Mums' Vectra is dead, cue vague symtoms

[ShiteRider]

As title, my old girl has a 55 plate Vectra SRI 1.9 CDTI (120 BHP). Got a phone call earlier saying it had cut out and the steering lock had come on, on a roundabout!!!!!!! cue me hitting warp speed in a beige cortina (100+) down the motorway to save mummy...............the "roundabout" was the 'Rounabout' pub in skelmersdale and the steering lock coming on was the lack of power steering cos the engine died

Anyway to the point, was hard to tell using only a zippo as a light source but doesn't look like it's spat an aux belt off. Engine managment light is on as is the oil can with a spanner through it light (i'm sure it has a better name), i checked the fuses, they were okay but with out any tools of any kind i was kinda flummoxed...... so the story is; she came out work, and the the abs light came on, then the head lights either went dimmer and then brighter or the self levelers were working randomly (hard to tell by her description and she's a bit flustered so i'm not going to push it) then the steering was going light then heavy (sounds like a dodgy pump or are these electric assist?), the wipers would stop and start at different points in their arc then stopped, the dash board then "lit up like a christmas tree" then there was total electrical failure. She tried turning it over a few times, it did literally nothing until the fourth attempt when it ran for approximately 100yrds (with the dash still lit up) before dying again.

It will lock and unlock okay, and the hazards work as does the stereo (which doesn't want to go off) but everything else is a roll of the dice.

Any ideas?

Cheers, Rob.

[Timewaster]

Its not much help I know, but that all sounds electrical to me.

Boiled battery? Some sort of earth fault? Wet ECU?

 

Any other clues or anything unusual leading up to this?

[Albert Ross]

Alternator death. Whilst the light will go off, the output has dropped. They are sensitive to voltage, and all the fault lights will need clearing once the alternator has been replaced. Proper twat to do, you may have to remove the fuel filter to remove it upwards (fuel everywhere), or perhaps the front pulley and belt, then a mounting off, and lift the engine to drop it out. Either way, a twat of a job Carfeul with the replacement, as there are possibly three different fitments (relative to plug types and positions) and three different "ampages" to watch for. The best way to get the right one is to remove it and go get the new one. The originals all carry a two digit "ident" code. Like AW or somesuch.

[ShiteRider]

Battery is only a couple of years old, plus it didn't have that boiled battery smell. Fuse box was dry as a bone, no sure about the ECU didn't look, but agree all signs point to electrickery.

She had it serviced 4 months ago i've just learned, because it had a light come on on the dash so she took it to the garage around the corner from her who apparently replaced some part which she says he told her " these never normally go wrong......but yours has!" she says it was black, fitted in the palm of his hand, and controlled either air or flow...... going off that description it could have been the plug out of his fucking bath.

To be fair she's a middle aged woman who is nigh on hysterical, and i actually know the guy she takes it to and he is a good bloke.

This vectra has been nothing but problems in the whole time she's had it (she bougt it brand new).

[Station]

^ yes that, I'm 99% certain the alt has died. Vauxhall dashes (and probably others) light up like Blackpool if the alt is giving up. I think it's reversing or giving over 18v through the circuitry before the regulator dies.

[scaryoldcortina]

^ I agree. This looks like the same symptoms as both a Saab 9-3 TiD and an astra DTI that I ended up fitting alternators to recently. Wierd charging light setup too.

[ShiteRider]

Alternator death. Whilst the light will go off, the output has dropped. They are sensitive to voltage, and all the fault lights will need clearing once the alternator has been replaced. Proper twat to do, you may have to remove the fuel filter to remove it upwards (fuel everywhere), or perhaps the front pulley and belt, then a mounting off, and lift the engine to drop it out. Either way, a twat of a job Carfeul with the replacement, as there are possibly three different fitments (relative to plug types and positions) and three different "ampages" to watch for. The best way to get the right one is to remove it and go get the new one. The originals all carry a two digit "ident" code. Like AW or somesuch.

Could be, it had an alternator 2 years ago....but then the battery light came on and the battery went flat and obviously wouldn't hold charge, but it didn't do any of the shenanigans it's doing now.

[Bren]

Yep, your alternator is dead. A common malady on C model Vectra's.

 

If you go on any of the vectra C forums you will see how common it is.

[ShiteRider]

Fresh info, the HRW wouldn't work this morning she'd turn it on but it would switch it self straight back off.

Electrics are all bollocks to me, i still need the bit of card to wire up a plug.

[George-Roper]

Again I can only add it will be the alternator as I had a simular experiance with an astra 4 years ago.

[Albert Ross]

It will have sensed the lower voltage, and started to cut out the non essential circuits, to concentrate the power into the safety systems and engine ECU.

[Hertz]

We had a Focus C Max a couple of years ago which did exactly the same thing, steering went really heavy and the dash lit up like a Christmas Tree. It was the Alternator....

[Rocket88]

plus eleventy for alternator death........

[Barry Cade]

I see 2 or 3 of these a week- alternator as Mr A Ross has said. Drives the dash crazy, and the last thing to die before the engine is the power steering. Had the same on a Focus the other day- alternator had shorted or the diodes had gone 'cos it near melted my jump leads and the alternator was red hot. No cheap either as it's one of the smart charge ones. Had to disconnect it before I could get enough charge in the battery to even move it out of its parking space. Went from bumbling along happily to total death in less than 2 miles.

[ShiteRider]

Thread from the dead, guess what i got a phone call from mummy about this afternoon...........

Allvoxhalzrshit etc.

I'm going to try and save her a few quid and do it myself this time, so i could do with some tips....

Do i get the alt refurbed or replaced? ( any recommended brands?) and more importantly, what actually causes the short life span? In other words is there anything i can do to make them last longer as ti my mind a well mantained nine year old car shouldn't need a third repkacement alternator.

[HH-R]

It's probably just GM's usual "how can we shave 0.5p per unit off this *insert part name here*?".

 

IIRC these have to have the alternator coded to the ECU after replacement before it will work, could be wrong though.

[stuboy]

alternator

[Lord Sterling]

Er...yeh. I'll go with what everyone else is saying. Alternator.

[stuboy]

... its not a sexy mondeo so thats its fail..

[Cavcraft]

You've spelt 'result' wrong there, Stuboy.

[chaseracer]

I'm no expert, but could it be the > alternator...?

 

[Split_Pin]

FFS, is that the best you lot can come up with? I'd be looking at what is killing the alternator(s).

 

Earth strap and bracket would be my first amd second checks.

 

Route cause fail.

[twosmoke300]

Correct battery.? Some Ford's that have the smart charge system have to have a calcium battery. Not sure if vauxhalls have a similar system .

[Bren]

Some pattern alternators are wank - from the off they dont work properly - you may end up with your instument panel lit like a christmas tree.

 

As stated earlier, some parts are crap....

[Albert Ross]

It's a diode pack that's mounted internally that kills them. Not a reconditionable item. Ergo any "reconditioned" item will be a pile of shit straight out of the box.