Hi All, possibly need some of your tech knowledge!

[theGman190]

Hi All,

My sis is having a few problems with her car, she is bringing it down so i can have a look and sort all the bits, i am pretty handy with the old spanners but there is nothing better then people who have the car, i am not going to post all the faults now as i want to get it here, have a dam good look and then post every fault that i can see and any faults you may think i have missed.

This was really just a hello ill be on her for a while and am thinking this could be a great knowledge base, better then any garage, ha ha

Cheers in advance everyone


Mike (aka the G man)

[Robsey]

Welcome to the site,

We're more than happy to help if we can....the fact is, that between us we will know a lot more about Vx cars than Vx themselves.

Feel free to ask away

[Caveman_nige]

welcome to the site.. loads of good info here..

[theGman190]

Right, i have driven the car today, there are a few bits i have noticed straight away and think i know what they are, i have noted them below, let me know what you think:-

1. clutch doesnt come fully back out - Possible spring, i think linked to the clutch overall
2. judder in 1st and sometime second gear when pulling away, on top of this when driving in say top gear and you put foot to the floor it revs without going any quicker - I believ the clutch has gone?? Could it be a slave cylinder?
3. Bit grity going into gear - Is this linked to the above or gear box oil?
4. Knocking from behind when going over speed bumps - Dont know yet i will have a look underneath asap
5. It has failed its MOT on a load of easy bits ike bulbs and the steering having freeplay at one of the wheels, the garage she too it said the steering rack had gone, i think poss track rod end? Again will have a look.

There are other bits but i cant think of them all for now, the clutch seems to be the main one,

Oh,

Brakes- It needs 1 disk, if the pads are new ill leave them on but will prob stick new dicks and pads on the front. I have changed umpteen disks before but never on a vectra, is there anything i should know?

Cheers

[theGman190]

forgot to ask, can i do it without a piston retraction tool??

[John LE]

1. clutch doesnt come fully back out - Possible spring, i think linked to the clutch overall
2. judder in 1st and sometime second gear when pulling away, on top of this when driving in say top gear and you put foot to the floor it revs without going any quicker - I believ the clutch has gone?? Could it be a slave cylinder?
3. Bit grity going into gear - Is this linked to the above or gear box oil?
4. Knocking from behind when going over speed bumps - Dont know yet i will have a look underneath asap
5. It has failed its MOT on a load of easy bits ike bulbs and the steering having freeplay at one of the wheels, the garage she too it said the steering rack had gone, i think poss track rod end? Again will have a look.

Brakes- It needs 1 disk, if the pads are new ill leave them on but will prob stick new dicks and pads on the front. I have changed umpteen disks before but never on a vectra, is there anything i should know?

Cheers[/QUOTE]

1 & 2. Sounds as though the clutch return spring has failed resulting in the clutch being worn. New clutch i'm affraid
3. Worth changing the gearbox oil although the clutch could have a part to play in this
4. Does the car feel like it is sliding out when going over bumps or is it just a knocking noise? Could either be worn arb bushes or upper control arms
5.The steering rack may well be gone, wouldn't be the first Vec-C to have this problem

The brakes, the fronts are very straight forward and disc/pad kits are pretty reasonable, its easier to do the rears with a re-wind tool but a pair of long nosed pliers work too

HTH

[plasma]

1. Yes, could well be the spring if the return isnt nice and sharp
2. What engine is it? theres an issue with clutch judder on the 1.8's and there was a revised clutch assembly to fix it, but does sound like clutch slipping due to revving in gear and not going anywhere... but you'd normally find that in the lower gears due to more torque per ratio.... not gonna be slave cylinder as this just diengages the clutch, so if gone the clutch pedal would be on the floor...
3. Could well be due to worn gearselector cables/need adjusting... another poss is gearbox oil level.. revised from 3.2 litres to 2.4 litres to aid smoother shifting.. and some of these boxes are just bad at changing gears
4. Knocking could well be 'upper rear arms' or 'banana arms'
5. Dont think they'd condemn the steering rack for tie-rod ends, but could possibly be the inner steering rod joint (john35 had same problem)
Brakes - Fronts are easy, just a push back.... its only the rears you need a caliper rewind tool for.

hth's

[the-wizard]

no tool for the fronts!, you only need to rewind the calipers on the rears as it has discs and pads with a handbrake that constantly adjusts.

[theGman190]

cheers for that, it is just the front breaks i need to change, she only wants to get 1200 for the car as wants to sell it now, needs an estate with all the animals so i am just going to look at getting everything sorted as quick and easy as possible, first job, we buy any car .com and see if it is worth me doing all the work on it!

I would say it def needs a clutch, i reckn around £150 ish, hopefully less, it is a 2.0 dti, it doesnt slide anywhere and only noticed the knocking when going over bumps. Bushes were aparently replaed last year on the MOT but could very well be the upper control arm!

I have been told the steering rack has gone, is this a difficult job? I reckon track rod ends but need to have a good look

is the clutch an easy job to do yourself?