ok bare with me as this could take a while...

being a aircon engineer have nearly always used vauxhall astramax/astra vans..

company i been working for was lucky to get a brand new 05 plate astra sportive 1.7tdci..awesome van.. in middle of 2007 young lad smashed his van up so a new 07 1.9tdci sportive was got for me and he had my old one...

xmas time he started getting a problem with the van not starting..RAC came out and checked over and only way they could start it was to disconnect the pipe from airbox and spray down that while turning over... once started was fine..

Vauxhall had it in and looked at it.. 1000+quid later van was ready to be picked up..injectors changed i beleive..

after about 2 weeks same problem... went back in and yet again they said was inj problem due to metal fillings in fuel from a knackered fuel pump... all this changed 1000+ quid again... bout 3-4 weeks later same again van just not starting with removing pipe and a squirt..

since then vauxhall have repaired van 4 times...at crazy figures... and each time they say it is done low and behold... van wont start... last time we even see them squirting down pipe before bringing van out to us..

they still have van and no news yet.

my 07 plate 1.9 was having a issue with turbo charger since 54000 miles.. would just lose turbo.. they checked and couldnt find anything wrong.. turn engine off anf back on and all ok.. even took to then with it like it and still no luck..

anyway 82000ish turbo went boom... they replaced at a cost of 1600ish i beleive but since then van just dont feel the same..

took them 3-4 weeks to get a turbo because none were available and 1 wasa needed from germany or something.. then all of a sudden they found one at a branch..

since getting van back have noticed it is no where near as quick.. old turbo was very quick till about 130mph and if ya keeped foot wedge would creep past 140.. (done on private race track of course )

since coming back from vauxhall just doeasnt have same pickup and when ya get to bout 115ish then it slowly creeps to bout 130ish..

question is does the 1.4/1.7 have a different size turbo on it and could they have fitted this to my 1.9??

dont wanna take it to vauxhall again as company are fighting a massive bill with them due to other van????

any ideas???



Edit... this not only 1 branch been the 2 local to me....

 

maybe there was a leak on the actuator pipe before or something, and that was causing it to overboost?

As for if vauxhall mechanics are bad, most dealerships these days are part of groups that are multifranchise, so the same guy might move to a ford or a toyota dealership next.

 

140 in a van thats bonkers.

 

There is no way on earth a house brick on wheels will do 140mph. Id say the Vaux techs have been at the speedo as well

 

mate have you ever seen the aero dynamics of a my impreza,,,,,,, and that does over 150mph,,,,,,,, and thats about as aerodynamic as greg shepeard

 

I'd say they have possibly put a Z19DTL turbo on, not a Z19DTH one.

EGR could be blocked, causing turbo to show excess boost pressure then "trip out". Would still show to be working on the Tech2 machine, but be gummed up in reality.

Without seeing it, is hard to confirm or deny to any of the above.

 

^^^ lol..well can only say what it said on speedo.. and infact if i can find a old sony phone charger have a very shaky picture of speedo at 149....

if you ever been in one you would know..they go like stink!! why ya think ive always used one..

 

"I'd say they have possibly put a Z19DTL turbo on, not a Z19DTH one"

is there any markings on the turbo..maybe i could have a butchers...

 

the 1.9 cdti will do 140 in a car so why not a van
150 bhp and i know of one chiped to 208bhp

 

6 lovely gears also 8)

 

yeh the 150 vans are quick like.

as above, it could be down to many a thing with the 19dth, egr+swirl flaps are common faults, as are turbo's, on the 150's. dont go blaming the mechanics straight away though, vauxhall parts are crap in general.

on another note, if your doing 130+ in your van, then your clearly not the most considerate driver, we have many customers vans come in because they are company vehicles and not looked after.

 

well its not like its everyday... mileage i do license would be gone in a week..

most days are 70-90ish and its perfect...

anyway getting of topic... was more to do with the older van issue..

 

fair play. there could be underlying issues with the 1.7 as well bud. they are prone to turbo problems too, as well as sensors.

but as said above, without checking it over its hard to say if its a mechanics fault.

ive seen many a vauxhall come in, stay in for months waiting on parts, then finally get the parts and leave, and it could come back in weeks later, never usually for the same problem though. but not every garage will be that lucky.

do you know what all has been done to this van then if its been in 4 times and still in?? surely they have a reason for keeping it in??

if they couldnt find a fault they would hand it back to yas and tell you to bring it back if fault persists.

 

yeah reason its still there is...it still wont start unless you remove pipe from airbox and give it a squirt...

 

sometimes these things happen though, im not making excuses for the garage not knowing the full details, but i know from experience that not all jobs are as simple as youd think.

and vauxhall is defo a fooker for waiting ages for parts

its clearly a fueling problem if thats the symptoms.....perhaps its taking so long because they have replaced all the associated items, ie fuel pump, injectors etc...

 

Out of interest - what is there to consider with regards to his speed?

 

well in terms of the vehicle being 'ragged' so to speak.

 

dont know about the turbo but the poor starting fault will be the egr valve .same engine is used in the fiats and they are prone for this

 

swarf in the fuel means it needs every part of the fuel system off and cleaning and a new fuel filter. It also means it needs a high pressure pump and a set of injectors.

 

take it to a diesel specialist avoid dealers like the plauge they are generally useless and only employ service monkeys plus they usually farm out big jobs to other garages anyway!

 

and all the pipes too, we do alot of transits with failed powersteering pumps,,, sometimes they need all new pipes ect due to chance of swarf


i have NEVER heard of a main dealer passing a big job onto a smaller garage,,,,,, they pass on tyres, wheel alignment and sometimes LPG if its not OEM kit but main dealers have ALOT more access than a 2 bob garage with a pit and trolley jack who still thinks listening to a screwdriver pressed to the block he can hear the problem

 

every part of the fuel system means what it says Ginge. Every part which is also the pipes, tank, stack pipe, lift pump if fitted, filter and filter head if it's got a head, high pressure pump, fuel rail, pressure regulating valve if it's seperate, high pressure pipes, pressure sensor, injectors, leak off pipes and fuel temperature sensor.

 

i was meaning more to specialists ie/ diesel specialist, fuel injection specialist etc.. not 2 bob garages!
its ok them having all the equipment its just the fact that a lot of them dont know how to use it ive worked at two different main dealers before proton (lol) and citroen (double lol) and would never go back to working for a main dealer again

 

that will be your reason for passing big jobs on then

at vauxhall, all franchises HAVE to have at least one platinum tech and several gold techs. this ensures capability in all aspects of vehicles, so no need to pass jobs onto other people.

 

does it turn over fast enough when cranking? i had a troublesome one once and the starter was'nt turning fast enough and so not building enough pressure so would not start.

but quick sniff off easy start and away it would go!

 

i personally dont pass big jobs on even tho sometimes i wish i could lol!
i must be the equivalent of your platinum techs then as i get all the shit jobs!
the vauxhall garage near me passes jobs on tho

 

its had a new starter.........

 

sh1t jobs?? the platinum techs are the highest ranked, they get all the 'good' diagnostic jobs lol

 

you probably did one of ours last week then

power steering fluid pissing all ove the place, get a pipe changed and a few days later, same again, fixed and a few days later it's lost it's oil again