Vectra 2.2 Direct

[aust240378]

Hi all,

Just a post to say hello

I'm now the proud owner of a very well looked after Vectra at 130,000 miles.

I recently had a drunk driver crash into the back of my car while my 9 year old son was in the back of my BMW touring at 50 mph! and I was in the need of a family car to replace it.

This came up on Autotrader for £975 with a full service history very tidy example with all the jobs done that seem to be common faults (Windcreen wiper linkage replaced, new thermostat)

It will be used to commute 100 miles per day and am looking forward to it after never having owned a Vauxhall before in 24 years of driving

No doubt I will asking questions as I get to know the quirks of the car, at the moment I'm still using the hire car but I will be using this for the commute soon.

I see the book states 37mpg combined, is this realistic? my journey is a combination of A roads and motorways with no town driving.

Regards

Austin

[test_uk]

good clean example there mate

[Big Dave]

Things to watch out for on the 2.2 direct.

The high pressure fuel pump has known issues.

As does the timing chain tensioner.

My old 2.2 direct auto, I used to get approx. 28 mpg around town and approx. 34 to 35 mpg driving to the coast and back on a mix of A roads, bypasses and motorway. Same sort of mpg commuting from Oxford to Birmingham on the A34, M40, M42, M6.
Expect better mpg if yours is a manual.

You might think the 2.2 doesn't have much grunt. Get the revs up and it does.

I had a flat spot at lower revs. Remedied by doing the air box mod. ie. unclipping and removing the trumpet inside.

[aust240378]

The high pressure fuel pump has known issues.

As does the timing chain tensioner.

Thanks for the tips Dave,

The Fuel pump has been changed to a different make, (I can't remember to hand which it was it's in the history somewhere)

I'll keep an eye on timing chain tensioner, any odd sounds or behaviour (I'm used to own a BMW 318i with the N42 engine) so know a little about dodgy sounding engines

Austin

[Big Dave]

I'll keep an eye on timing chain tensioner, any odd sounds or behaviour (I'm used to own a BMW 318i with the N42 engine) so know a little about dodgy sounding engines

Main one is a rattle upon start up, caused by the tensioner sticking. Had my first chain replaced at 49,000 miles and was 8 months out of manufacturers warranty. Fortunately I mentioned an intermittent rattle at the 2nd and 3rd service interval, but typically it never did it at the time of service. As there was a record of it, Vauxhall made a goodwiil gesture and paid 70% of the bill. So instead of approx. £600, I paid something like £150 for a new chain and tensioner (the revised one from the 2.0 ltr engine). Changing the tensioner alone would have been £155 if I paid for the work to be done.

At just under 100,000 miles I started getting the intermittent rattle sound again. So much for Vauxhall's "claim" that the chain should last for 100,000 miles. This 2nd one had lasted only 50,000 miles as well. If I blipped the throttle on start up, that was enough to kick the tensioner into action and shut up. Car got written off at 106,000 miles in an accident, so I never did find out how much longer the chain would have survived 2nd time round.

[skidmark1]

timing chain tension I used to replace mine was from a 2.0net engine as recommended by someone on here, as for the fuel pump mine lasted until 85k so changed to a Continental one along with the regulator, gearbox wine for the good old chocolate box, 35mpg around town and duel carriage ways, 15 miles to work and back daily, had mine for 8 years now and still enjoy driving it but you have to rev it, not so good as my vectra b 2.5 v6, now that had grunt.

[Seagulls76]

I have a 55 plate 2.2 direct also. The only advise I can see that no-one has mentioned is that you should NOT use E10 petrol (95), ONLY use the Super Fuels (97 +).

This is information from Vauxhall and the Department for Transport:

Opel-Vauxhall: E10 petrol is cleared for use in all Opel-Vauxhall vehicles with petrol engines, excluding:  Models with the 2.2 litre direct injection petrol engine, motor code: Z22YH (Vectra, Signum, Zafira).

[Big Dave]

I have a 55 plate 2.2 direct also. The only advise I can see that no-one has mentioned is that you should NOT use E10 petrol (95), ONLY use the Super Fuels (97 +).

This is information from Vauxhall and the Department for Transport:

Opel-Vauxhall: E10 petrol is cleared for use in all Opel-Vauxhall vehicles with petrol engines, excluding:  Models with the 2.2 litre direct injection petrol engine, motor code: Z22YH (Vectra, Signum, Zafira).

My 2.2 direct was run entirely on 95 RON fuel all its life, most of the time on Tesco's fuel.
First high pressure fuel pump failed at approx. 30,000 miles while still under warranty. The 2nd pump was still going strong at 106,000 miles.
What damage was 95 RON fuel supposed to cause?

[skidmark1]

My 2.2 direct was run entirely on 95 RON fuel all its life, most of the time on Tesco's fuel.
First high pressure fuel pump failed at approx. 30,000 miles while still under warranty. The 2nd pump was still going strong at 106,000 miles.
What damage was 95 RON fuel supposed to cause?

Mine is the same, Tesco unleaded all the time I have had it, as I said fuel pump at 85k but it was not long after using injector cleaner in the fuel so I have always wondered if that had anything to do with it, never used it again though.

[Casper85]

I've been using the 95 RON petrol for last 13 years with no problems....

I have a 55 plate 2.2 direct also. The only advise I can see that no-one has mentioned is that you should NOT use E10 petrol (95), ONLY use the Super Fuels (97 +).

This is information from Vauxhall and the Department for Transport:

Opel-Vauxhall: E10 petrol is cleared for use in all Opel-Vauxhall vehicles with petrol engines, excluding:  Models with the 2.2 litre direct injection petrol engine, motor code: Z22YH (Vectra, Signum, Zafira).