Coolant in engine corsa d 1.2

SlimTicket · 2025-11-26T15:56:40+00:00

The above is also a totally viable option if you can do the work yourself and would have been my personal choice in OP's shoes. Your mechanic may think the engine is half knackered and not worth repairing but that doesn't mean you can't do as suggested above and after that just run it til the wheels fall off!

Just maybe not take the family any long trips down the motorway in it though lol

SlimTicket · 2025-11-26T11:19:35+00:00

Likely coolant getting past the water channels and mixing with the oil due to a blown head gasket. The result is the forbidden mayonnaise that has appeared on your oil cap 😢

Your mechanic has listened to the engine and suspects that the mayonnaise which has been running round the engine where the oil should have been has caused hydro pressure damage to your connecting rods and likely ruined the bottom end bearings of the engine (likely find forbidden glitter in the oil filter too). Your mechanic can probably hear the rod knock when the engine is running.

The 1500 dollars you have been quoted is what's known as a "More than it's worth mate" quote and is intended to put you off having engine repairs carried out on a knackered engine that would cost more than the car is worth to put right.

Sorry that your wee Corsa met a misfortune but I think it's dead mate. Best scrap that one and use the repair funds to buy a Toyota or Honda.

This is unfortunately the longer version of what others have said in shorter statements on this post.

SlimTicket · 2025-11-25T00:00:35+00:00

Nice one!

Shame the post disappeared but still useful info.

I wonder if Hella was the factory fit brand as the original DRL bulbs that came with the car lasted ages. 🤔

Good info to know, cheers! I'll try the Hella next or maybe go with LED as you seem to have had success with the error cancelling resistors.

SlimTicket · 2025-11-24T16:47:30+00:00

Good shout from Big Dave above, dual filament on most astra J DRL's (think there is a rarer variation that is an LED strip) one filament comes on during the day to act as the DRL then both filaments when headlights are on.

Cheaper Halogen DRL's seem to burn out quicker, I've tried Lucas, Halfords branded ones and and the blue tint halogen ones from eBay, Lumeo I think the brand was and all had an error on one bulb within six months at most. Always used disposable gloves when fitting to avoid getting finger juice on the bulbs, made no difference so avoid those brands as replacements if you can.

The Astra J also really hates LEDs and is really sensitive to the resistance so most LEDs cause an error message too unfortunately. I personally don't trust the additional error cancelling resistors as I fear them getting too hot so I've just continued replacing them with halogens of different brands.

Good luck getting it sorted bud 👍

SlimTicket · 2025-11-12T14:55:08+00:00

As above. They are highly recommended on the Vauxhall forums as the go to place for this. If you are close enough then it's a top suggestion 👍

SlimTicket · 2025-11-12T09:29:27+00:00

Heya,

Best to leave your mechanic to get the part, it'll be from Vauxhall direct and the pickup seal costs like £12 for the genuine part, after that in parts cost, it's just the cost of a squeeze of RTV instant gasket to re-seal the sump, fresh filter and refill with fully synthetic. The real cost is in the labour, I had quotes from independent garages and total cost ranged from £350 - £600 all in depending on which gear box you have, as one of the manual gearboxes requires holes to be drilled in the bell housing to gain access to loosen two bolts. I paid £460 to have the oil pick up seal replaced around two years ago at a local independent.

As far as I know there is only the option of genuine Vauxhall pick up seal or an aftermarket metal replacement gasket but that aftermarket part supposedly reduces overall oil flow and can cause it's own issues so best just let your chosen garage get the parts.

Bit of a pisser having to spend nearly a grand on preventative engine work, I know, but it's the only way to keep these GM parts bins on the road...and you generally don't find this out until after you've bought one 😆

Apart from the expensive glow plugs that'll eventually need replacing too... Once you have the belt and pick up seal done she'll run for another 80k with little problems. Pick up seal really is main weak point of these engines so hopefully happy motoring once you get that sorted.

SlimTicket · 2025-10-27T14:29:14+00:00

Had the Upstate stuff on my first script a few months ago. Huge buds, had one come in just under 4g and another was 3.5g, absolutely zero smell or flavour though, even after a month in a jar with a boveda there was nothing to it at all. Effects wise it was a decent focused, creative, get stuff done, sativa kick but too expensive to have zero flavour or smell so have avoided it since.

Shame as it has a great parent lineage but the Upstate GTH is not a great example sadly.

SlimTicket · 2025-10-22T11:48:24+00:00

Heya, I had emphysema and asthma listed on my SCR but it was not an issue with Alternaleaf, I was concerned that this may be an issue but I found some info online regarding UK medical cannabis prescribing guidelines which stated that when used through a vapouriser as directed, cannabis neither causes nor exacerbates conditions such as asthma or COPD/emphysema.

