cautionary tale

[prof1908]

i bought a 2004 cdti sri 150 5 mths ago i decide it was wise to take a two year warrenty with it i have had little trouble with it until now

i was happly going down m6 at preston when suddenly the car died on me and the dredded spanner appeared i managed to nurse it to the service station and called AA very soon he appeared plugged his little laptop in and found an error code that told him what was wrong. error code P0203 or other wise shortage at no 3 injector he fiddled about for about 1/2 hour and could not find the short.fault was cleared i carried on my merry way for another 210 miles and he presto it did it again i pulled into service station fiddled with connections on no 3 injector and continued on my merry way from leeds to glasgow no problems other than the dreaded spanner still appears on dash but goes out as i was unable to clear it

so i am now home and contacted the main dealer as the car was under warranty i assumed that they would fix it to my horror i was told this
"cables arnt covered mate if the short is in the cable you will pay us £65 to do the test and we would then estimate you for the work to the cabling but if its the injector you wont pay anything" how come i asked all i was told was i should have read the small print it states quite clearly that if it isnt listed it isnt covered.on closer look if a component fails they replace the component but if it fry`s your cabling your snookered

so i am gambling on it being the injector as the AA man couldnt repeat fault at idle until he touched the injector head a couple of times so i go in on wednesday to argue the case based on the AA advise

so beware of warranty deals look for the little line that says

"only the commponents listed above are covered all other item are excluded " i missed it

to me it seams i will have to invest on a code reader to check codes as the vectra has so many sensors attached to lights and electrical equipment i couldnt afford £65 everytime i get a short that brings on the dredded spanner because of a lose connection

car bought from Arnold Clark with a Autocare warranty

[merikiito]

Its a known fault and requires modifield cables

http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62925

Just had mine done at the VX dealer but I could have done it myself if I had the time £127

I have emailed VX customer services and will be imforming the DOT as mine caused the engine to shut down while driving as well

[Gsi3.2]

car bought from Arnold Clark with a Autocare warranty

I'm afraid thats typical Arnold Shark 'customer care'....they just Don't ..

The CDti is full of niggles, so and investment in a decent code reader may stand you in good stead.. The CDti's are also well known now for dodgy injector looms and there has been a repair kit avaliable now for about 3 years...it upgrades the cables diameter to stop them snapping internally due to engine vibration..One fitted, you won't get that same fault again.

[prof1908]

i know about the upgrade now but thanks for the info guys i will still try and argue a case for them to cover it not holding out much hope if i do the upgrade myself will it invaladate the little warranty i have for the major parts like the injectors

would i be better getting a link cable as i have the tis sofware installed on my laptop or would i be better off with a reader

thamks

[Gsi3.2]

the link cable and TIS ( which will be an illegal copy ) won't diagnose any codes on your car.. a standalone reader is a better option. but unfortunately the more you pay, the better they are..

[prof1908]

hi

just thought i would let you guys know how i got on

i argued with arnold clark with no differance at all still had to pay but i did get a good deal

i was charged a total of £92.06 plus vat total £105.87 here is what i got done

full diagnostic tech 2
new ugraded wiring loom for no 3 injector supplied and fitted
two new bump stop rubbers for tailgate supplied and fitted and tail gate adjusted (no more rattle)

total labour £75.07
total parts 16.99 1 loom 2 bumpstop rubbers

over all i think i got a good deal reading the posts on the cost other people have been charged for the no 3 cylinder prob only

the original cost i was quoted was £110 plus vat just for the no 3 cylinder
it still doesnt take away the fact i had to pay in the first place.
i have learned a good leason here that the warranty i have now got with the aa does cover cables within reason and would have covered me in this case but i hadnt transfered it to the vectra but i have now transfered the cover to the vectra so io shouldnt have any more problems now

a final point if any body out there hasnt had the upgrade done the i would strongly recommend it the 1.9cdti sri now drives like the way it should very fast

on another note i also found that there has been a recall on my vectra for the hand brake so anybody out there that hasnt had it done pressure your dealer

[merikiito]

Well your dealer is a shark as it is a known fault and appears in TIS. It is the first thing that you dealer should have checked and been able to identify very easly with out any need to fault find. A quick plug in of Tech2 (5 mins max) would have shown up the fault for injector no.3 and comfirmed the need for a new wiring loom.

I am in conversation with VX and the DOT as I believe this should have been done as a recall due to the fact your engine dies when you are driving and therefore it is extremely dangerous. The fact that the loom has been available for 3 years just shows it is a common issue, like the handbrake one!