Goodbye Vauxhall (sort of), well hello Audi S3

[Harvey]

Popped over to Shrewsbury last weekend for a mini break in the tent after a stop on route at Chasewater Country Park for some extreme parking and lunch including a walk around the lake.

The accommodation for a few nights at Cartref Caravan & Camping Site.

The site even had free wifi so we couldn’t resist watching the BTCC qualifying and race day action on catch-up with Netflix also taking a bashing.

The main reason for the trip was to attend the British Hill Climb Championship at nearby Loton Park. We’ve driven past the signs for Loton Park a plenty over the years but never attended an event. What a great day and very friendly atmosphere with some lovely machinery going up the hill.

Took a few snaps bit didn’t go mad.

 

[northpole]

seems to have some nice classics and some really cool up to date cars.... and seems like you had a good time

 

[Harvey]

I gave the Astra mk3 V6 a breath of fresh air and replaced the pollen filter using the very last of my genuine GM stock. They are an easy fitment as you simply pull out the water guard and pop the two clips, no tools required.

With the MOT looming I noticed the rear number plate light wasn’t working so popped the fitting out and gave the contacts a clean which kicked it back into life.

Last Friday it was MOT time and I’m pleased to say another pass…although it did get another advisory for the LOUD exhaust

While it was on the ramps I grabbed a couple of underside pics as it’s rare you get the chance, all looking great under there.

 

[northpole]

well that's the first mk3 astra i've seen in years that is that clean in the bottom.... well done!

 

[Harvey]

I thought it was about time I popped an S3 update in here so here goes…I fitted a new Gecko are freshener last month. Other than that nothing to report as it’s chugging along nicely.

My mate have a poorly sounding horn no his Golf mk7.5 as he source a FIAMM replacement and we set about fitting. Frist job get the front in the air and wheels removed.

After removing a few inner arch panels, we got the failed LH high tone horn removed and replaced with new.

Might as well replace both so we did the same on the RH for the low tone.

Old horns with faulty on the left. Another enjoyable session fixing stuff.

 

[Harvey]

Popped up to a local car meet the other week at the GBS factory. Decent meet and lots of funky cars there including my GTE and mates Nova.

Mates very shiny GBS with a Duratec lump (RH of pic)

More exciting pics to drool over.

Even gave the old girl a bath when I got home

After stripping the GTE heater matrix and pipework out I was left with this monstrosity in the engine bay holding just the clutch cable, I thought I can do better than that so…

I found I had a genuine clutch cable holding device pre-painted that never got used on the Astra mk3 V6, perfect I thought.

Now doesn’t that look much better and no more scratched limbs when poking about in there.

 

[Harvey]

So peeps, things just happened and I’m no longer the custodian of my GTE having now sold it. As part of the sale I agreed to deliver and last Saturday morning was greeted to this awaiting it’s final road trip with me after 19 years 5 months and 1 week of ownership.

The new owner seems very happy with it and I’m sure will put their spin (not literally I hope) on things so all the best as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the car. I now have a space to fill but haven’t yet found what I’m looking for.

 

[northpole]

Well all depends on what you want to replace it with...judging by your pictures it could be anything... and that is quite exciting! let us know when you've got it

 

[Harvey]

My Sisters Astra mk6 which she’s had from new hasn’t been behaving of late and had rough idle and power loss with the odd jerky pull off. I scanned the codes and got a double hit for the crank sensor so cleared them and all was well for a while.

Then the same things started happening again so scanned and got a hit for the crank sensor.

New crank sensor was ordered which arrived in double quick time.

This wasn’t going to be a 5 min job as it was up the airtime and the painful task of removing the starter motor.

GM, as it was back then, decided it would be a good idea to fit the crank sensor within the gearbox bellhousing so the only way to access it is to remove the starter, what a faffy job but achievable without removing battery power if you're careful.

