Engine Management Light 1.8VVT

[philroberts]

Hello,

Can anyone help me? I've got a 2008 Vectra SRI 1.8 VVT. Engine management light came on last week, so took it to my local back street garage. Everything pointed to the cam sensor, so they changed it, but still the same fault there and EML back on. They then changed the valve sprocket and valve itself (and the timng chaing for good measure as it was due shortly) but still the fault is there. The sensor is right and the valve is sticking open when the VVT kicks in around 4000rpm or so, so lack of power and poor fuel economy.

Now they say nothing more they can do - take it to Vx. Trouble is, Vx will do all the work I've already had done again and charge be a fortune for it, before I get any further. Car has only done 30k and never been abused - only a few months out of warranty.

Anyone had something similar before / any ideas as to what could be causing it?

Thanks in advance

Phil

[rich r]

Firstly - the camshaft position sensor is a known problem on the 1.8 engines (VVT and non). I had several months of problems with mine once the initial P0340 code came up. With the fault present, you'll find you can't go over 4000rpm as the car is in 'safe mode'. The warning light will also go out after a certain number of starts, and stay off until you reset the ECU.

After numerous trips back to the garage where they adjusted it, in and out, up and down, left and right, checked the cables, replaced the crank sensor etc. They finally found the problem - a non-GM sensor had been fitted. It would seem that for this particular sensor, only genuine is good enough.

So first check that when they replaced the sensor on yours, it came in a GM labelled bag...

[disco dan]

Hello,

Can anyone help me? I've got a 2008 Vectra SRI 1.8 VVT. Engine management light came on last week, so took it to my local back street garage. Everything pointed to the cam sensor, so they changed it, but still the same fault there and EML back on. They then changed the valve sprocket and valve itself (and the timng chaing for good measure as it was due shortly) but still the fault is there. The sensor is right and the valve is sticking open when the VVT kicks in around 4000rpm or so, so lack of power and poor fuel economy.

Now they say nothing more they can do - take it to Vx. Trouble is, Vx will do all the work I've already had done again and charge be a fortune for it, before I get any further. Car has only done 30k and never been abused - only a few months out of warranty.

Anyone had something similar before / any ideas as to what could be causing it?

Thanks in advance

Phil

Ive got that problem still, since may this year, fault P0011. runs ok just this light comes on after an hour or two of driving. the valve your refering to, do you mean the solenoid?

[philroberts]

Not quite the same - EML comes on after a cold start - run it for 5-10 minutes, switch it off and back on and light goes out, but still low power so problem still there. Definitely the valve and sprocket the garage told me.

[Das]

Did the garage read the fault codes before carrying out the work?

[philroberts]

yeah they did - although I don't have them with me - they said there were three of them all pointing to cam sensor....

[rich r]

Read the fault codes and we'll have a better idea. When I had P0340, I'd find that if I started the car and it wouldn't go over 4000rpm, turning it off and restarting it would clear the fault and it'd be fine until I next started it.

Being a 1.8, you should be able to get the codes without a fault code reader. Simply press the brake and accelerator whilst turning the ignition on (you might have to turn it off and back on again - either way don't turn it to the 'start' position, just position 2) - then the engine warning light flashes the codes out. 10 flashes means a zero. So 10-3-4-10 would be code P0340, 10-10-1-1 would be P0011.

[disco dan]

codes would be useful, i had the maf sensor code come up too, think its P0100, replaced that but not had the fault code erased from ecu memory yet.

[hoochydady]

you say they did the dephaser and the solenoid and its still sticking on have you had the ecu updated the reason i say this its also a common problem on renault vvt engines and the way they got around it was a ecu update so odds on that vauxhall may have a update for this to

[philroberts]

OK, read the code sand I'm coming up with a P0014 "B Camshaft Position - Timing Over-Advanced or System Performance (Bank 1)". Checked with the garage and everything mechanical has been replaced on this cam (valve, sprocket, solenoid) - they've check all the wiring too - so any ideas? Could it be the beginnings of an ecu failure?

I gave it a real boot yesterday on the way home and managed to get it to about 4500rpm (won't go any higher no matter how hard you try at the moment) I do spend a fair amount of time in traffic jams, so was wondering if the VVT just hasn't been kicking in enough? Anyway this morning start it up and wait for the eml to come up - but nothing except the fault in ecu memory. Shall see what happens on the way home from work tonight.