New Owner - Few Questions

[pr0xibus]

Morning Folks,

Purchased a 12 - Astra J - 2.0CDTi (Elite) a few months back.  Not really had much time for questions, Xmas, COVID, etc etc.

Anyway 

1.  I have the Service Vehicle Soon message, which I believe is a Non Emissions error.  I don't mind taking it to the local Garage, but was wondering if people can suggest a relatively cheap ODBC Reader (Ideally phone connection) so I can read these sort of messages?  Couldn't afford Tech2, and as much as I would like to avoid buying a laptop for Opcom.

2.  My Brakes are needing to be replaced, after some spirited driving along country roads, they struggled to stop the car, Is there a preferred Brake Disc / Pad combination, that is better than OEM?  Don't need bigger Discs etc, Just something that can handle me on windy roads.

3.  Car seem to be fairly rusty underneath, recently replaced the Washer Pump and at the same time noticed a large circle mount looking thing, that had snapped off.  I was trying to find pictures from underneath the car to point it out, but struggled to find anything.  (This question doesn't need to be answered as its pretty vague)  Position of this thing was Front Passenger, to the right hand side of the Washer pump Underneath, looks like it would have been connected to either the front bumper, radiator sort of area.

4.  The service History for the J does anyone happen to know if VX keep a record of these online, Needing a replacement Service Book and was kinda hoping they would (I'll find out later today anyway when I phone them, but just on the off chance someone knew).

5.  Audio related question.  I have the CD400, so phone can connect for Voice only, I noticed some Astras have a nice screen / Satnav, do All radios only have Voice for BT or can Music be played too.  Don't mind buying aftermarket, I did see a nice Tesla looking one, but ideally I would like it to be relatively standard looking.

6.  When I purchased the car there was mention of an options (Lighting Pack), could not for the life of me remember the name, but the pack above had black Front lights etc, can anyone tell me the name of the Lighting Packs that would have been options when purchasing new?

[Rusty2009]

1. You best option is Op-com because a lot of the other readers can't read all the fault codes.

2. EBC discs and pads are good (but cost may be an issue) Avoid Nappa discs and pads.

4. Not as far as I know but if it has all been at a dealership and know which one they will make you new service book up (for a fee).

5. CD600 which is colour screen CD400 had BT built in and can stream audio over BT. Also the Navi650+ (not the 650) and Navi950 also have BT built in and can stream audio over BT.

6. There were 2 types of halogen headlights all halogen or halogen with LED DRL/side lights (I can't remember the name of these options though) the other option was AFL lighting.
There is then HBA = High beam assist option although most people find that system rubbish with the standard mirror sensor, but if you have the forward facing camera system it seems to work much better.
There is then also auto lights and wipers.

[pr0xibus]

Much appreciated for the quick reply @Rusty2009

Yeah I thought I would have to go down the Opcom route, Might just bite the bullet and buy an old Win 7 laptop.... Chinese Readers, is this the usual way to go? Software I assume is relatively easy to find?

Cheers for the heads Up on EBC, will look at ordering some ASAP.

Yeah I had a feeling RE the service history might be a problem to retrieve, not much I can do I suppose, Will phone up VX for a new Service book at least.

I currently have the CD400 and its Voice only from phone, no Music can be streamed, Nice to have the 3.5mm Jack but lucky to find any phones that have that anymore, tis a shame

Re the lighting, Literally just found out what I needed, "Sight and Light Pack" is what it was called, but There was another pack that had the Black Headlights on them, struggling to find the same of it, I was hoping to find all the bits for the next pack up and fit them sort of thing

[Rusty2009]

Buy from here only is my recommendation.
https://www.op-com.co.uk/

You can buy adaptors for phones not sure how well they work though.

Sight and light pack I thing gave auto lights.

just buy the headlight off ebay with the black inserts (if you don't have the LED DRL that may throw an error though).

[Spaghetti]

Hi mate,

I I have a 11 plate Gtc 2.0 cdti sri,

I currently have the service vehicle soon warning on my car, turned out to be a faulty glow plug, decided not to change it as they say it's better to change all 4 and they quoted me 600+ for it but it has never been a problem even in -8 cold starts, but could be something else

I have pagid disks and pagid pads both front and back which are reasonable at around £50 a set

I have the cd600 but it doesn't have BT for audio, I just use a FM transmitter which I picked up for £14 works a treat

If you haven't already I suggest getting a decent remap but will be abit more pricey as they have to open up the ECU fully not just a plug and play map through obd port think mine was £320 and it pushed it up to 206bhp from 164bhp

Just have fun that's the main thing mate, then put money away for something faster down line

[pr0xibus]

Cheers for the reply buddy.

Yeah not had any issues with the Glow plugs as of Yet, even during the winter it was fine, but gonna try get the car all fixed up sort of thing

Yeah same as me for the CD400, may just invest in a tesla screen sort of thing, least they look Vx (ish)

Yeah I noticed the Plug and Play maps are approx 200bhp which isnt too bad, for the extra $$ is it worth the open ECU? yeah already have a Saab 9-5 Aero sitting at 300bhp astra is my partners car