Vauxhall Zafira A - Intermitant starting problem

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Wed 5 Dec 2012 00:36
Vauxhall Zafira A - Intermitant starting problem - Hairy Hat Man

2003.5MY Zafira Z18XE manual 85,000 miles.

I recently replaced the coil pack which cured a misfire. Within days it started to occasionally stall at low speed/revs and refusing to start again. It does it maybe 1 in 20 stop/starts. When it stalls, both the engine management light (which is the car with a spanner in it) and the exhaust emission light (pic of an engine) flash quickly. The engine will then turn over, but not fire. When you turn the ignition off and on again, without cranking the engine, the exhaust emission light flashes quickly 4 or 5 times. After anything from 2 to 20 more attempts at starting and/or waiting 10 minutes, when turning the ignition on the exhaust emission light does not flash and the car will start normally. This has happened with both keys.

There are many reports of this nature around, including this one... http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=66337 , but no-one seems to have positively identified the cause.

I know it'll need the codes reading and I intend to get that done as soon as I can, but wondered if anyone had succesfully solved this one.

After 85,000 trouble free miles in 9 years it's odd to have this happen within days of replacing the coil pack. It's hard to beleive it's coincidence.

TIA

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Wed 5 Dec 2012 00:49
Vauxhall Zafira A - Intermitant starting problem - mrdanger

one of my friends had this he had the coil pack and then the ECU and the TC unit changed which cured the stalling problems. now he still has the engine light up but no fault when reader is put on. his car has done 135000 miles and is a 1.8 A

i think the TC unit was a stab in the dark by the vauxhall garage.

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Thu 20 Dec 2012 10:23
Vauxhall Zafira A - Intermitant starting problem - Hairy Hat Man

After much experimenting and a total of 5 coil packs, I can confirm that it is aftermarket coil packs that caused the stalling problem, Having purchased an original GM part (Sagem), the vehicle is running sweet as a nut and the stalling problem experienced, to a greater or lesser extent, with no less than 3 after market coils packs is cured.

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Thu 20 Dec 2012 10:26
Vauxhall Zafira A - Intermitant starting problem - Hairy Hat Man

Of course, the Vauxhall diagnostics declared that the ECU was at fault, and had I left it to Vauxhall to fix, I'd have been seriously out of pocket. That's not to say a new ECU wouldn't have cured the problem. The diagnostics showed a 'spike' in the system which was obviously being created by the aftermarket coil pack, but a new ECU might have been able to handle it without shutting the whole system down.

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