Astra H SRi 1.9 CDTI's (120 and 150 versions)

Stormster

Stormster

Stormster

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Anyone know much about these? Just trying to find out a bit about them, mainly what goes wrong often/commonly and rough prices to fix the common issues.

I don't know anything about the engines but I think I read the 120 version 1.9 cdti is an 8v lump, the 150bhp version a 16v?

Is one far better than the other for reliability and mpg, I hear something about egr valves, gearboxes, dmf's, swirl flaps on the 150's. I have no idea what a swirl flap is? :D

Anyway if anyone can gen me up on what the bad bits are re: these cars specifically that would be good (and you don't need to tell me it's not a focus lol)

Cheers :)
 
8v lumps are bullet proof the 150s are grunty as heck even more so with a cheeky remap

You can also run with a tuning box and remap for extra lols(200 + bhp and 325 lbs/ft torque) source - owned a mapped/boxed vectra 150 for 3 years) which we used for taxiing

Not without faults though like to eat alternators for some reason and early ones had issues with the swirl valves- linkage but most should have been fixed can be fixed for £200 plus 3/4 hours labour for a new inlet The AstraZ don't get the same f40 gear of as the vectra and come with a m32 which is the weak link for the car especially when tweaked

Nice cars overall which get unfair slating cheap for what they are and can come well spec ed if you buy the right one. Ignore the vauxhall service intervals though oil and filters every 10k belts and the all important water pumps every 60k Vaux say 20k servicing and 100k for the belts silly buggers if you want any specific engine advice drop me a trust message we taxied both and put silly miles on these engines without any big issues
 
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I've got a Saab 9-3 tid 150 lump and over the last 12 months i've had to replace the following..

Alternator
Battery
Fuel pressure sensor
Dual mass flywheel & clutch
clutch master cylinder
2x front springs

Not the most reliable car but it is fun to drive. My dad used to have a vectra 120 bhp model and to be honest it felt just a quick as mine
 
Never replaced an egr valve on any of our taxis popped off and cleaned a few though

If your going to map the car you can get a blanking plate and remove the egr from the setup completely (it's a crime not to map these )

Swirl flaps are part of the inlet manifold and allow for all sorts of fancy variable inlet shenanigans it's the linkage bar that tends to fail rather than the swirl valves themselves although one of ours did blow a swirl valve out once cure spend £170 on a new inlet manifold or if its just the linkage spend a few quid on some washers and glue ill link the repair guide when I get off the phone

Like a lot ofdiesels they do tend to have clutch/dmf issues there was a bad batch a few years back that had high failure rates although a single mass conversion is available they are not a weak spot I've never had one of or taxis get less than 100k out of a clutch/dmf in fact my mapped boxed vectra had only one changed at 140k miles and was written off at 250k with the same dmf/clutch still in place and it was used and abused that car

edit: inlet manifold cheap fix guide http://www.thephda.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=137


if your in the market for one of these don't discount having a quick look at Vectras. a lot of car for the money these days. just don't whatever you do buy a 3l v6 cdti they are ticking time bomb in regards to fuel pumps.

my reason for suggesting a Vectra is that you get more car for your money (they are not as desirable as the astras, and you can get the Vectra with the 150 16v lump with an F40 gearbox which is far better in terms of reliability and longevity in comparison to the m32 found in the Astra
 
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Why would you remap a car properly, an then still on a tuning box which sends false signals to the ecu... Isn't it easier to either have a more 'aggressive' map, or not do this in the knowledge the engine might be outside of safe parameters ?
 
After the way things have been with my Vectra lately (its got the 120bhp engine) i've decided based on forum posts that the 150 is a bit less reliable with a longer list of common problems but most of the work on it is reasonably simple to do.

The 120 on the other hand seems mechanically more reliable with less things to break but when stuff does go it just seems to be in stupid places to get to and makes doing the work a pain in the rear.

Example, glow plugs are a fairly simple DIY job on the 150 while some clown decided on the 120 to put them at the back of the engine below the EGR valve and various pipes. Turned what could be a nice easy job into a god damn i'll need to get a garage to do it.
 
My dads 1.6 astra H suffers from clutch judder, it doesnt happen once the car gets 'warm' but apart from that its a nice car to drive.

Another issue i found is the indicator stalks not canceling sometimes, but thats not a massive issue.
 
Cheers for the info guys. Especially foxtrot thats some good reading thanks for that.

I've never really spent any time looking at Astra H's, I've driven a friends VXR and it was ok but I'd like to go try a diesel.

The reliability factor of the 120 would play a part, do these map well? But the thought of the 150 mapped to 200BHP/320ish lbft is really very tempting as watching some speedo vids I know they shift and ultimately would feel a lot quicker than my Civic due to the torque! Just getting to the point where I think a diesel would actually save me fuel money and I always wanna change my car so two birds with one stone etc.

They do seem good value. The swirl flap thing makes a lot more sense now. I'd hopefully be looking at 58 plate onwards, I assume a lot of niggles were sorted by then and these should be a bit more reliable?

Are alternators cheap? whats the price roughly on DMF and new clutches on these? Is the single mass conversion any good or does it ruin how the car feels? As I swapped my MK4 GTI turbo DMF setup to a single mass when it failed and I wish I'd spent the extra on DMF again really.
 
I've had a MK4 Golf before. I think I will stick to the been there and done that comment lol.

Ouch, but recon'ing can't be quite that painful? :)
 
Rybo89 said:
Gearbox is £2500 from Vauxhall.

That is all.
Click to expand...

As an Astra 1.9CDTI (150) owner, I've done a fair amount of research into this, theres plenty of places that will replace the layshaft bearing for better parts for around half this and offer a warranty on the work they do. It's not something I've had to have done yet, but I've done the research for when it's needed (2009 with 25k Miles)
 
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