Hi I have a couple of problems with my vectra. I recently bought an R reg 1.8 Vectra, Whilst driving on the motorway I the car would jerk and not pick any speed up, i pulled it into the garage and they said the coil pack had gone (whatever that is), anyway I paid £100 for a new coil pack to be put in. A couple of days later, the exact same problem only this the car wouldn't go past 20mph. i pulled it into the garage again and now they said the catalytic convertor has gone and extra £200. As you can imagine I wasn't very happy as i described the same problem twice and was quoted for two different parts. They say that problems with the coil pack is what caused the CAT to go. Does anyone know if this could be true? Anyway after having a new CAT put in, Every time I would put my foot down on the gas, it would make a noise, a sort of hissing noise, and now I can smell a lot of petrol from the car but there doesn;t appear to be a leak,Does anyone know if this smell problem could be linked to the CAT being put in ??? Any help much appreciated Thanks.
Vectra CAT and petrol smell Pls help ?????????
Apr 25, 2004
4 Replies
This garage, or garages, have simply been taking the p**s, and the £'s from you. The problem is more likely to be something like a manifold leak, although I'm only guessing. I suggest that you find a decent garage (although I must admit this may be difficult) who can properly diagnose and fix the fault. Then approach the original garages with evidence and sue them for your wasted money.
Terry D.
A faulty coil pack causing a mis-fire can lead to failure of the catatlytic converter quite quickly. The fuel does not burn in the cylinder, so it is pumped into the exhaust where it burns in the catlytic converter. This raises the temperature of the ceramic honeycomb well above its normal operating temperature, at which point it can fall apart and block the flow of exhaust gas out of the engine. This will lead to poor performance.
I cannot see how replacing either the cat or the coil pack can give rise to a fuel leak. It is best to return the car to the garage where the work was carried out and get them to check it over. Stress to them that the fuel smell wasn't there before they did any work on the car, and they should sort it for free.
HTH
Anthony Remove eight from email to reply.
A severe misfire at motorway speeds as you experience due to the coil pack having failed *will* knacker the cat very quickly due to the neat fuel being pumped through it. At this temperature the fuel burns in the cat and melts it. The pieces then block the exhaust and you expereice and engine which can only just run- you try breathing with someone holding your nose!
Tim..
Is there an echo in here??! ;-)
Anthony Remove eight from email to reply.
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