Old sensor was a Honeywell, I thought they made home central heating products lol

All fixed and the car has been running like a dream for the last couple of months with no jerkiness and no warning lights, just super smooth power delivery, as much as you can get from a NA 1.6L.

 

[Harvey]

Nothing exciting to report apart from the latest unofficial/official 2024 VAG maps landed earlier this month so I finally got round to updating the S3 MIB2 High Harman nav.

While I was at it the Amarok also got updated which is much easier and quicker than the S3 as it’s SD card based so just a simple format and copy.

In other Amarok news the drivers side auxiliary reverse light died but luckily I have two brand new spares after the warranty claim in Feb of this year when the passenger side failed click me.

All sorted and back to full brightness for epic reverse viewing at night.

 

[Harvey]

Well folks, I wasn’t planning on buying this quickly to fill my drive space after moving on the GTE track car in October but it sort of went like this…saw it, wanted it, bought it sight unseen and delivered to my door within the week.

It's a very early VXR8 LS2 6.0L in the lovely and rare Impulse Blue, this colour was only available in 2007.

I had always said if I bought a V8 it would have to have a Supercharger and this car visited Walkinshaw in 2008 where it had a Harrop 122 bolted on, the same SC later fitted to the Bathurst S model in 2009. For me it was simple, go all in or don’t bother.

The car isn’t mint but very usable and I’m sure I’ll put the ‘Harvey’ touch on it in my ownership. The previous owner looks to have spent a small fortune maintaining and upping the power to the current 640bhp/600lbft. I would have been perfectly happy with 500 for power/torque so this thing is way beyond my expectations!

 

[Mr Freeze]

Nothing exciting to report apart from the latest unofficial/official 2024 VAG maps landed earlier this month so I finally got round to updating the S3 MIB2 High Harman nav.

While I was at it the Amarok also got updated which is much easier and quicker than the S3 as it’s SD card based so just a simple format and copy.

In other Amarok news the drivers side auxiliary reverse light died but luckily I have two brand new spares after the warranty claim in Feb of this year when the passenger side failed click me.

All sorted and back to full brightness for epic reverse viewing at night.

How much is it to get the current sat nav update ? mine is still on 2019 and is useless .

 

[Harvey]

@Mr Freeze contact www.vagpro.co.uk as I'm sure he'll quote you happy and has other contacts throughout the UK if you're not close to Leicester.

 

[Mr Freeze]

Well folks, I wasn’t planning on buying this quickly to fill my drive space after moving on the GTE track car in October but it sort of went like this…saw it, wanted it, bought it sight unseen and delivered to my door within the week.

It's a very early VXR8 LS2 6.0L in the lovely and rare Impulse Blue, this colour was only available in 2007.

I had always said if I bought a V8 it would have to have a Supercharger and this car visited Walkinshaw in 2008 where it had a Harrop 122 bolted on, the same SC later fitted to the Bathurst S model in 2009. For me it was simple, go all in or don’t bother.

The car isn’t mint but very usable and I’m sure I’ll put the ‘Harvey’ touch on it in my ownership. The previous owner looks to have spent a small fortune maintaining and upping the power to the current 640bhp/600lbft. I would have been perfectly happy with 500 for power/torque so this thing is way beyond my expectations!

@Mr Freeze contact www.vagpro.co.uk as I'm sure he'll quote you happy and has other contacts throughout the UK if you're not close to Leicester.

Thanks

 

[Harvey]

Back when we had light in the evenings I had a fun time in my mates garden on Transit Camper duties helping with his leaky rear hubs.

It looks like organised chaos but I can assure you this is how my mate works and we can sort of guess where most things are that we need.

Apart from the huge centre nut being mega tight the job wasn’t that bad and it all slipped together nicely and still dry with no further leaks to date.

 

[northpole]

lol you are just like me, if it needs fixing 9 out of 10 times i'm helping or doing the job regardless of the brand... I fixed almost every brand, just haven't got my fingers on exotic stuff like supercars.. but at the end of the day they are all just a pile of parts put together to make it a car so exotic or not I'll be pulling stuff apart to fix whatever needs fixing.