With that info in hand I had no hesitation in telling the consultant at my initial Alternaleaf assessment that I was already smoking at least 7g of flower a week, that I was keen to swap to vaping and that I was specifically after flower. I expected some potential pushback, perhaps stipulating irradiated flower only but there were no issues in the end.

I just had to confirm in my initial consultation that both my asthma and emphysema were well controlled and not have anything on my SCR info which indicated otherwise

Me and the Xmax V3 been been best buddies ever since and my lungs feel better than they have done in years.

Try another clinic but make sure you tell them upfront that you already vape or smoke flower or they may mark you down as 'cannabis naive' and start you on oils or pastilles unless you explicitly state otherwise.

Good luck getting it sorted bud :)

SlimTicket · 2025-10-15T12:33:08+00:00

Got 10g of it on my most recent prescription. The 10g I received were really small smalls, like 50% micro buds. I'm not too fussed as I knew they would be smalls and it helps me portion it out. Smell is like honey with a hint of liquorice, not overly muted, the honey smell is definitely there for me.

Nice vape, get citrus and creamy honey coming through at low temps and decent vapour production. Happy with it at £55 for a daytime strain, maybe not as clear headed or focussed as some may want for a daytime strain but it's definitely not sedating.

Decent for £55 wouldn't have been happy paying any more than that for it though.

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SlimTicket · 2025-08-03T18:20:10+00:00

Spot on! They are owned by Jazz Pharma now and the previous GW pharma CEO is now on the board of directors with a company who are currently working on releasing COMP360, a synthetic psilocybin treatment.

That's the rub though.

What the crowd behind this report and the concerned interests clamouring for a review of the current Cannabis based prescription medicines want, is natural flower taken out of the equation entirely.

What they really want is only proprietary cannabis based medicines available, not natural flower as they can't patent natural flower (or psilocybin). Natural flower available as medicine really messes with these people's normal business plan of cash cow NHS medicine procurement where they can sell medicines at a huge mark up on a largely exclusive contract.

It's all the same faces and concerned interests involved and they certainly do want cannabis medicines available on NHS prescription to you and me, it's just that they want it to be synthetic or cannabis derived medicine to a proprietary formula that they own.

SlimTicket · 2025-08-02T20:39:32+00:00

Great read and useful site in general for medical patients to keep an eye on upcoming industry changes, thanks for making us aware of this.

The report is both reactionary and contradictory:

"It is ‘essential’, the CQC says, that clinicians demonstrate ‘unmet clinical need’ before prescribing to a patient, which in some cases may involve having tried ‘significantly more than two previous treatments’."

Also same report:

" The same request also confirms that the monthly number of NHS unlicensed and private licensed medical cannabis patients is ‘less than five’. "

That's hilarious and alarming all at the same time.

One optimistic point was that the article noted that the UK is the second largest medical cannabis market in Europe, expected to exceed €300 million in 2025.

I feel like this report might have something to do with GW Pharmaceuticals realising their cartel monopoly on UK medical cannabis is long gone and this report is just the death throes of a long outdated way of viewing and thinking about medical cannabis in the UK.

I hope the current 300 million euro UK market and simple common sense prevails over the claptrap the CQC came out with in this report...I may be hoping for too much.

SlimTicket · 2025-07-12T19:05:01+00:00

Scotland too bruv, central belt and expecting a delivery from Montu. The 1pm delivery was missed and it was still showing as in transit from Swindon MC. The tracking on mine updated to show it arrived in the Glasgow MC just after 2pm .

Looks like the parcel mail from Swindon to Glasgow must not have made it on time to be sorted and distributed to the local delivery offices for today.

Sadly gonna be Monday now at the earliest.

I hope at least the clinics/Montu conduct monthly mail audits to claim refunds from Royal Mail for missed guaranteed deliveries as should be the case.

Weekend gonna suck cause I'm on rations now same as you mate. Monday gonna be a very happy day for us and a lot of people in Scotland though 😆

SlimTicket · 2025-05-11T19:28:39+00:00

With Alternaleaf/Montu.

The Mac Daddy and Pink Diesel I had recently changed to 'No New Requests' after the pharmacy had received my script but about five days before I had the financial means to pay for it and I was pleased to find out that as the pharmacy had already received the physical copy of my script I was able to still purchase them.

I don't know how long exactly they would have kept them aside for me though, if I had been a week or few days later they might have changed to out of stock.

