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After four weeks, I get a spanner light?
The engine spanner light came on this afternoon as I drove home from work. I'm thinking, 'is this serious or what?' I'm in heavy commuter traffic that's crawling. I managed to switch the engine off and restart it, result! - Spanner light goes out (as per manual, 'it's of no consequence if it illuminates briefly and goes out' p188 Jan 2006 ed)? – I'm alright Jack problem solved, 'appy days. 5 mins later the spanner light's back on again, but the engine sounds fine, I'm still crawling along with the rest of the traffic, should be able to get home, maybe even drop it off at the stealers and pick up a courtesy car. 10 mins later the engines dies/stalls. The starter turns over but it won't start the engine, that's me stuck.
The hazard lights come on and there I am sitting in rush-hour traffic blocking the inside lane with scores of drivers giving it some with the horns and bulldog faces. I'm trying to get Vauxhall City on the mobile when a community police officer pulls up on a moped. He takes one look at me, mobile in hand, hazards blinking, and from the look on his face I can see he thinks I'm taking the urine. From the outside it's a spotless 06 plate with nothing to indicate a breakdown. Anyway, two community plods help push the 2.2 to a corner where I'm left, fuming and cursing the day I ever laid eyes on this 2.2.
After ten minutes of f-ing and blinding, I calm down enough to try and start the engine. Heavens above, it starts and no spanner light!? I call Vaxhall Assistance and explain the situation – do I drive home and risk another failure or wait for them to pick me up? VA say it's my call, (I've just finished my shift, I'm tired) so I continue to drive home. About 5 miles later the spanner light comes again and I'm still in slow heavy traffic, I almost panic, 'cos I don't want an embarrassing repeat of the earlier lane blocking fiasco. I pull over straight away and get VA on the phone again. Here's the rub, VA wont come out unless the car breaks down, since the engine is running they wont budge. Even worse, if the 2.2 breaks down outside my home they still wont come out.
I park the car for ten mins and then decide to head to missus' cake factory which is a few miles away. I get there with the spanner light on, and during the course of the afternoon realise it's too late to get to any stealers in the rush hour. After an hour at the cake factory I start the engine and run it for 30 mins gunning the accelerator, no spanner light. But as soon as I drive off for home the spanner light's back on.
The only thing I've done different in the last week is put some Tesco's super unleaded 99 RON, and that was on the 13th, I'd done 80 miles since that point without a glitch, I'm not convinced it's a fuel issue.
I work in a 24h tv environment doing shifts (5 am starts) I have to drive this car into work tomorrow, if it breaks down VA will pick me up and I'll have a valid reason for not being at my post in the morning. If it doesn't fail then I'll drop it off at the stealers tomorrow afternoon. Either way, after four weeks of 2.2 driving, this car has given me more grief in one day than my old Honda Accord did in four years.
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Originally Posted by dmoffat
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