel from the valve. If so this will have the same effect. Having done this, if the fault re-occurs then the EGR is not functioning correctly.

13

Omega General Help / Re: What car should I buy?

« on: 30 October 2018, 20:24:43 »

Trade club 5W30 is about £23 for 5 litres. Have a good look around for leaks before deciding whether 10/40 might be better. Csn't remember if the Z16XEP engine drives the water pump off the aux belt or the cam belt. I'd look outside only it's a bit dark.
Get yourself a good code reader or "My Naff Code Reader" or better still a preloaded tech 2 laptop. 2010 cars are fully Canbus so it'll save you a lot of grief and money in tracing faults and programming new bits when needed. I'm sure the family will help with the techy bits if you need  hand.

14

Omega General Help / Re: What car should I buy?

« on: 28 October 2018, 17:13:44 »

Son buys cheap cars somewhere in South Wales, paid about £300 for his most recent 100k 2.0L(?), poss 1.8, Focus about 3 years ago. No problems with it.

Focus    before buying check it does not need a "dash out /heater matrix seal or matrix replaced"  (a well known fail 2002-2008 ish IIRC) 
Fix
Often
Repair
Daily
 
if you can find something not a rusty colander 

Shackeng just said they had no problems with it 

Don’t think you can get all high and mighty putting down a Focus, when you spend 500 quid on Astra.

maybe Shackeng found one that had the heater matrix done previously and that was not a rusty colander  good luck to him 

I said

 before buying check it does not need a "dash out /heater matrix seal or matrix replaced"  (a well known fail 2002-2008 ish IIRC) 

if you can find something not a rusty colander 

one astra we spent £8,500 on 
one astra i spent £200 on (knowing it had a blown head gasket but 11 months mot),another £200 on parts and it's been great for 5 years 

Matches my experience too. Bought with "rattle from engine" and EML illuminated, a 2010 Meriva used intake manifold, new front and rear lambdas and a new thermostat £189 total has sorted my recent £255 ebay purchase which is now MOT worthy and runs like a dream.

I also have a growing dislike for the focus. My old dad has a 59 plate 1.6 and it's the second most hateful car I've ever encoutered. A bit rusty and really mutton dressed as lamb - no substance behind the shine. It only comes second to a 54 plate Focus C-max 1.6 TDCi I had the misfortune of owning. Utterly utterly hateful in every respect except interior space and fuel economy - now bettered by the remapped CDTi Astra G which might be a little rough but at least it's honest and easy to work on.

15

Omega General Help / Re: What car should I buy?

« on: 28 October 2018, 17:08:11 »

.