Lets troubleshoot a Meriva -Phixed!

[cort16]

Is phoning the AA for an EML on a Vauxhall not a bit like calling the police because your central heating has stopped working?

 

My cover only covers me if I'm more than 1/4 of a mile from home. Have you got home start?

[beko1987]

I dont think we have home start, hence me not bothering as it would involve sitting at the side of the road for many hours.

 

Going to try the pedal test when I get home before I fit the new spark plugs, then see what the codes say and go from there. REALLY hope its the coilpack rather then the ECU... 

[beko1987]

I have a code!

P0300 Misfire Unidentified Cylinder Detected B-21

 

I'm going to change the shitty spark plugs, go for a drive and if it flashes again order the coilpack I think!

[beko1987]

Well new plugs in and it seems fixed! Gingerly pottered around in the same style as before and no misfire or dash light, then I fucking hooned it and it ran better than before!

 

So no need to buy a coil pack! Just boot struts... And amy showed me a nice w reg 1.8Audi a3 she likes, and said "can I still have a new car though?" - of course you can love! The meriva just got more part exhangable!

[TimothyClaypole]

Now fix my 1.6 Astra that has the light on permanently, I bought a new valve effort, removed my blanking plate and it runs like shit so went back to the blanking plate... I'd buy a new one every month if it did work as the light gets on my tits.

[steve_earwig]

Take the bulb out

[beko1987]

What codes do you get from the pedal test?

[beko1987]

Well Amy went to Aylesbury earlier and confirmed all was fine, but there was a slight something, she couldn't describe it... I told her to rag the shit out of it on the way home and it seemed a bit better apparently.

 

I reckon its crapped up inside due to the crap plugs. Would it be worth wanging the half a bottle of redex I found when clearing out mums garage in on quarter of a tank to clean it out?

 

The coolant temp gauge seems to have started working now though, was sat at 90 earlier, which its never done. Confirmed calibrated with torque, so that's fixed itself (it always ran cool)

 

Now, any ideas about the knocking stemming from the bottom that fades away after a few seconds once the oil gets to it? Can I buy something in a can to fix it?

[UltraWomble]

HOLY THREAD RESURRECTION BATMAN

Are these really that shit? Only there seem to be a lot for sale, with not a lot of miles, for not a lot of cash compared to the Corsa....
Just one of the (many) cars on my slushbox radar at the moment is a Meriva 1400 with (proper) CVT box.

[tooSavvy]

Well..... If I were holding my breath awaiting AVAS throwing an FTP.... I'd be a very wealthy pearl diver 😉.

Stonking 🚀👍

🚙💨

[Markeh]

8 hours ago, UltraWomble said:

HOLY THREAD RESURRECTION BATMAN

Are these really that shit? Only there seem to be a lot for sale, with not a lot of miles, for not a lot of cash compared to the Corsa....
Just one of the (many) cars on my slushbox radar at the moment is a Meriva 1400 with (proper) CVT box.

As a lurker way back when I can confirm the one referenced in this thread is a Meriva A, the first gen shape from 03-10 (I think Bekos was a 54 iirc?) - these aren't bad at all I don't think. I had a runout 1.6 ex-Enterprise one for about 3 months back in 2021-22:

It's surprisingly no longer with us, which amazes me as it had only done 66k when I bought it, I only put 1-2k on it, and despite being hardly used for nearly 2 years due to the ill health and then death of the previous owner, it did a cross-country run back home and sailed through the MOT without a single advisory. Had only done another 4k between then and it's last recorded MOT as well.

I'm guessing the ones on your radar might be the newer shape Meriva B? I think some of the engines can be a bit hit and miss, namely the turbo ones, but not that qualified to judge.

[beko1987]

I only hated the one we had thanks to the driving position 🤮 It needed a good ragging to go anywhere too (1.6 engine) 

As an car it was pretty reliable tbh, nothing went wrong that wasn't an All Vauxhalls r shit kind of thing. I probably have a tainted memory of it as I only really drove it to 'fix' it 😂 It took the ex driving it 4 miles to her care home job then sitting there and driving 4 miles home well until it put the cat light on. I'd have to run it up and down the m40 for a few days and it was happier. Ill always remember the diesel levels of clag I made it exhaust from itself being very mean through 3rd and 4th joining the m40 once.

The inside wasn't that big either. The boot fitted the pram we had for eva so box ticked but the rest of the inside was a corsa C but taller.

However, I preferred the driving position and pedal angle of the Zafira B we replaced it with. A Meriva A would need to be free for me to be interested.

I'm sure my friendly mot tester at the time was ignoring a rust hole forming in the gearbox crossmember too by the end. Same person who kicked my arse for presenting it for  test with a MASSIVE oil leak. Followed him around with blue roll for 45 minutes then had the sump dropped and tiger sealed tight the next weekend 😬

[Forty45]

If it's the B you're asking about, we had one for about 8 years.

It was a 2011 1.4 petrol. Not the most powerful, but adequate if the gearbox was worked.  Enough room inside and we had the glass roof, which was great.

Bought at 1 year old (ex. rental) with 20k miles. It was perfectly reliable with minimal garage time. What finished it off (for us) at 70k was a sudden loss of power to the steering, loss of the electric handbrake and many dashboard lights. The main dealer said it needed a new ABS control module and wanted £1200 to repair. I suspect it was crusty terminals on the ABS unit which sits under the coolant reservoir and can leak onto it - I'd replaced it a few years earlier for leaking.

I managed to sell it unrepaired for £1000 to a dealer. 

[beko1987]

The B always looked cooler with the suicide doors. Too expensive for us back in 2012 though 😢

There was a red Meriva A VXR that used to drive around Marlow (next office building to our old building ) and I always wondered what that would be like... It seemed awful on paper and looked hilarious but I'm sort of glad they did bother.

Hearing steering mentioned, we did have a used electric rack fitted. The old one was full of water and kept cutting out. Some driveway mechanic in Chinnor did it for £350 iirc

[tooSavvy]

@beko1987.. "Hearing steering mentioned, we did have a used electric rack fitted. The old one was full of water and kept cutting out. Some driveway mechanic in Chinnor did it for £350 iirc".

AVAS lost the EPAS (I still drove it, but with*Hulk Hogan shoulders 😵‍💫)

Breaker motor/reservoir £50 + £80 to fit @Kev.

PITA but not FTP 😉

🚙💨

[beko1987]

23 minutes ago, tooSavvy said:

@beko1987.. "Hearing steering mentioned, we did have a used electric rack fitted. The old one was full of water and kept cutting out. Some driveway mechanic in Chinnor did it for £350 iirc".

AVAS lost the EPAS (I still drove it, but with*Hulk Hogan shoulders 😵‍💫)

Breaker motor/reservoir £50 + £80 to fit @Kev.

PITA but not FTP 😉

🚙💨

I'm wondering if it'll be a problem on my qashqai, it seems to have the same sort of electric power steering setup.

Makes it bloody light though which I quite like 😂 If I try and turn the steering wheel as the car fires up it doesn't like it though, goes really heavy for a few minutes until the system sorts itself out 😬