ah sri turbo questions!

[Prowsey]

hi everyone new here, i have some questions about my partners astra.

we recently purchased a AH sri turbo to replace her TS CDX
which was starting to have a few problems after 245000kms it was never really a good car constant issues and SLOW!
so im hopping the AH is a much better car, any way my questions are:

1 i recently changed the oil and filter i used castrol edge 5w30 is this the right type of oil?
2 after running e10 in the car a check engine light appeared can this make the car go into limp mode?
3 could it possibly be an oxygen sensor or the e10 fuel?
4 the car has been lowered so if any one wants to sell me standard height springs that would be awesome.
5 can anyone suggest some cheap mods.
6 are ebay parts for these vehicles usually okay? as holden is a rip off.
7 the car is fitted with an after market pod filter arrangment worth having?

also the car is a MY6.5 145000KM

thanks in advance!

[faneca]

1 i recently changed the oil and filter i used castrol edge 5w30 is this the right type of oil?

I use nylon 10w40 fully synthetic oil in my VXR, I have heard some bad stories about castrol but some good stories too

2 after running e10 in the car a check engine light appeared can this make the car go into limp mode?
3 could it possibly be an oxygen sensor or the e10 fuel?

E10 would definitely have set it off. I wouldn't use anything less than 98ron it'll take a couple of tanks to fluch it out but you'll return better fuel economy with the 98 and better power return too

4 the car has been lowered so if any one wants to sell me standard height springs that would be awesome.
5 can anyone suggest some cheap mods.
mickos may have some VXR shocks and springs for sale.

6 are ebay parts for these vehicles usually okay? as holden is a rip off.
When it comes to teaming belts, waterpumps, coikpacks etc, always buy genuine, look at autovaux.co.uk far cheaper than anything in aus landed to your door. Takes roughly a week and a half to arrive
The aftermarket items are known to fail very early and in some cases with in hours of being used so while they are cheaper to begin with they rarely end up that way.

7 the car is fitted with an after market pod filter arrangment worth having?
If your asking from a performance point of view, no if there isn't a heat shield to block the hot air from around the engine getting sucked through your system.
If it's enclosed they are as good as your normal panel filter just make a cool fluttering noise.

Hope that helps

[dutchy]

hi everyone new here, i have some questions about my partners astra.

we recently purchased a AH sri turbo to replace her TS CDX
which was starting to have a few problems after 245000kms it was never really a good car constant issues and SLOW!
so im hopping the AH is a much better car, any way my questions are:

1 i recently changed the oil and filter i used castrol edge 5w30 is this the right type of oil?
2 after running e10 in the car a check engine light appeared can this make the car go into limp mode?
3 could it possibly be an oxygen sensor or the e10 fuel?
4 the car has been lowered so if any one wants to sell me standard height springs that would be awesome.
5 can anyone suggest some cheap mods.
6 are ebay parts for these vehicles usually okay? as holden is a rip off.
7 the car is fitted with an after market pod filter arrangment worth having?

also the car is a MY6.5 145000KM

thanks in advance!

Well, you've done nearly a quarter of a million kilometres in your car. Can't really complain about that :) It's slow yes compared to an sri-t.

anyway,
1 as Faneca said, I think it's 10w40.
2 e10 fuel sucks. Go back to 95 or alternatively 98.
3 put some 95 or 98 in and see if light goes out.
4.
5. If you're after more power, there are no cheap mods that really noticeably increase power. You can derestrict the airbox, put in a k&n filter or go the cdti airbox route if you want to stay under a few hundred dollars. Best bang for your buck will be a remap with either an eds ipf or similar.
6. Depends what you're after. In some cases, you can better get some parts at Holden because shippingcosts from the UK or Germany can be a killer for 1 little bolt.
7. Not in my opinion. Heatsoak & noise (unwanted attention at times). The original derestricted airbox is good enough.

[Prowsey]

might change to the 10w 40 as the car seems to be running a little strange as in the motor sounds louder ( if that makes sense) i took the battery off for a bit and the check engine light went away but soon returned? i am currently running 9, also has anyone cut out the rear muffler is it easy enough to do?

[andy76]

Hi, I've got the same car and had it for about 5 months and the engine light came on just after the wisemans cruise. Ended up being the sensors in the exhaust and I've only been using 98 but not knowing what has been used previously.

[Prowsey]

what did the sensors end up costing? and does anyone know what postage is like with auto vax?

[faneca]

Postage is pretty good with autovaux, chris_r recently bought a irmscher grill and postage was 30 odd GBP.

My VXR through up a light after filling up at a caltex one morning. Turns out it was just a scrappy batch of fuel as it was being filled not 2 hours later so that s a possibility.

I'd say if your running e10 that's is with out doubt the source of the light

[Elliot_O]

Pretty sure the turbos need 95 minimum, otherwise you can start to do some more serious damage.

[andy76]

Fitted, codes cleared and set up was close to $600. But that would depend where you take it.

I didn't go to a holden dealer.

[dutchy]

Fitted, codes cleared and set up was close to $600. But that would depend where you take it.
I didn't go to a holden dealer.

:yikes: for 2 sensors and some spannerwork ?

[andy76]

That was the look I had on my face too when they told me

[gravy258]

all AH Astra's use 5w30 full syn. As long as the oil is full syn you'll have no dramas.

