Problems with Vectra engine (Diesel)

Dec 09, 2003 2 Replies

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John 22 years ago

My engine management light (orange) keeps coming on whilst I'm driving and just as it does I feel the car losing power. The car doesn't stop or cut out. It basically feels as if I'm driving with the handbrake still on, although I'm not. I usually drop two gears and put my foot down until I was doing between

40mph - 50mph and then the light would go out. This doesn't occur everytime I drive but it is getting more common.

I have a 2.0TD

Any advice?

Cheers,

-------------------------------------------------------

As we flow down life's rivers I see the stars glow - one by one All angels of the magic constellation Be singing us now

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Anthony Britt 22 years ago

First thing, check the oil level. Part of the engine control is vacuum operated. When the oil level drops, the vacuum pump does not produce enough vacuum. This means that the wastegate and EGR actuators do not open fully, which is picked up by the engine ECU and brings the EM light on. If run for any length of time with insufficient oil supply, the vacuum pump can be permanently damaged.

Next possibility is the mass air flow meter, which is a black cylindrical tube mounted in the ducting leading from the air filter housing. After a while the sensing element (hot film) gets contaminated with oil leading to incorrect readings. Cleaning with solvent can solve this for a while.

The only way to get an accurate diagnosis of the problem is to have the engine ECU interrogated by a FCR to find out what fault codes are stored in the ECU's memory.

HTH

Anthony Remove eight from email to reply.

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Alec 22 years ago

I agree entirely. It happened to my DTI Vectra when around 3 years old and

30k. When the light comes on the engine goes into an emergency mode and power drops. I had the fault code read at Vauxhall garage (@ £30) and got the AMM replaced (@ £200). The part price alone was around £150. I could have done it myself as all you need to do is replace a short section of ducting pipe containing the meter held with a couple of clips. No more problem since.

Alec

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