Zafira EGR

Peter Twydell gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I'm very surprised. It's a well-known problem with the same engine in Saab 9-3s. There was a big shortage of replacement EGR valves a year or so ago, leading to a lot of cars being off the road for an extended period.

Now can anyone guess who?

"Peter Twydell" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@twydell.demon.co.uk...

It's nothing to do with diesel sold at supermarkets, even if it is inferior to that sold under brand names like Esso, BP & SHELL. Which garage told you this as the person is talking rubbish. The only thing that stops the EGR valve working is a poor design by Vauxhall/GM. The small plunger or pin inside used to get stuck so they released a new design with a teflon coated one so it moved freely. You can take them off and clean them on the 1.9 engines, so I suggest that before buying a new one as they are over £100. The most noticable problems were on cars that people bought those crappy Diesel Tuning boxes for in an attempt to get more power. They take the signal output from the ECU, multiply it and cause extra pressure on the fuel line. This increases the strain on the fuel pump which will fail over time, the fuel rail which will leak and the injectors. Due to them causing more diesel than can ever be used for the size of cylinder and timing on the car, there is a lot of unburnt diesel. This causes soot in the manifold, turbo and EGR valve. That is why a lot of Astra owners who fit these crap Diesel Tuning boxes belch black smoke out of the exhaust. They also damage their cars when cold as whatever the ECU sends out is multiplied by £10 worth of components packaged and sold for £400+. Supermarket fuel is supplied by SHELL, BP & ESSO, but cost cutting and profit margins means that the extra additives in "premium fuel" are added at different concentrations. It used to be the person that delivered the fuel that would add the container of additive, now it is premixed at the refinery to save time. To stop the EGR valve becoming full of soot you do need to take the car on a long journey every so often or thrash it going up a hill. Do that every month and you will not have a problem. I would be more concerned by the DPF on the Zafira 1.9, they were and still are a HUGE problem - another bad design by Vauxhall/GM. The early Zafira with DPF caused such a problem that the exhaust would glow cherry red and make the car sound like the exhaust had come off completely. Dealerships were still conning people by charging them to force regeneration although there was no real fix. Problems were first identified by the Vauxhall Sintra, the DPF problem killed that car off. Firstly, don't believe what people working at a Vauxhall Dealership tell you, most are unqualified and don't even know that cars display fault codes on the display in the speedometer! Most couldn't even fix a car unless field engineers constantly had to help them out pointing out the flaming obvious. Next time, ask the employee why you shouldn't use supermarket diesel, then complain to the supermarket and see how long it takes for him to change his opinion.

My advice is to remove the EGR, clean it and put it back. If you feel that supermarket diesel is not as good then go elsewhere. My local SHELL garage is 8p/litre cheaper than TESCO.

It's because Vauxhall didn't just tell people what the problem was and sort it out. Once people found out they had been charged by dealerships for repairs that were not required, they complained. Some dealerships like "Lookers" were rubbing their hands at all the warranty work and almost encouraging people to have their EGR valves changed. That is why there was a shortage. Vauxhall and dealers changed the way they stocked parts due to a number of dealerships going bankrupt and closing down over the last 3 years. They wouldn't order parts in, so customers had to wait weeks until dealers could do a bulk buy to make more profit! Dealerships were also making money from charging customers to hire cars while theirs were off the road for up to a month. It all comes down to money and Lookers nearly went under, as did a lot of other dealerships, so they tried anything and everything to save their business. None of it really helped the customer, it just give Vauxhall a worse name than it already had. You don't hear of this sort of problem and customer annoyance with Ford, Peugeot or Citroen.

It's the Tiscali idiot. Pity the poor sod who owns veldman.net

In message , John Veldman writes

Given that there were less than 300 diesel Sintras sold in the UK before it was replaced by the Zafira, I call bullshit on your claims.