 

[Mr Freeze]

Does a 19 plate S3 have a cam belt of are they chain driven ?

 

[Harvey]

Does a 19 plate S3 have a cam belt of are they chain driven ?

Chain & with regular oil/filter swaps should never require changing.

 

[northpole]

Chain & with regular oil/filter swaps should never require changing.

yeah nope chains can last a lifetime (read about 10 years) than the chains start to stretch and start to grind the chain guides to the point where they'll snap... this in turn will break the chain and well we all know what happens to engines if the timing chain goes... it is one of the reasons why they actually sell the timing chain kits. the tell tale of the chain having stretch is a clear engine rattle on the timingchain side.

 

[Harvey]

I actioned the S3 annual wheel swap round back to front and vice versa to even out the wear. Still got 5mm left on the CrossClimate+ so they are lasting very well with the car just reaching 28K this month at 7yrs old.

Renewed the Audi Connect license as the wife and I love the Satellite overlay and find the real-time traffic updates useful so opted for another years fun.

Then earlier today it was MOT time and I’m pleased to say the S3 passed after a very thorough inspection. I'll be performing a service including Haldex this coming weekend so pleased there’s no extra work found that needs doing.

 

[Harvey]

The Amarok also had recent work as it hit 40K miles this month and the front disc had a pronounced lip on the inner face so decided to replace the lot with these.

Easy enough job, remove old and replace with new.

With yesterday being MOT time for the truck. It passed but rear brakes have an imbalance and only just scraped through. I suspect the LH caliper seized handbrake lever a few years ago caused heat soak and possible internal damage but levers working fine and both pistons wound back OK. I’ll get both rear calipers overhauler next year which will sort it.

 

[Harvey]

S3 annual service the other weekend so having reached 28,091 miles at 7 year old it got some well-deserved loving with the first job a brake fluid refresh having last been done two years ago. Fluid colour looked fine and I’ve said it before and will say it again, the rear caliper bleed nipple is a pain to access and you must use a deep ring spanner.

Next up drop the oil and change the oil filter refilling with Castrol 5W-30 LL to the VW 504 00 spec for petrol engines.

Fitted a new plastic drain and o-ring from stock on the left with used on the right. Just make sure when installing your oil drain that it’s correctly located in the sump notch as you really don’t want it coming out.

Looking clean inside the filter housing with new filter and o-ring ready for action.

When I removed the undertray I found this plastic pipe and had to Google the part number. Turns out it’s off the air filter housing lower drain so it routes any water away from the loom & pipework directly below. I must have disturbed it when previously feeding the battery changer loom into the engine bay.

Talking of air filters I stuck a new Bosch S0287 (short code) in as it had been a couple of years since I’d fitted new.

 

[Harvey]

Bi-annual servicing and 8K miles since the Haldex oil was last changed and gauze cleaned and those who own an S3 know how important it is unless you're happy for your Quattro to become 2WD. I’d already got everything in stock for the servicing including all the Haldex parts.

I drained the Haldex and removed the pump to fully drain the fluid and access the gauze for cleaning. Not at all bad on the gauze but nevertheless removed it for a through clean with brake cleaner.

Haldex pump housing checked and cleaned out.

Bolted the pump on with new o-rings and filled with oil, using my VCDS primed the pump (you need to have the engine running for this) via Basic setting. This allows the new oil to fully circulate in the Haldex, then topped up with around 100ml more oil.

I didn’t forget the cabin filter accessed via the glovebox, just pull the inside cover off then carefully prise the three top plastic clips and you simply pull the oil filter out and insert new.

Final job was to use VCDS to perform an SRI reset and it’s good for another year.

 

[northpole]

top job mate!

 

[Harvey]

Much of the same with more servicing but this time the chunky Amarok V6 with a more festive theme under the twinkle lights.

