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[terry paget]

Probably a good idea to check that front suspension and steering Terry while you have that car in , tyres wear un-even for a reason and steering play has been flagged on the MOT IIRC 
LIDL had a cheap socket set last week £8 ,2 racks of sockets plus 3 extensions
the reason I mention is because the sockets are 6 sided  so don't round nuts off as easy , my set already saved me the time to warrant the massive investment 

Thanks again for good advice. Good to have a friend whi has run Astras for a while!
I am always nervous applying torque to a brake nipple lest I break it off. I have now changed the brake fluid in the whole system except RH front; that can wait.
Front suspension looks all right, but MOT history suggests steering joints need replacing.

[Doctor Gollum]

That's going to be fun in an emergency. Not.

[BazaJT]

Surely if the tyre is worn on the outer edges but good in the centre[and as it's only the one tyre]this is a sign that it has been run underinflated?

[dave the builder]

that is a common cause Bazza
BUT, the steering play has been an advisory on MOT several times

[terry paget]

Yesterday I swopped the RH front brake calipers between red Astra and donor car, and similarly replaced the worn tyre. Today I got the car over the pit to check the steering play. Holding the track rods I can feel a clonk both sides, but observe no obvious play.

[dave the builder]

"clonk" 
probably either inner or outer track / tie rod ends
at about  £15 the pair for either ,i'd replace all (inner and outer both sides £30 job done)
steering is pretty important
another worn tyre  due to steering play would cost more 

[terry paget]

"clonk" 
probably either inner or outer track / tie rod ends
at about  £15 the pair for either ,i'd replace all (inner and outer both sides £30 job done)
steering is pretty important
another worn tyre  due to steering play would cost more 

Agreed. Job looks straightforward on U-tube, less so in Haynes, his small black and white pictures are not very clear. I will do it when I can.

[terry paget]

This is the hose, barely a hose at all, 59mm long and 41mm id. It connects the front of the water pump to a plastic T piece, the RH larger hose going to the radiator and the narrower hose going left to the bottom of the header tank. You can see it is split. All three hoses were attached by steel bands. The connection of the hose to water pump is by sprung hose clip.

Since April 23rd and my repair to the 3 way hose on red Astra DS06 it has given trouble free service to son Ben. This weekend daughter Catherine returned home in Omega OE03, to return to London in Astra LL08. To check out LL08 I checked all fluid levels on Thursday, before driving it on a 180 mile trip to Oxfordshire and back. Journey was trouble free, on Saturday morning I rechecked fluid levels and found coolant level was low. I could find no leak. After lunch I drove it to the shops, on return I found it was leaking coolant. On further investigation I found the same leak as above, same hose, same place.

This time I had no spare hose on my donor car, no time to buy new from Vx, so improvised with the 2" radiator end section of an Omega bottom hose.

Interesting how they both failed identically.