Boxing Day on the hard shoulder

**dom767** · 26th December 2010, 19:56

Hi all,

My 1.8LS 04 Veccy seems to have given up and I'm wondering what the likely problem and cost to fix will be...

For the last month or so I've noticed a bit of a whine/buzz when the car is under acceleration. It seems to be linked to engine revs.

Driving down the motorway today, dropped to 4th to overtake some car, and coming back into 5th got a strange noise from engine, kind of a squealing, and then the smell of oily burning in the car.

Engine quickly deteriorated and had to park up. As soon as 1st gear is entered, there starts to be a whine from the engine linked to revs. Can get through 2nd and into 3rd, but in 3rd there's really no pull.

So what have I broken? Engine sounds fine when gears aren't engaged, so I don't think it's engine proper. And the fact the car moves when in gear seems to rule out the clutch.

Other misc. info... crank shaft sensor had to be replaced 3-4 months back.

Is this the drivetrain gone? What's the cost to fix likely to be?

Ta,
Dom

**byebyeitsagsi** · 26th December 2010, 20:02

I would go for clutch or gearbox. Simply because it only happens when in gear/under accelaration. Any problems when your going up and down the gears has it become notchy or difficult to engage a gear?

**dom767** · 26th December 2010, 20:25

There hasn't been much indication of a problem with the gearbox up to now. Even now it doesn't seem to have trouble getting into gear. No crunching or resistance when changing...

**byebyeitsagsi** · 26th December 2010, 20:31

Its a strange one. Maybe someone will come along with a better idea.

**Das** · 26th December 2010, 20:39

So the engine revs freely through the rev range in neutral but when you engauge a gear the engine struggles to pull away? Sound like a clutch or gearbox issue to me too.

**dom767** · 26th December 2010, 20:43

Cool. Well, sounds better than the other option of it being something deeper in the engine. Fingers crossed. I'll let you know what the garage says after I've ok'd the work with the Warranty folks.

**diesel dog** · 27th December 2010, 09:34

Sounds like gearbox failure ("collapsed mainshaft bearings"). Not uncommon on these after some miles.

http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20822

**dom767** · 13th January 2011, 14:01

As promised, update on what the problem was...

Looks like the main bearings on the gearbox collapsed. This punctured a hole in the side of the gearbox and lead to oil leaking onto the clutch. The hole that got punctured also broke the cylinder on the clutch.

So yep, those that guessed gearbox were correct.

The repair bill for all this has come in at £1500, with the warranty (through AA) paying £500 of it.

So my next question... Is there any hope in hell of getting Vauxhall to pay for some of this? The car is July 04, and 83K miles, so doesn't seem like it should be failing in such fundamental ways... :-(

**Das** · 13th January 2011, 20:31

Youve got more chance of 6 number on Saturday night than VX entertaining a payout on a 6 year old car. BTW £1500 to replace a gearbox seems a tad step imo, did you put a brand new box on?