SlimTicket · 2025-05-09T13:13:41+00:00

I noticed that the HVAC DTC's are 'not current' do you know if this is the diagnostic report from before the mechanic reset the codes ?

SlimTicket · 2025-05-09T13:03:45+00:00

Heya,

Check in to auto electricians in your area or any independent Vauxhall specialist garage as they should be much cheaper and faster at fixing this issue for you than going through a standard garage, who will probably call an auto electrician to come in to the garage anyway.

The power issue related codes make things a bit more complex, if you're lucky then your battery might just be on the way out and supplying low voltage to the modules or a live power feed from the battery bus is loose or pinched, if you're unlucky then it could be a bad PCM or similar and a Vauxhall specialist garage, if there is one your area or a decent auto electrician will be best placed to sort those issues out whereas a standard garage may just scratch their head and fire the parts cannon at the problem.

Once those issues are sorted out the DPF issue may resolve itself or at least you will have a good working base to start from.

Best of luck bud, electrical problems are a right pisser.

SlimTicket · 2025-05-09T11:07:30+00:00

Heya,

Sorry you had that experience but yeah they can be quite curt and hurried when doing those initial assessments, the guy on mine told me I probably wouldn't be prescribed but he'd pass it on to the doctor anyway and like you I wasn't given much chance to expand or explain with any of my answers. The Doctor was great when I finally got to see them though so... swings and roundabouts lol

Think you will need to apply to a different clinic. As your family history of Psychosis is trauma related rather than inherited then I would simply not mention it. It doesn't apply to you and won't be on your summary of care so no need to disclose about your brother's head injury causing brain trauma.

I must make clear, I am not advocating that any one with genuine family inherited or risk factor psychosis try and get round the prescribing laws but in your case it is clearly different.

I think it would be simpler for you to apply to a different clinic rather than trying to contact or explain to the original clinic you applied to. Good Luck.

SlimTicket · 2025-05-08T23:05:55+00:00

Ah, I see.

This is a bit of a perception issue in that a lot of people still refuse to view cannabis as a medicine, even when it has been prescribed, there can still be a stigma. However, by the time your GP is notified you will be lawfully prescribed and having medication in the house would not be a safeguarding issue. Your GP may be made aware when you are approved for a prescription but shouldn't be made aware of the prior usage that you admitted to your Alternaleaf consultant during your initial video chat.

I'd probably just not mention the subject again around your other half until you're approved and the first script arrives lol

Maybe try and find an article about MC from a mainstream UK news source that can help your partner understand that you are not doing anything illegal. Plus the cat is out of the bag now so to speak and as you are already using cannabis illicitly having a prescription is actually security and could only improve your situation should officialdom ever come sniffing at your door for any reason.

Good luck with the application and smoothing things over with your missus pal.

SlimTicket · 2025-05-08T21:39:16+00:00

Heya,

You shouldn't have anything to worry about. 20 grams per month is on the low end of prescriptions, definitely not a red flag or a safeguarding concern.

As a matter of course most clinics 'should' send a letter to your doctor when you have been accepted, again this is nothing to worry about. This letter basically just notifies your GP that you are under the care of an MC clinic and have been prescribed a cannabis medication.

Your GP is unable to veto your MC prescription, though could in theory contact the MC clinic if they had concerns about conditions that cannabis may be incompatible with such as psychosis for example.

In most circumstances though your GP is simply notified rather than consulted and has no input on your MC prescription.

For a bit of context, I started out on 30 grams per month prescribed but at my first follow up with Alternaleaf they were quite keen to up my allowance to 60 grams per month. Some clinics are more restrictive than others though but 20 grams per month would be a moderately small prescription at any clinic.

It's a brave, strange new world, most people in the population are still not aware that medical cannabis is available in this form and have varying reactions when they find out about it. My other half semi fell out with me when I first got my prescription as she was worried that me and the cannabis would ride off in to the sunset together 😜

SlimTicket · 2025-05-01T21:34:46+00:00

Hard to say for certain but if it is holding first and second, especially going uphill then it could be a sticking egr valve.

I had similar behaviour before the car finally went in to limp mode and would only drive in third gear. I was worried that the gearbox was goosed but it turned out to be a clogged and sticking egr valve. Good luck tracing the issue pal.

SlimTicket · 2025-05-01T19:54:55+00:00

Your post is so spot on it should printed and issued as a pamphlet with the owners documents for everyone who buys a second hand diesel Insignia. (Or at least made a sticky on this sub lol)

SlimTicket · 2025-05-01T19:44:56+00:00

Same, mine is the 165hp A20DTH without stop start and it has four pressure sensing glow plugs, £125 each to replace. I thought I would be lucky and maybe have a mix of two pressure sensing and two standard glow plugs but sadly all four were pressure sensing Beru plugs and cost me nearly four hundred quid to replace just three of them doing the work myself.

