Couple of months ago, took my Y reg Vauxhall Vectra 1.6 in for a dose of preventative maintenance. It's done less than 60,000 miles, but has not had full servicing lavished on it in the five years I've owned it. I have changed oil and filters annually, but only by myself, an enthusiastic unskilled amateur.

So with ten years and sixty thousand miles looming, I thought it was time to replace the timing belt to avoid the horror stories of cylinder head/valve damage due to belt breakage. Took the car to a small independent garage which is handy for where I work. Couple of months of trouble free running were interrupted last week by a rattling from the engine area. Phoned to book it in for diagnosis, but car would not start to get it to the garage. It had broken down right next to another garage however, so I asked them to have a look. They could tell the timing belt was recent, but could also see how much slack was in the belt, and advised me to contact the garage who had changed the belt to put right the work they had done.... Read more

There's been a lot of discussion regarding diesel engine remapping affecting engine and longevity, but very little regarding their affect on emissions. Now I understand that most aspiring hotrodders aren't especially concerned with NOx and particulate eissions, but it is something to bear in mind if anyone wonders why factory settings appear 'conservative'. I'm not puritanical on this subject, but it does irritate me that backstreet 'tuners' (kid with a laptop) won't even acknowledge any of the potential downsides of their facile modifications. Diesels, unlike gassers are currently subject to ridiculously lax emissions testing during the MOT. Gassers are subject to rigorous exhaust gas composition analysis, whereas diesels simply have to comply with an opacity test at maximum governed speed. Surprise, surprise, an unloaded engine not smoking-who'd have thought?!

Tuning companies frequently extol the merits of 'optimising' the fuel settings to improve efficiency-free horsepower and better mileage! Fantastic! Er no. There are three things you can do with diesel fuelling; advance the injection, retard the injection timing, or increase the fuelling. Advancing the timing tends to increase peak cylinder pressures and temperatures. This tends to yield slightly better efficiency at the expense of a huge increase in NOx. Other side effects include an increase in bearing loadings and diesel clatter. Perhaps one would prefer to retard the injection settings. The effect is to reduce diesel knock and Nox, but a large increase in soot, CO, HC emissions. At high load, EGTs will increase substantially. Funnily enough, tuning companies never mention EGTs, yet every heavy duty engine operator is taught to keep a close eye on excessive EGTs.... Read more

my vivaro 1.9 cdti 05,it starts ,ticks over for around 2 mins then stalls ,when i try and start again it just stalls , van was running fine a hour befor ,recentley fiitted new turbo ,and last week put a bit of petrol in at garage ,but topped tank up with diesel ,the van ran perfect all week ,does anyone know what it could be ,maybe a clogged up catylick convertor due to turbo going and the petrol that i put in ????????????? Read more

hi all, just wondered if anyone could assist me on fixing my car. before xmas i slid off the road into a ditch on my passenger side,

it got some water inside the car and since it got pulled out the central locking dosent work from the remote but will work with the key.... Read more

Hi
first post!

Today after a short 1.5 hr stop I started the car to find 3 dash warning lights lit up (where before there were none (and never have been)):- the battery discharge light, the low oil level light and the fuel filter light.

I limped home (3 miles in dark - all seemed fine) and consulted the handbook which says:-
battery discharge (??)
check oil level and add oil
purge fuel filter (instructions in there how to do)

Query:- I find it strange that all 3 lit up at same time? what else could it be? and what to do/check? Maybe a multi-connector? or something far worse? :>(((

There's a forum post on RAV4 World from 2008 with the exact same symptoms but apart from two suggestions that the alternator or it's belt was iffy, the trail goes cold....

Any help gratefuly received thanks

Jim Read more