VauxhallZafira 2003 - Zafira - engine not starting, engine symbol lit

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Mon 25 Mar 2013 12:11
VauxhallZafira 2003 - Zafira - engine not starting, engine symbol lit - dianem

Hi, I've recently bought a sceond hand Zafira (the most Ive ever spent on a car!). Sometimes the engine doesn't start. When this happens, the engine symbol lights up, but doesn't flash. I've checked the manual and can find nothing. I have a feeling it might be related to the immobilisier?

Last time it happened, I took the key out and turned it around and then the engone started straight away! Don't know if this is just coincidence.

Any help much appreciated, as gutted that having spent what for me is a lot of money, to then be having problems.

So far it has only happened within 1 hour of leaving the car and then going back to it.

Thanks

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 25 Mar 2013 12:16
VauxhallZafira 2003 - Zafira - engine not starting, engine symbol lit - Collos25

Soga if you bought it from a dealer and if you bought it private you now know why they got rid of it and the repairs unfortunatley are down to you .You first need it plugged into a computor to see if any fault codes are present.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 2 Oct 2013 23:02
VauxhallZafira 2003 - Zafira - engine not starting, engine symbol lit - Ariff

I do have the some problem with my zafira 2001 1.8 , I all ready change the fuel pump but the problem is still the some , it start only after bein reast for many hours then after driving the next time refuse to start. The Garage check the are think mybe cotrolbox type simtec 71 it dose give signal to imobilliser code B3040. The said I should change the control box Iif I do so then I must also change key ring with new ignition key even that the said the a not 100% sure ,.... is anyone has solution, pls

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Oct 2013 00:04
VauxhallZafira 2003 - Zafira - engine not starting, engine symbol lit - The-Mechanic

dianem, Ariff

You need to get the car plugged into a diagnostic computer and get the error codes read out first to give an indication of what's going wrong. Without this information any assistance would be pure guesswork as there are many causes of non starting both with and without the engine warning lamp illuminating.

Ariff, you say the garage plugged your car in to the computer, did they give you a report of what the code was ? If it was P0300 that is the code for a general, random misfire. P0301 is number 1 cylinder misfire, P0302 is No 2, P0303 No 3 and P0304 is, you guessed it, No 4 cylinder misfire.

There are a few components that can cause these codes : spark plugs, the coil pack, wiring issues ( to the coil pack from the ECU ), fuel injector(s) or worst case, the ECU itself. These 1.8 engines do suffer from the ECU failing due to them being fitted ( in Vauxhall's infinite wisdom ) on top of the engine where heat and vibration is transferred straight to the delicate electronics.

Get your cars into a garage or call a mobile mechanic if it won't start and report back with what codes are present or are stored in the memory and take it from there.

Edited by The-Mechanic on 04/10/2013 at 00:09

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Oct 2013 09:19
VauxhallZafira 2003 - Zafira - engine not starting, engine symbol lit - The-Mechanic

Thinking on,

The fault you two have won't bring up the error codes I've mentioned. I had, for some reason got into my head the problem I once had with a Vectra 1.8 with a misfire !!!!

The fault may still lie with the ECU or wiring, but will probably be to do with the immobiliser circuit. Get the garage to try and access the fault codes for the immobilser as well as the engine control. If either of you have a second key, try using that in case the chip in it has, for some reason, gone out of sync with the reader coil on the ignition lock.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link