poor cranking when cold

[johngringo]

hi everyone have bought a diagnostic meter battery ok charging ok but cranking when cold states cranking poor afterwards all ok anyone any ideas thanks johngringo

[Apydog]

hi everyone have bought a diagnostic meter battery ok charging ok but cranking when cold states cranking poor afterwards all ok anyone any ideas thanks johngringo

When you say poor cranking, do you mean it's cranking over slowly? Or it's cranking over a long time before actually firing?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

[wildchild]

more than likely new starter motor

[Fastcabs]

But also check your battery rating too...
When I bought my car it was fitted with a 70ah battery which is slightly on the low side for a Z19dth. Mine would always struggle to start in the cold and eventually packed in and wouldn’t start at all due to an EGR issue. As well as solving that I also fitted a new Lucas starter motor and a Bosch 85Ah battery. Car starts almost like new ever since and that was 2 years ago. Sometimes it’s a combination of everything; at first glance everything seems to be working but really several components are just getting old and on their way out. Let us know when fixed.

[nismo128]

Hi it will be the CCA of your fitted battery that’s the issue
CCA stands for cold cranking amps the greater the cca the easier the car will turn over.
I have a Z18XER petrol which had the 100 amp petrol alternator and standard battery size fitted
and mine had poor cranking over when cold,I upgraded the alternator from the petrol
100 amp to the diesel 120amp and at the same time increased the battery size to the size used in diesels
and chose a battery with a high CCA and it has been perfect ever since.
I believe there are three different alternator amperages available for the vectras the 100amp 120amp and 140amp
you can’t just fit a huge battery without upgrading the alternator as well though as smaller amperage alternators will have to work a lot harder to charge the bigger batteries and power all the electrical items etc.
in your case replace your battery like for like but opt for a battery the provides a greater CCA rating

[Fastcabs]

Respectfully Nismo128, I disagree. Surrey is hardly the arctic and CCA is a rating from a test carried out in conditions well below zero. In normal conditions a higher CCA rating is not going to make the difference in your car starting or not...

Also why (and how) did you fit a ‘diesel alternator’ to your car? I’ve had several Z18XER Vectras and there is a 120Amp OEM Alternator specifically for that car. Maybe you fitted that?

To the OP, after fitting a new starter (which is almost certainly the issue here) give your battery a quick check to see that it’s meant to be in your car as it’s possible that someone changed it out in a bid to save money (as happened to my car before I got it). 75Ah should be good enough but Yes, you can fit a more powerful battery (within reason) as I did without upgrading your alternator and the car will start easier. If you need a replacement battery then by all means get one with best CCA rating as that’ll come in handy for any planned shopping....sorry road trips to Iceland.

[northpole]

changing the battery for a higher amp one does not mean you have to upgrade the alternator.. especially not if you don't run stuff that needs the extra available power... if you aren't running a heavy ice setup or power inverter (12v to 110/220v) there is absolutely no reason to swap the alternator.. as your standard lower alternator will be able to power everything (as it did before the bigger battery) and charge the battery without a problem. After all the car isn't suddenly using more power, it will stay the same but it will have more reserve. Thus being able to give a more steady power delivery at cold start, yes CCA does make a difference (the higher the better).. but if you have and are using power draining equipment than yes by all means upgrade the alternator to one that has a heavier output, and make sure you put in a heavier battery so when you switch the contact off you can run the extra power hungry stuff for a while without the need to start the car again quickly.

ps from what i have noticed it doesn't matter if the alternator comes from a diesel or petrol as long as the connection points, the pulley and the connector are identical. example i once replaced my vw oem alternator for that of a renault espace 3.0 v6 because it gave 150amp and i upgraded the battery to 120amp, was running a 2000w rms ice setup with a 2farad powercap... both were bosh items by the way so the connectors were identical, and the vw was a petrol 2.8 vr6 renault was a 3.0 v6 diesel.

[johngringo]

When you say poor cranking, do you mean it's cranking over slowly? Or it's cranking over a long time before actually firing?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

It cranks slowly then starts once its been started a couple times it turns over okay

[Apydog]

It cranks slowly then starts once its been started a couple times it turns over okay

Okay, when you say you've bought a diagnostic meter what do you mean?

Have you had a proper battery test done. A proper battery tester load tests the battery, basically simulating turning the engine over and takes a measurement.

Halfords offer a free battery check where they will perform a test for free. Personally, I wouldn't allow Halfords to work on my car, but that's only because I've had to fix some of the messes on cars that Halfords have made. But I wouldn't turn down a free battery test as there isn't much they can do wrong haha.

If the battery is okay, chances are it's the starter motor or the wiring. A cold engine is much harder to turn over then a warm engine.

If you have access to a multimeter and can get to the starter motor, you can carry out a voltage drop test on the starter motor to check the problem isn't it in the wiring. If the wiring is okay then it'll be the starter motor.

As mentioned, if you haven't done a proper battery test I'd have one of them done first, as the price of a battery will be a fraction of a starter motor + fitting it they're difficult to get too.

[northpole]

as the price of a battery will be a fraction of a starter motor + fitting it they're difficult to get too.

Actually the startermotor by itself isn't cheap at all a 100 amp upgrade battery is cheaper... I know this because I recently had to do mine... and yes same symptoms, and in the end when I removed the starter motor I realised it was the one fitted by the factory... can't complain my car is 17 years old... so it lasted really long. And when I replaced it I noticed that vauxhall didn't mess about with the wiring at all... the way it is secured, in a heat resistant tunnel than pops out clear from heat sources to the back of the starter motor... nope chances are the problem is the starter not the battery.


FYI mine would still work if the big 12v power connector rod didn't snap off inside the housing... as I inspected the reason for it not working anymore. I could clearly see the separation of the copper connector from the outside as there is a little gap between the housing. Than split the whole thing land the inside had some ware marks(grooves) in the housing so yeah time for a replacement...

That said if you diy it be prepared to be cursing as it is in an awkward position and with vauxhall securing the back with a cradle to the engine it means you'll have to figure out how to get to the bolts of the cradle so you can remove it without removing al sorts of other stuff. That have nothing to do with it... took me 2 hours to get it off ... put it back in 30 minutes. But I didn't remove it the way vauxhall would... for me it meant not having to remove the downpipe, turbo and a few other bits that were in the way.

Yours is a petrol 1.8 so no turbo so maybe it is a lot easier to replace.