I have been changing all my car's led's in switches etc over to blue and green,  and wanted a light up gear knob.. but the ones available don't seem to be the current type of knob, and they cost a fortune. 

Someone mentioned on here a while back about removing the plastic cover from the gear knob, and putting a coloured sticker over the chrome square that is under it, changing the colour the gear's and shift pattern shows up.

This got me thinking of a way to make it illuminated... i used a 3cm x 5cm electroluminescent panel.. this is a thin piece of material laminated with 2 copper strips down one side, apply a high voltage and frequency with the inverters you get with the panel, and it glows. 

i bought my panel and a 12 volt inverter from https://elwirecraft.co.uk/

You can cut the el panel to any shape you want, just keep as much of the copper strips as possible. 

So, i took the gear stick off the car,  dissasembled it into component parts, and drilled a 3mm hole down the knob from the right hand hole for the chrome insert, i then cut the el panel roughly to shape, fed it's wires down the hole and they came out the back of the knob bottom.

Then i put the gearstick backtogether, and extended the wires to the el panel, routing them down the reverse lock out plastic bar (that damn thing breaks easilly, araldite saved the day) 
then i mounted the little inverter (about a matchbox size) in a convinient place,  i picked up power for it from the centre console ambient light (i have a meriva, but astra's have the same thing but around the gear surround i believe) 

This is what the el panel looks like installed in the knob,  it dosent have to be a perfect cut out, as only the middle glows through the numbers and gate pattern

   

My trailer interface module won't program with the Tech2 due to my chassis number (A13DTE engine shouldnt have a towbar fitted it seems) 

When it reads the VIN as part of programming it refuses... even if i use the VIN thats stored in the TIM, that's from a 1.7 engined meriva, 

So i removed the GM-lan wire from the TIM, connected that to the tech2's obdii connector... pin 1 - gm-lan, pin 4 and 5 to earth, pin 16 to power, 

i can talk to the TIM with the tech2 like this, read DTC's, operate the light test functions, and read the data display (always saying no trailer detected... i bypassed the switch in the 13 pin trailer socket, still wont detect it (it's a simple switch to earth when the plug is not in... it's the not detecting the trailer that's my problem i'm trying to fix)

i tried to do a configuration and setup SPS on the TIM, but it wont.. says it cant pull the VIN... that means it must be puling the BCM's vin before it will procede in the programing?? 

i connected the tim back to the car's GM-lan, but i guess the tech2 accesses the BCM over another can connection,  and i;d have the same problem as soon as it reads my vin. 

i know some people use a bench loom to program things... do i need to get a spare BCM to do this?  i gather it's too risky changing the VIN in my cars bcm temporarily.

Hi there
Last year I bought some aftermarket projector headlamps for the astra, they come with their own wiring and ballasts, recently I've been looking at a HID kit and wondering wether or not it would fit? The headlamps take H7 bulbs and has the connector that fits into the back of the bulb as normal, anybody able to give advice?


thanks

Did you know that some astras are more noisy(inside the cabinet).Because opel/wauxhall cancelled some rubber parts to save money in some models.

The guy on the following video says: I have 2013 model astra j (black colour)and it has a special rubber sealing to prevent outside noise.My friend's car is 2015 model(silver one) and it has no same  rubber sealing.Therefore my car is more silent than my friend's car.

I have also 2015 model astra j and  I have also noise problem(If the driver door was not closed properly and outside noise(tire noise etc.) enter inside the cabinet.

 I visited opel services a lot of time due to this problem and they applied silicon spray onto rubber sealing of the doors only But the noise problem was not fixed.

I feel myself cheated by opel/wauxhall now for very cheap rubber parts.I will never buy any opel car due to this stupid cost saving policy of opel/wauxhall.

What do you think about cost saving policy of opel/wauxhall.?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Baq7dr2jIzA

hi there!

appears that I have rounded bleed nipples on my calipers, does anybody know the part numbers for them? have looked on ebay but only seem to be able to find nipples for the Astra H! does anybody know if these will fit?

Many thanks!

My drivers window is very squeaky when I lower/raise it. Feels like its rubbing on something.

Any possible causes or remedies that would fix this please.

Cheers

Hi i am after complete suspension leg for the drivers side.

my car is 2015 astra GTC Limited edition.

Leave a comment and il get back to you ASAP!

Thanks

Anyone got 4 parking sensors for sale? 

i've tried the 4 for £25 off ebay, but they come up with an 'incorrect component installed' error. 

they are for a meriva B, 2011, same ones as fitted to astra J's and the like i believe... part number 93191445,

My trailer interface module is playing up a little, some times it detects the plug insterted and will do the bulb out warning on the dash, sometimes it dosent detect the plug is insterted, 

i've 100% checked the switch in the socket is working, zero ohms when the plug is in, perfect connection when it's out (so the switch is open when plug is inserted) 

i can't talk to the TIM with the tech 2 as it says hardware mismatch or no software available... this is because my chassis number isnt one that should have a tow bar, if i try with the vin the TIM has, it still says hardware mismatch, so it must be reading a module elsewhere in the car and getting my vin from it?

so....  the TIM is on the GM-LAN, shares the data wire with the parking sensors, 
would i be able to talk to the TIM if i disconnected it's data wire and connected it directly into the Tech2's pin 1 of the diagnostic connector, with pin 4 or 5 for signal earth,   and of course power to the Tech2.. prolly via the mains adapter. 

Or do these modules need the BCM present to initiate comms? 

if so, could i change the vin in the BCM to match the TIM's one, just to do a variant set up on it, then change it back, or will i set all sorts or things off like theft protections etc? 

I notice my op-com has a button to change the TIM's vin, i tried that, it changes it to mine, but it still says hardware mismatch on the Tech2,