Against my advice, my daughter has bought a 99V 1.4 Tigra fitted with this motor. Should have gone for a Puma, but so be it. The engine is fitted with a secondary air system, which makes to underbonnet even more crowded than it would otherwise be. What does it do and what happens if I remove it?
It seems to essentially be an electric fan which pumps air into the exhaust manifold. I'm told that it helps to heat up the cat from cold start.
A friend who works for Ford at Dunton tells me that this and the EGR valve indicate duff engine design and that both are only there to get the economy figures up without the bother of a real effort to get the internal engine design right.
To cap it all, the engine suffers from an intermittent and dramatic loss of power, almost stalls, accompanied by smell of burning then suddenly it's ok again. No sign of burnt components visible, have changed ht leads, plugs and cleaned all visible connections. Also removed and cleaned EGR valve (total devil of a job) but no fix. Very intermittent and occurs under all conditions; high or low engine speed, during warm up and when at normal temp, on long or short runs and low or high ambient temperatures.
I've been told that there is an ECU upgrade for this engine; anyone know anything about this?
Thanx in advance.
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They used to have sticky valves on these and a good quality oil and filter may do it wonders.
I hate this engine too by the way.
--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Nothing fundementally wrong with the design of the EGR system on these engines, I have done 40k in a 2.0 Vectra and a nearly 90k in a V6 Vectra that both work in the same way EGR wise, the EGR valve worked lose on the V6 once though no major issue.
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PS: Meant to say that a Puma would have been a better bet.
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Smell of burning could very well be the coil pack. Needs VERY careful inspection to see signs of arcing & overheating.
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>>A friend who works for Ford at Dunton tells me that this and the EGR valve indicate duff engine design...
Well I'm sure your friend has no bias at all!
I think that the sticking valve problem with these engines was largely dealt with by 1999 via the simple method of increasing the valve to guide clearance. This means that these engines can burn a little oil via this path.
The secondary air system is intended to blow air into the exhaust manifold to enable any partially burnt fuel there to burn off, thus heating up the catalyst. Typically, the air filters for these never get changed or looked at, so all the device really does is make some noise for the first minute or two after a cold start.
I'm not sure if this is true for this particular engine, but Vauxhall do now make EGR blanking gaskets. If you are suspicious of the EGR, then temporarily blanking it off will enable you to make that diagnosis.
I don't know anything specific about ECU updates for this model, but, in my experience, Vauxhall ECU updates are "a good thing", tending to reduce the number of false fault indications and to improve driveability.
I would suggest that the main thing to check out is that the timing belt, rollers and tensioners have been chamged in good time, and that the water pump is OK.
As for the burning - what does it smell like - oil, fuel, electrical? It may be worth checking that the exhaust or cat is not blocking up - particularly if the internal baffles and wadding are loose, and only blocking the exhaust intermittently.
Number_Cruncher
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>>Well I'm sure your friend has no bias at all!<<
You beat me to it!
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EGR-yes but a secondary air system went out in the dark ages(80's);a real admission of failure.
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>>Well I'm sure your friend has no bias at all!<< You beat me to it!
I think the ones showing the bias are you guys simply by mentioning it, you are like Arsenal and Tottenham supporters. Why does every one assume that people either love Fords and hate Vauxhalls or visa versa?
My dad was/is a Ford man though I had three Vauxhalls in a row and they all had their strong points, ok the '96 Vectra SRi was troublesome though the '98 V6 was fine, I currently have a Ford and get accused of banging the Mondeo TDCi drum though I only tell it as I see it based on my experience of my cars and others that I drive and not because I feel inclined to "support" old Henry.
No axe to grind.
Wouldn't mind the wife getting a Meriva, looked at a 3.0 CDTi Vectra myself. Prefer the Focus to the Astra, the Ford dealer 400 yds from my office is a big factor as is my experience of Ford dealers being simply more competant than Vauhall dealers.
Excuse the ramble.
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