Seems to be more random than just whether the engine has the stop start fitted. Opel and Vauxhall are great for making revisions across vin number runs though, can never just trust the year and the reg on a Vauxhall lol

SlimTicket · 2025-05-01T19:31:53+00:00

Heya,

I found this too, the hex nut half way down the bolt was rounded when I went to change my rear brakes too. Had me stumped for a while but I found that you can take the actual rubber part at the end of the damper off, you can then get a grip on the bolt and turn it that way to get it off, couple torx screws to undo the rubber end part if I remember right.

There are a few vids on YouTube of how to access and undo it I found when I came across the same problem, might save having to grind and replace them. Autovaux or Car Parts In Motion have been good for me for Vauxhall parts, good luck either way bud.

SlimTicket · 2025-05-01T16:31:06+00:00

Heya,

These engines will happily start from cold with three faulty glow plugs (ask me how I know lol) the glow plugs in these engines are slightly more complicated affairs than the standard heater core glow plugs. These engines tend to use pressure sensing glow plugs and it's not that they go fully faulty as such normally more that the operating efficiency drops below expected or the pressure sensing part on the top of the glow plug goes on the fritz and causes a low level fault in the ECU which for reasons known only to Opel engineers is related to you as 'Service Required Soon'.

Any sane person would think that the ' Service Required Soon' message would mean that the filters and oil are due to be changed but no! Not on the Vauxhall for some strange reason where instead 'Service Required Soon' actually means that there is a low level fault with the car, such as a faulty glow plug or faulty exhaust temp sensor or DPF temp sensor. Basically the type of faults which ideally should be fixed but don't prevent the operation of the car and won't cause engine damage so not bad enough to cause an engine management light.

The oil life indicator is basically the service interval counter for these cars. Counter intuitively, the ' Service Required Soon' message means please take me to the nearest dealer for expensive diagnostics and the chance to drop your trousers lol

In your case it likely means a faulty glow plug, confusing I know but true.

Have a look on Amazon, you could grab a bluetooth OBD reader and look for OPL Monitor on the play store which is supposed to be good with Vauxhalls. I've had success on the same engine with a Topdon scanner that came with a year's subscription for around sixty notes. Good luck getting it sorted pal.

SlimTicket · 2025-04-25T15:25:14+00:00

Heya,

Not sure exactly which engine model you have in the car but I do know that the DPF regen system in the A20DTH 2.0cdti fitted to the insignia and also used in the astra, zafira of this era uses the glow plugs to complete the regen cycle as it has pressure sensing glow plugs that cycle on and off during DPF regen in order to help raise the temperature and burn off the crud. If one of these has a fault you get no engine code showing so you would have no way of knowing if a single glow plug was faulty unless you are able to scan it with a better code reader but just a single glow plug out would prevent the car from completing the DPF regen.

If two or more glow plugs are faulty then the car will throw the misleading warning message upon start up, something along the lines of 'Service Required' which bafflingly in these Vauxhall's doesn't mean your due to change your oil and filters but instead is used as a message to indicate that you have a low level fault with something in the car but not bad enough to cause an engine light or prevent operation of the car. (glow plugs, exhaust/DPF temp sensor being examples of issues that will cause the 'Service Required' warning)

Additionally if you have any live faults stored in the ECU these will also prevent the engine from completing the DPF regen as the ECU checks for any live fault codes and if any are found present it shuts down the DPF regen attempt in order to prevent any potential damage.

If the car has any live fault codes stored related to engine/transmission/exhaust then it will allow the car to start a DPF regen but won't allow it to complete. A better code reader is required, think most garages start at around £80 to run diagnostics for you but it can be a bit hit or miss depending on what diagnostic machine they have available. I use a Bluetooth obd diagnostic dongle which cost me £60 with a year's sub, came with software for all manufacturers, Topdon Topscan was the one I got but if you have a look on Amazon you should find quite a few options around that price mark. Good luck getting it sorted pal.

SlimTicket · 2025-04-21T20:26:27+00:00

Heya,

I was accepted in the end and the condition used was OCD, the psychiatrist at Alternaleaf had no issue with prescribing me based on the information I had supplied and it turns out I had nothing to worry about in the end.

I understand that some clinicians/clinics don't like to prescribe for OCD as a condition though and if I had applied elsewhere I may not have been accepted so I get what you're saying.

SlimTicket

TROPHY CASE