Dropped the 8.5L of Castrol quality oil before popping more of the same 5W-30 LL back in also changing the oil filter. The oil is the same stuff I use in the S3 as it also meets VW diesel spec 507.00.

When I was done with my fiddling the VCDS came out to play and I performed an SRI reset.

The Amarok has an oil quality sensor so takes around 50 miles for the oil mileage/days to calculate correctly and will appear as a dashed entry until such a time. It confused me the first time I saw it.

 

[northpole]

Everytime i see an amarok I find myself wanting one... but than i realize people will ask me to help them out constantly so not happening... If i was in a more rural area i would deffo own one though.. i think they are one of the better pickup trucks on the market but i'd probably go for a petrol one.

 

[Harvey]

As I mentioned a few posts back I got myself a petrol guzzling V8 with blower for a bit of fun click me. I’ve been sorting niggles over the last few months and so the VXR8 tinkering has begun with the first job to replace the rear fog light as it was sun bleached so off came the rear bumper.

While in there I cleanup all the muck and noted the rear outer PDC mount was poorly attached so bonded it on using epoxy resin, it looks so happy to be there.

Back to the main job and after careful screwdrivering I managed to remove the rear fog. It has a stainless bracket but the screws were not and very rusty.

With the fog light off I obviously turned my attention to the tailpipes and gave them a good scrubbing with Autosole polish, came up OK but could be better.

Back to the fog light I found some funky 7mm socket size screwbolts and rubber washers from my stock to replace the crusty screws.

The next task was to find a replacement rear fog light as Vauxhall had used a generic part (only for the UK market) and not a GM item as Aussy cars don’t come fitted with rear fog lights. After a bit of research using a 4 digit number I found stamped on the item I tracked the exact part to a Hella 2NE 009 001-027 which are fitted to all sorts including caravans lol. I sourced my replacement brand new for £20 off eBay. You can see in the pic why the original needed replacing as it looked rather manky and not right.

Tested prior to fully fitting the rear bump and happy to confirm all now sorted and that’s the fog light back to looking as it should be, although I’ll probably never ever use it.

 

[Harvey]

On Boxing Day 2023 the wife and I completed our annual pilgrimage to Mallory Park for the 48th Plum Pudding Races. This includes both bike and car racing but as I’m not an avid bike fan I’ve only got car pics so apologies for those who like their bikes, you should have been there shouldn’t you.

Got there nice and early for a decent spot on the opposite side to the main entrance meaning we could enjoy our festive leftover food with a mug of steaming coffee while watching racing sat in the truck.

Went for a plod with plenty of spectator cars there but this Ovlov 340 caught my eye, what a thing of beauty.

Racing people that’s what we were there for so here you go zoom zoom.

Had a perusal in the pit area and noted a few interesting racing machines.

Back to more racing before the day ended around 3pm and we waited for the queues to subside before cruising home.

 

[Harvey]

Took both the S3 and Amarok for AC checks this week and used the same place I did back in Nov 2021 when last checked being Staykool.

Wednesday 10th Jan 17:30 S3 was down 100g due to natural leakage so always worth getting it checked peeps. For my records was 28,310 miles.

Fully sorted and 475g of R1234yf gas pumped in as it’s 460g+/-15g total.

Thursday 11th Jan 17:30 was Amarok turn and found to be 140g down with total being 600g of R-134a. For my records was 41,079 miles.

So that’s both vehicles sorted for Summer at mega cheep prices as it’s currently Winter. Yes, you can still use AC in Wintel as I do to heat and it clears your screens quicker.

 

[Harvey]

After a more in-depth look at the VXR8 after delivery I noted one of the rear spoiler fixings wasn’t looking good so proceeded to carefully remove the crusty nut which obviously snapped. Luckily the other three fixings were fine so off it came for a repair.

I noted the spoiler uprights were removable so carefully did so after peeling back the foam.

I already had my suspicions a repair had been completed and I was right as you can clearly see it here after I had removed the snapped stud.

How the OE studs should look. These are the good pair and cleaned up fine after taking this pic.

