Astra Annoyance

[Nasher]

Mrs Nasher has a 54 Plate 1.7CDTi Astra SRI.
Considering what we paid for it a few years ago second hand, it’s a great car to drive with sporty suspension/wheels/tyres/bucket seats etc, and it goes much better than you’d think whilst returning good MPG.

However, sometimes the stupidest of things sideline it.

Yesterday evening for example, she called to say her coolant light had come on. So I shot out with some mixed antifreeze topped it up and we got the car home at 9.30pm with pink coolant pouring out all over the garage floor

The leak was buried deep under the side of the engine and took two hours to find with a mirror having stripped half the engine bay out.
A bit of coolant hose 6’ long with a bend in it had delaminated, ballooned up and split

Luckily it had a part number printed on it, so I Googled it, and guess what?
Loads of posts on Astra and Vauxhall forums from all over the world saying this hose had split
At least I discovered it’s officially titled a ‘Thermostat Bypass Hose’.

My first reaction was to get a length of hose of the right diameter and fit that, but as it’s got a bend in it I thought I’d try our local dealer first.

The parts desk guy even recognised the part number I gave him over the phone, and said, oh yes we’ve got loads of those in stock as they go all the time. £10.42 to you sir.

So I’m guessing a buyer somewhere decided to pay 20p for this hose rather than 22p, and Astra owners have had to put up with the consequences ever since whilst Vauxhall don’t consider up-issuing it to a better quality part.

Rant over.

Nasher.
PS. I’ve been running Procurement departments in companies for years and have probably made some daft calls myself during that time

[PeterM]

Did you get a spare for next time ?

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by Nasher

... leak ... buried deep under the side of the engine ... ‘Thermostat Bypass Hose’ ... Rant ...

Must have been designed by the same guy that did the same hose on the A series engined BL Mini

[jezza2011]

Oh Boy dont get me started on cars today!
Had my 61 plate Mondeo TDCI in the dealers for a service.
turns out it has a leaky thermostat housing.
Hmm i said ok just replace the gasket.
dealer- err no sir the thermostat housing is plastic and goes on the side of the block so it need a whole new housing as they crack.
me- Hmm yes they would as your puting plastic against a steel cylinder head that gets bloody hot. Of course its going to leak, crack melt.DWy the hell arnt these made of ally??
dealer- sorry dont know. we have alot of these that need changing hence them being out of stock so you have to wait 2 days for your car back sir...

Grrrrrrr.

[Alan Priddy]

Welcome to my world. Alan P

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by Leapy

Must have been designed by the same guy that did the same hose on the A series engined BL Mini

Had many a fun hour changing them......

[Paul Cannell]

Same for the breather hoses on petrol Astra's, they clog with oil residue/condensation then split, last 18 months if your lucky.

[Hightower]

Seeing you're so clever Mr Nasher, you would fancy having a go at undoing a couple of exhaust nuts that look so easy to get at but impossible to undo You don't even have to jack the car up as you've got plenty of clearance.

[Anchorhandler]

I think i can trump all of you......

Try changing the most frequently replaced consumable service item (the air filter) on a new shape Berlingo or Partner van!!!......

Even with a well equipped workshop, an impact driver, a 10" flexible drive extension and an assortment of Torx bits (which most i lost somewhere between the engine and bulkhead) it still took me two feckin hours ......:-( all this just to change a £10.50 air filter cartridge....

Simon

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

[Poly]

Nasher, go and check that the drain from the channel below the windscreen is not blocked with leaves at the bottom (there is a contriction which makes this likely). there is another great piece of design in there which means if it blocks the rain water fills the inside of your car, via the pollen filter and takes out the resistor on the fan at the same time. I believe this affects all Vectras and Astras of this era - and is so common the garage can tell you the fault before you've finished saying 'puddle of water in the footwell'.

[eilean mor]

and in their defence..... all 4 of my astra's did well over 150'000

[Daniel]

Argh, berlingo's. After changing cambelt on one, decided after an hour of trying to get one specifc bolt back to hold the cover on through the wheel arch with about 1mm clearance not to bother.

From thence forward van using water. Almost convinced myself new cambelt too tight, must be waterpump.

Oh no. Mr Citroen decided the one most difacult cam belt cover bolt would ALSO hold the water pump in.

So the water pump is secured in place by a long bolt that passes through a plastic cover first. Genius.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by eilean mor

and in their defence..... all 4 of my astra's did well over 150'000

Funny that. My berlingo annoyance is well on its way to 250,000 now!!

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by Poly

Nasher, go and check that the drain from the channel below the windscreen is not blocked with leaves at the bottom (there is a contriction which makes this likely). there is another great piece of design in there which means if it blocks the rain water fills the inside of your car, via the pollen filter and takes out the resistor on the fan at the same time. I believe this affects all Vectras and Astras of this era - and is so common the garage can tell you the fault before you've finished saying 'puddle of water in the footwell'.

Common fault on B5/B6 Audi A4s too. The plenum chamber drain grommet gets blocked, floods the footwell and destroys the brake servo or ECU.