Sunroof seal
My 1998 Vauxhall Astra Mk4 1.8 CDX has a factory-fitted tilt/slide sunroof and the seal fitted around the edge of the glass is showings its age. It doesn’t allow water into the cabin but I would like to replace it. I have tried to track down a replacement seal with no luck, although I can get hold of the glass assembly with seal for several hundred pounds. It is a Golde sunroof and would appear to be fitted to a variety of vehicles, not just GM. Have you any idea where I could get this part or an equivalent replacement?
On another point, my autobox features an ‘idle neutral’ function for economy, where neutral is selected after a couple of seconds upon coming to a halt with the footbrake. I find this feature quite annoying, as when you’re in a traffic queue the ’box is in and out of drive seemingly unnecessarily. I avoid this by applying the handbrake or creeping up slowly. As this is triggered by the two-pole brake light switch, I was considering disconnecting it with a switch from the ECU or could it be removed from the ECU software? Alan Worland
Golde Schiebedacher was a German company that made and installed high-quality sliding steel sunroofs which were cable-driven. This meant they could either be cranked by hand or via an electric motor. They were fitted to a wide range of vehicles.
I have found a company that carries a large selection of spare parts for Golde and many other makes of sunroof. Hopefully they will have the seal you need. They can be contacted via the website at http://bit.ly/2huujdz or by telephone on 0117 972 8383. Having not used this company personally, this is only a suggestion not a recommendation.
According to Vauxhall, the automatic neutral shift function “automatically sets the transmission to N to reduce fuel consumption, eg at traffic lights”. There does not appear to be the facility to override the system as it is written into the ECU. Unfortunately, any alteration to the brake switch wiring would be detrimental to other systems in the vehicle. The gearbox is designed to cope with the automatic neutral shift function and this should not cause excess wear or damage to any of the components.