Next job was to make a replacement stud so I did this then using epoxy bonded it into place.

Left it a few days to fully cure before cleaning the excess from the thread and bolting the upright back onto the spoiler.

I then purchased four stainless steel blackodised nuts and made some rubber washers before bolting the spoiler back on. All sorted and you’d never know it had a repair if you squint.

 

[Harvey]

I’d been meaning to go for a while so a few months back I popped to Caffeine & Machine (The Hill, Warwickshire) playing shotgun in my mates Golf mk7.5 derv. Not a bad venue and decent turnout so without further a doo pic spam here we goooo…..

 

[Harvey]

The VXR8 are prone to hazy headlights and my example is no different and had already had second-hand units fitted but these had started to turn bad so I did this.

Then left the car blind.

I outsourced the fix to a mate who knows a thing or two about valeting so bunged these hazy lights his way.

A few weeks later I receive these pics as the sanding had begun going down as low as 600 grit to remove a clear coat someone had applied poorly. Possibly a previous attempt to stop or fix the haze.

With the clear coat removed 800 grit was next.

Then 1000 grit.

Next 2000 grit.

He was getting bored by this point and thinks 3000 grit.

Quick polish and looking much better.

After both headlights were done, they got a final ceramic coat.

Not mint but way better so going to see how I go but if needs be I’ll buy brand new genuine units which you can still get imported.

 

[HollywoodDroid]

The VXR8 are prone to hazy headlights and my example is no different and had already had second-hand units fitted but these had started to turn bad so I did this.

Then left the car blind.

I outsourced the fix to a mate who knows a thing or two about valeting so bunged these hazy lights his way.

A few weeks later I receive these pics as the sanding had begun going down as low as 600 grit to remove a clear coat someone had applied poorly. Possibly a previous attempt to stop or fix the haze.

With the clear coat removed 800 grit was next.

Then 1000 grit.

Next 2000 grit.

He was getting bored by this point and thinks 3000 grit.

Quick polish and looking much better.

After both headlights were done, they got a final ceramic coat.

Not mint but way better so going to see how I go but if needs be I’ll buy brand new genuine units which you can still get imported.

That's a beaut VXR8!

With the headlights, rather than buying the whole unit do they not sell just the plastic lenses them selves? I know you can buy them for other car makes and is much cheaper than dishing out for a whole new unit.

 

[northpole]

With it being a vauxhall the answer probably is no they don't do the lenses it was one of my most hated things of owning a vauxhall ( and one of the reasons you see so many with fogged up headlights)

 

[Harvey]

With the headlights, rather than buying the whole unit do they not sell just the plastic lenses them selves? I know you can buy them for other car makes and is much cheaper than dishing out for a whole new unit.

No, you can't the lens separately. I'm hopeful what I've had done will last but there are option if not including OE, aftermarket stock look from TYC and other funky aftermarket versions in all sorts of designs.

 

[Harvey]

I required a few minor parts for the VXR8 and found a company in Australia Speed Spares who post to the UK so took a punt and they arrived very quickly tracked with no additional costs. This consists of screen washer bottle cap (92191916), interior trim clips (92139070), glovebox lock with key (92181589) plus boot trim clip (92183231).

Glovebox was removed to fix the lock as the VXR8 was supplied with no key and they are different to the ignition key only for the glovebox.

I found for whatever reason the glovebox didn’t have a switch fitted for the light so a bit of digging found it to be the same as a Nova/Astra mk2 so got one free from a mate part no.90033410. It required a refurb and now works perfectly.

Back to the glovebox lock and careful removal of the door cover to access it.

Handle with lock removed and again careful lock trim removal before new lock installed.

I now have a fully functioning glovebox lock with key and light.

The dash trims had been removed during its life and most clips damaged or missing so they got replaced and no more rattly trim.

Repainted the alarm horn siren black as someone had painted it bright red, who knows why as it wasn’t painted well either.

