All Vectras are shit, advice please :)

[purplebargeken]

Very Good Mate has a 2004 Vectra 1.9CDTi 150 Club. Having all sorts of issues and would benefit from some advice/knowledge if possible.

 

It started with broken swirl flaps, so he had the inlet replaced. It then went into limp mode, no boost, no torque. He had it looked at and it seemed that the actuator arm had fallen off so the swirl flaps were not functioning. It then had boost but no real torque. Had it looked at again and it seemed better but then went back to the same issues, no boost, no torque and was just chugging along. The garage have now found oil in the EGR and throttle body. Garage are still investigating. It's cut out a couple ot times but no error codes are being thrown up.

 

I know it's a bit vague but any ideas?

 

Cheers

[alcyonecorporation]

Hammer an Omega over it.

[purplebargeken]

I can see the value in that but I don't believe he has access to one to hammer sadly lol.

[jonathan_dyane]

Scrap it

[purplebargeken]

Noo, he likes the car and it has been pretty bloody good so far. He's losing heart over it and whilst he can scrape some dosh to get it fixereated, getting something else will not be viable, especially as he has a brand new little laddie now (proud dad) 

[beko1987]

It's doing a modern diesel. Exactly the reason I've never got toooooo attached to my 1.9dci. Had to have my 2.2dci put down as it was about to start doing what your friends is doing.

[purplebargeken]

So this behaviour is common then?

[Richard]

So this behaviour is common then?

 

Yes. 

 

There are two choices. Scrap it or spend an eye watering amount of money trying to fix it, then scrap it. If he chooses the latter route I think I still have a new recon turbo for it.

[Rocket88]

Bypass EGR............?

[Cavcraft]

Replace EGR, clean throttle body, give the car a fucking good wellying every couple of days.

[MikeR]

Has it got a manifold pressure sensor . the one on my 2.2 got clogged up

[purplebargeken]

I will pass these suggestions on. 

 

Richard, if turbo needed, how much would that be?

 

Cheers

[D Spares & Tyres]

Noo, he likes the car and it has been pretty bloody good so far. He's losing heart over it and whilst he can scrape some dosh to get it fixereated, getting something else will not be viable, especially as he has a brand new little laddie now (proud dad) 

My advice is this.

 

Sell or scrap it, once these things start going wrong it's just not worth the expense of aggro trying to sort it.

 

If he really does like the car and wants to keep it then the cheapest and easiest option is just stick a complete low mileage engine in it that you know runs well. After he has paid for loads of garage diagnosis at London rates then swapping this and that he won't be far off the cost of that and his car will still be substandard.

[purplebargeken]

I see the logic thankfully he is in Cov and they is cheaper there.

[fordperv]

2 minutes from initial post and the suggestion of hammering something over it, this place is definately what it used to be

[purplebargeken]

Ahhh, if only it were that easy*

[D Spares & Tyres]

[Captain Furious]

Noo, he likes the car and it has been pretty bloody good so far

 

 

Really, from your description it sounds like its been an ungrateful heap of shit.

 

Seriously, the advice to get rid is not without merit, because when it gets to problems like this you spend money replacing one thing, and then the next thing, and then something else goes and you might as well fix that because you've already paid out for 1 and 2 - before you know it you're in so deep that you have no choice but to fix fault 4 and 5 too...ask me how I know.

[MikeR]

seeing its a diesel Vauxhall , check out all the subframes before parting with any cash ,

 

if its anything like the dammed things I had they will be rotting thanks to the sound deadening holding the water ....

 

 

along with Suzuki  and Fiat , they are a car brand I wont buy again ....

[Bren]

Buy can of mr muscle. Use to clean steel parts only of EGR. Clean rest with carb cleaner. See if normal service is resumed. If not send to china.

[Rusty_Rocket]

So, he had the inlet replaced, presumably with the modified Pierburg one with the flaps that don't fail and it still has manifold issues?  I'd take it back to whoever did the job and ask them to sort it.

 

I've never owned one of these but have had the same (Fiat...) engine in an Alfa 156 (x2) and it's not a bad lump as far as modern knockers go.  Doesn't suffer major injector or high-pressure pump failure regularly like most other shit out there.

The MAP sensor being clogged up is very common and a 5 minute fix (1x torq bolt), the EGR clean is very simple too as both are at the top of the engine and simple to get at.  Most people just say they're rubbish because they don't understand them and don't know what they're doing.

 

Subframe should be fine, Vectra-C isn't a car that rusts very much.  Yet.

[Bren]

It could be worse - it could be a 3.0cdti.

I removed the egr on that for a clean - it was like something from the krypton factor and I had a bad back for days. There was no danger of me standing in a dog turd due to my posture.

[stonedagain]

Has it got a manifold pressure sensor . the one on my 2.2 got clogged up

The 1.9 I used to own was the same. Dead easy to remove & clean with Mr Muscle oven cleaner. Made a big difference.

[Cavcraft]

The 150 is an ace thing, throwing the car away for a (potentially) cheap fix and (probably) because it hasn’t been driven properly seems crazy.

Then again, you can’t save everything.

[sierraman]

Could be the Turbot. Unless you’ve got some attachment to it, I’d go through the simple stuff, if it’s looking like it’s gone all Celine Dion then fuck it off. Useable ones of these for for £5-600 anyway.

[Richard]

I will pass these suggestions on. 

 

Richard, if turbo needed, how much would that be?

 

Cheers

 

£100 plus postage? I paid £228 for it, plus £150 surcharge that I didn't get back because the old unit was never removed. It comes as a complete manifold and was for a Saab 95, so it might not fit. I really would advise against it though, even if it does work it'll just mean the car lives on long enough to get another four figure bill.

 

It's possible that the turbo has been crushed along with the hateful piece of shit it was bought for, which would be for the best tbh. 

[Dave_Q]

Yeah its worth a fiver on a tin of mr muscle, i would clean the EGR (nice and accesible if its the same engine as a 156, its an hours job at worst) and maybe chuck some in the turbo?

 

The turbo actuator is a round can thing held on with 2 nuts, you can undo the nuts and move the lever by hand to get a feel for if it's moving ok. If not take the exhaust downpipe off the turbo, wang a load of mr muscle in and work the lever until it feela better. Pipe back on and italian tune up.

 

Finally vac leaks can cause grief, the turbo solenoid will be somewhere (no idea on a vectra) but follow the hoses back from the actuator can and check for holes.

 

As you say he's really attached to it, you could spend a tenner on a mityvac copy thing off ebay to test the actuator is doing its thing.

 

Otherwise as others have said the ungrateful shit is cruising for a cubing, really not worth trying to fix a semi-modern diesel unless its intended as an avant garde reinterpretation of KLF burning a million quid.

[chompy_snake]

Subframe should be fine, Vectra-C isn't a car that rusts very much. Yet.

Disagree!

Seen a few of this with the arse totally rotted. Usually the heads of the subframe bolts and rear sill sections and surrounding areas. Some are prone to rusting front subframes but not all.

 

The car is only worth as much as you are willing to spend on it and throwing lots of new parts at a problem (I speak from bitter experience) is rarely the best way to go.

 

If this is a later fully canbus model it will most likely be extremely picky with replacement sensors etc ..... Wish you luck with it!

[purplebargeken]

Mate has messaged back with thanks to all so far.

 

He's had the EGR off and cleaned it, the garage have it off now as well. vac pipes have been checked as well as the boost sensor which is clean. Turot boosts as it should but he hasn't tried cleaning it which he will now give a go.

[lanciamatt]

I'm a vauxhall technician, what fault codes are stored?