[mickos]

Try some nulon 10w 40 fast flow engine oil it's great stuff
For parts give autovaux in uk an email or Skype it's much cheaper than oz, use 98 fuel always


Prowsey i do have original vxr springs and shocks 40,000kms on them if interested shoot me a msg

[hazrd]

Id check the manual to confirm the recommended fuel. Pretty sure e10 is not suitable for an SRi-T

[chris_r]

Personally, I'd avoid any ethanol blended fuel in a turbo car, unless in fact you have it all set up and tuned to run something like E85. Even E10 can cause problems with the fuel systems on turbo cars.

With my old XR6T, my idiot brother ran it on E10 once and it coughed and farted something stupid afterwards. I ended up having to flush the system several times and replacing filters and plugs before it ran right again.

[delemonte]

With my old XR6T, my idiot brother ran it on E10 once and it coughed and farted something stupid afterwards. I ended up having to flush the system several times and replacing filters and plugs before it ran right again.

The ethanol probably loosened the crud in your system causing it to start blocking injectors. There are plenty of XR6Ts running around on E10 (although it really isn't worth it unless you just want higher octane and are using an appropriate blend)


I wouldn't recommend using less than 95 RON. 98RON if it's been tuned. But at the same time, the car does have a knock sensor so it will protect itself - but it will probably throw a code when it does this which is probably what you're seeing, Prowsey. I don't know about the AH, but my Astra G SRi-T manual says 95RON minimum but that lower octane is 'usable' if you're not doing ridiculous speeds or towing. Of course, my car has never seen anything less than 98RON since I've owned it.. but if you're not hitting boost, 91RON will get you out of trouble without a hiccup. If you're boosting around on 91RON, expect retarded timing accompanied by an EML.

[Prowsey]

have any of you guys had your car PING really bad after getting bad fuel?

[delemonte]

Never.. but I've never had a tank of fuel that I noticed to be 'bad' either...

Highest knock sensor reading I have ever seen on my car is is 0.12mV and that is typical (0.08mv - 0.12mv) of my engine under full load at 6200rpm so I'd say it's just normal engine vibrations giving that reading.

[Elliot_O]

Define bad fuel...

[faneca]

Bad fuel can be had at any grade, usually bad fuel occurs when you fill up soon after the tank has been filled as sediments at the bottom of the tank is stirred up or just before it's filled where your getting the crap at the bottom coming up through.

[dutchy]

Bad fuel can be had at any grade, usually bad fuel occurs when you fill up soon after the tank has been filled as sediments at the bottom of the tank is stirred up or just before it's filled where your getting the crap at the bottom coming up through.

Yes, I can confirm, had that once. I believe after lots of rain, water can also enter the tanks.

[vekara]

only fill 98 RON and if you want more response from the engine use octane booster additive. get rid of K&N, you gain nothing from it, quite the opposite and you risk wearing out the engine prematurely because it lets small particles through.

[Prowsey]

hey does anyone know when the sri t is due for a timing belt change? was last done at 91000kms and now has 130000kms.?

[chris_r]

hey does anyone know when the sri t is due for a timing belt change? was last done at 91000kms and now has 130000kms.?
They're done every 60k, yours will be due at 151k. Do the entire kit and water pump too. Autovaux is also a cheap source for the genuine parts too, was around $190 plus shipping for the kit I got yesterday from them.

[Prowsey]

service book seems to say every 90000KMS? also has anyone removed the last muffler box and replaced it with straight pipe? was it expensive and was there any gain in sound or performance

[vekara]

The exhaust pipe is carefully calculated and designed by German engineers to provide a system that is a compromise between noise and performance. The complete pipe and silencer system are designed to extract the gases out of the engine efficiently. Any unprofessional changes to the system will most likely end up in loss of power. Don't tinker with it unless you know what you are doing. I bigger pipe does not necessarily mean better performance.
The exhaust gases flow in a pressure wave form which varies according to engine revs. Ideally a high pressure wave travelling through the pipe at each exhaust stroke provides a low pressure wake to suck the next wave out. Too large exhaust pipe may cause a standing wave thus acting as a blockage, in low revs.

[SilentShout]

^
And all of that would be relivant, if it wasnt turbocharged.

Turbocharged bigger is better =) but only after the turbo, so dump pipe onwards.

Large exhaust = less resistance = more spool.

[Prowsey]

dunno im used to loud cars after 3 ss utes and wouldnt mind a bit off a growl from the sri i would use the same diameter pipe that opel used just delete the rear muffler.

[mickos]

dunno im used to loud cars after 3 ss utes and wouldnt mind a bit off a growl from the sri i would use the same diameter pipe that opel used just delete the rear muffler.

Put a straight pipe in middle leave rear as is

[vekara]

dunno im used to loud cars after 3 ss utes and wouldnt mind a bit off a growl from the sri i would use the same diameter pipe that opel used just delete the rear muffler.

hmmm, neither are particularly beautiful sounding engines, in my opinion, I like German straight 6 cylinders such as BMW and mercedes, so sophisticated and clean.

[kabel]

dunno im used to loud cars after 3 ss utes and wouldnt mind a bit off a growl from the sri i would use the same diameter pipe that opel used just delete the rear muffler.
I have a full Milltek system on my VXR and just a Lukey rear muffler on my Sri T, the Milltek is a more refined system but a Remus or Lukey muffler may give you what you desire.

P.S
I like and have owned the old school V8`s and straight 6`s so I know where you are coming from !

[dutchy]

Had a 3 inch stainless straight through pipe on the old sri-t which was loud as and there was a big drone between 100 and 110 ks. Horrible sound, hurts the brain. Put a hotdog in between which gave it a very dark rumbling and popping sound.