The early VXR8 never had pollen/cabin filters fitted and instead a blanking was installed. As my wife suffers from hay fever this was corrected with a washable K&N filter part no.VF3020 fitted.

In place with scuttle trim refitted.

Next job was the rear-view mirror as the mirror glass edge had tarnished so after a scary removal using a small flat blade screwdriver pushed from the bottom and a twisting action with a wiggle while gently pulling it upwards it came free.

The brand was a Donnelly part no.011083 which I found was the exact same as a Jaguar S and X Type. Even stranger I found a Jaguar breakers two miles from me so a short drive and £4 later I obtained a mint mirror, winning! VXR8 on left and Jag on right, both the same part.

 

[Harvey]

Popped up to a VAG meet at The Motorist a couple of weeks ago, great turnout. Dumped the S3 in the middle on gravel to avoided the very soggy grassed area.

Mate and me grabbed lunchies from the café, nom nom nom.

Then we enjoyed a weeble around the sights and sounds on display.

Look at me peeps, I can’t park for toffee!!!

Now for something a little different for me as my mate bought himself a Mini project, literally. It’s a 1984 mk4 998cc with 1 lady owner from new covering 47K miles. Never worked on them but it’s not difficult apart from requiring imperial sized spanners and sockets lol.

The mission was simple, to confirm the engine would fire up. We set about upgrading to electronic ignition using an Accu Spark kit while also replacing the lazy starter.

Confirmed we had spark but the SU carb wasn’t playing ball so got it running on brake cleaner without the carb to prove it fired up for 5 seconds. Mate has now ordered a new HS4 SU carb as he’s not messing around and wants it MOTed for Easter.

 

[Harvey]

More VXR8ing as I was having a look around the vast boot and noted an alarming issue with the battery terminals as there wasn’t much left of them. Spot the issue folks!

Bought a pair of replacements, cleaned up the battery terminals and they slipped straight on. Got the +ve terminal cover to properly clip into place.

While I was in there I noted it was where the Kenne Bell Boost-A-Pump (BAP) was installed. The red amp looking kit top right, used to increase fuel pump flow when running high bhp. Found a much more techie description in this pdf here for anyone wishing to know more.

After sorting the battery connections, I could replace my temporary fir clip (left) with my Aussy purchased OE (right) and cover it all up.

I brought the VXR8 into the modern world and upgraded all the interior lighting to LED technowizardry including the front footwell lights and boot light, real funky don’t you think haha.

 

[northpole]

that BAP is an interesting thing... something to for the S and RS owners to consider instead of putting in an aftermarket fuelpump. also you might ant to add one of those aftermarket flexible led lights under the hood so you can see stuff at night easily... I'll be doing that sometime this year when upgrading all the interior bulbs on my a4 avant.

 

[Harvey]

It's been keeping me busy this Winter with VXR8ing yet again, I was fortunate enough that the car came supplied with a set of Walkinshaw Performance floor mats and could tell they had been in there a while so outsourced to my detailing chum for a full pimping session. Mine are early mats as the latest don’t come with the rear WP logo, typical cost cutting I assume click me similar to Audi.

As they were removed from the car, that’ll never do.

Getting a good clean after a hard drill brush scrubbing session.

We used this wonderful smelling stuff to scrub them prior to the wet’n’dry vac.

The finished result was amazing and for amusement why wouldn’t you add lines, mmm lines.

The extracted goop.

The screen washer bottle was a tad wobbly so I removed it and gave it a thorough clean inside to get all the slime out that can build up over time, pictured below is a small amount I removed. I noted a plastic securing bracket broken so chopped it off and made a sturdy metal bolted version.

It’s a Harrop part used in the supercharger kit so not an OE item. Once refitted I replaced the cover panel and installed the new cap.

I always connect my plethora of Accumate battery maintainers when I’m not using my vehicles for a length of time. No exception with the VXR8 as I connect it in the engine bay on the jumper posts which means you can lock and secure the vehicle while keeping the battery healthy.