Newbie Introduction with a technical question for fellow Opel owners

**hotstepper7** · 9th March 2010, 09:47 PM

Hi All,

Introducing myself as a first time Opel owner. Greets to all, hopefully I can put in my share too.

Wondering whether I could draw upon the collective experience of Opel owners for a technical query.

I've just purchased a MY 6.5 AH Astra CDX manual - Just over 30K on the clock. Purchased from a family member so aware of good service history and no accidents. However a few things I've noticed in the last few weeks have me wondering. Wondering whether anyone has any advice or could point me in the right direction.

1. Engine roughness at idle (especially for a few seconds within the first 10 seconds of cold start). Could this be inferior oil at the last (recent) service?

2. Noisy exhaust sound, especially when warm. Sounding like an exhaust leak. Is this feasible at only 30K
3. Creaky rear suspension!!
4. Poor responsiveness from keyfob - tried changing the batteries to no avail.
5. Weird creak from the steering wheel, sounds plasticky.

Otherwise dearly enjoying my recent purchase. Would have preferred the CDTI, but alas.

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**sooty** · 9th March 2010, 09:54 PM

Welcome mate.
Creaky rear suspension is due to the bushes, well known problem on the ah's, just lubing them has worked for some, others have had to replace them.
The keyfob not working could be due to the cim (column integration module), but the best way to tell if that's the case is to do the pedal test for any possible fault codes, might clear up identification of some of the other issues too.

**adam_92** · 9th March 2010, 10:02 PM

welcome to opelaus and to try and help with your questions a bit

1. not sure
2. anything is possible, we have had cars at work for there first service, 2000 -3000 kms and bolts have come loose in the exhaust and caused leaks
3. my suspension creaks sometimes and i thought it was a problem so i got it up on the hoist and evrything was perfect but i took the springs out and lubed the top and bottom a bit and it reduced the creaking a hell of a lot so itmust have been rubbing a bit on the mounts.
4. there is someway you can reset the distance i think you put it in the ignition and hold the lock button and start the car with the lock button still held in and somehow it resyncs itself and increases the range but someone will confirm this one.
5. never heard of this but maybe one of the other astra owners have had this problem

**Jerram** · 9th March 2010, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by hotstepper7

1. Engine roughness at idle (especially for a few seconds within the first 10 seconds of cold start). Could this be inferior oil at the last (recent) service?

2. Noisy exhaust sound, especially when warm. Sounding like an exhaust leak. Is this feasible at only 30K
3. Creaky rear suspension!!
4. Poor responsiveness from keyfob - tried changing the batteries to no avail.
5. Weird creak from the steering wheel, sounds plasticky.

Otherwise dearly enjoying my recent purchase. Would have preferred the CDTI, but alas.

Gday and welcome. I'm not an astra man, but I have these suggestions

1 - Could be a plug issue, a valve hang, or a temp sensor issue (overfueling whilst cold). If the oil is too thick a cold rating this could be a possible result

2 - I wouldn't think you'd have a leak at 30k, maybe an issue with the silencer/backbox?

3/4 - As per other response

5 - is there any plastic on plasitc rubbing when you turn the wheel? Is there anything lodged in the gap between the surround and the wheel proper?

**hazrd** · 9th March 2010, 11:53 PM

welcome mate

i can only answer questiions 1 and 4 for you.

1 - have you got the A/C on when you start it? i know with mine, if the A/C is on its a bit rough until i start driving it (been doing it since we bought it at 25k kms), when i turn the A/C off, presto, no roughness
4 - how far away are you pressing the button from? ive noticed it doesnt work too well until you are about 1 - 2 steps away from the car

hope that helps....