1.9 cdti power loss and fault codes

**Biker in a suit** · 28th March 2011, 13:46

Hi Folks,

I sold my Vectra a good few months ago now but I am now experiencing some problems with the wifes Zafira 1.9 cdti (08).

The engine managment light came on today followed bycatastrophic loss of power, no accelaration and max 50mph.

The car has 32k on the clock and had been serviced regularly, (last serviced in January)

I have been looking at the threads and I suspect it may be the EGR valve followed by 'limp home mode'.

has anyone any advice on how to read the engine fault codes or reset them?

also can anyone adivse me on other causes of power loss....the dealer has fairly scared the bjesus out of me with possible causes and I have read horror stories of £4000 repair bills.

any advice would be appreciated !

ps. I am just rolling up my sleeves to have a go at stripping the egr...will disconnecting the battery reset the warniing light?

Cheers Jamie

**AndyFoz83** · 28th March 2011, 14:05

have a look at this mate could be any of these probs

http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130008

**sharp114** · 28th March 2011, 14:35

Hi Jamie,

I don't know how closely related to your issue this is, but I've just fixed an EGR problem on my 2006 Vectra 1.9 CDTi 120.

Whilst I've not experienced the engine management lights and 'limp home' mode, the car did have trouble on acceleration. Quite often as the engine speed approached 2,000rpm under gentle acceleration the car would jerk like crazy, as if I was tapping my foot on the accelerator.

The first thing I did was disconnect the EGR wiring plug, and try driving the car. This got rid of the jerking problem completely, but caused the spanner and engine lights to come on.

Using an app on my Android phone called Torque, and a Bluetooth OBD-II adapter, I cleared the ECU fault codes (basically telling me the valve was unplugged).

The next thing I tried was removing the EGR valve and cleaning it with solvent and WD-40 etc. The valve wasn't particularly dirty - some of the surfaces were covered in a thin layer of black stuff. The mechanism was free to move as well. I cleaned it anyway, and as I guessed this had no effect on the jerking problem.

Following unsuccessful cleaning, last week I ordered an aluminium oval blanking plate from eBay and drilled an 8mm hole in the centre. I then fitted this on the inlet to the EGR valve. My car has been running just fine ever since [touch wood].

Chris

**Biker in a suit** · 28th March 2011, 16:09

Thanks Gents,

although the engine bay is a little more cramped, it look the same...I dont have an android phone though !

Is there some simple way of reading/ resetting the codes? available by ebay or anything like that?

**sharp114** · 28th March 2011, 16:34

I have just had a quick search on eBay and found this:

LATEST UNIVERSAL FAULT CODE READER - U480 OBD2 UK

If I was going to purchase a stand-alone fault code reader, I would probably go for that. However, I would definitely email the seller first to check about compatibility!

**AndyFoz83** · 28th March 2011, 20:03

i bought this one its never let me down

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=200562321099

**Biker in a suit** · 30th March 2011, 22:48

Good News....it WAS the EGR valve, now stripped cleaned, polished, greased and reinstalled. worked a treat...now all I need to do is turn that damn engine light off !

Thanks everyone. salute.

**Biker in a suit** · 7th April 2011, 21:01

HI Folks,

unfortunately the EGR valve has played up again this week, both times the car has gone into 'limp home mode' which as I discovered is ridiculously dangerous when you are in the outside lane of the motorway !

I had a closer look at the Valve following the strip down/clean and lubricating and I found water dripping out of the 3mm hole which I drilled in the top...this makes me wonder wether the modification should include pluggin the end up again??? comments?

anyways to avoid any further dangerous incidents I have ordered a new valve from the local dealer (£120 including gaskets)

two things I have learned from this saga....the engine light eventually goes out on its own so no need to buy tool to reset it...just keep driving...
...and secondly the 'limp home mode' also cancels after a few miles, I set off from Birmingham and 30 miles later the engine came back to life...up to that point I was crawling along in the inside lane at 60mph.

I have to say though this is getting very much like the niggles I had with the Vectra...big 'tut tut' to Mr Vauxhall