HELP: Vauxhall Zafira injector seals leaking

[chachiluz]

I have had a couple of problems with starting the car and the AA suggested that there was a leak in the njector seals. Vauxhall put the car to test (£85) to conclude that yes it is leaking and they say that it will cost me £483 (part £70 plus 5 hours of work ) The also told me that I have to change the Exhaust Gas REcirculation valve at a cost of £366.85!!!

I need some help to see if they ripping me of , Do I need to spend nearly £1000 as I have already parted with £138.27 --- to let me know what was happening.

Please help

[goldspanners]

well now you know whats wrong get it to an independant garage and ask them to do the work cheaper.
sometimes the egr can be cleaned out to extend its life.
i take it its just one injector they are going to change seen as the parts are only £70? find out what cylinder this injector is on so you can tell the cheaper independant.

[chachiluz]

Thanks goldspanner.
the paper they gave me says carried out vacuum test to inkector seals and found injector seals leaking. They did not tell which one they were. they charged £25 for vacuum test.

[goldspanners]

Originally Posted by chachiluz

Thanks goldspanner.
the paper they gave me says carried out vacuum test to inkector seals and found injector seals leaking. They did not tell which one they were. they charged £25 for vacuum test.

thats not too bad for the test,i had a vito which had a faulty injector,merc charged £100 for testing alone!
i would still suggest finding a local independant to do the work,it will be cheaper. 5 hours to change 1 injector seems a lot,but not impossible. it may be very hard to get at.

[chachiluz]

I will ring around! Do you know if the exhaust gas recirculation valves can be change in places like kick fit? they might not charge the £366 that the dealer wants.!

[chachiluz]

I had a look in wikipedia and it is not in the exhaust tube;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaust_gas_recirculation
looks complicated.

[chachiluz]

If i knew how to fix it1 they are selling one in ebay for £35!!! they are charging me £366.85

[chachiluz]

I am answering my questions myself ... found in the rac forum
Please remember that other faults can cause loss of power too but in my experience, 99% are EGR valve blockages.
If you do have it all cleaned and the same symptoms return, the valve itself may be broken. Takes 10 minutes to fit a new one and they cost about £140 from specialists such as Autovaux, a national company.
Will ring in the morning.. any one any news

[goldspanners]

th egr valve ive changed in the past have all been simple to remove and fit,you will be in a better position to tell us if it looks easy enough to change. it will be a pipe which goes from the exhaust downpipe back into the inlet manifold,or there abouts.

[Pew Pew Pew Lasers!]

Any mechanic can change injector seals, its not a difficult job. £70 for injector seals? That boggles the mind, on mine the injector seals are copper washers that cost about £0.05 each - so 30p to replace all of them.

EGR valves are usually on the intake manifold, and are a similarly easy job. Unsurprising they've recommended a new one, most people realise that an EGR valve is usually full of diesel gunk and would simply clean it out before replacing it; no money in that though, is there.

Before you part with any cash, join a Vauxhall specific forum and ask there, because if it's a common fault then people will be able to advise you better than they can here. Usually you'll find that the real problem is a tiny fraction of the price you've been quoted. Most dealership mechanics are nothing but glorified part fitters.

[harveybobbles]

EGR valve is seay enough. 9 times out of 10 we just clean them out.
We do a lot of injector seals on Vectra's with the vile 1.9cdti engine. Takes less than an hour to do.

[chachiluz]

Guys you are brilliant! I feel much better. I was getting really worried as I can't really afford the £1000 they were asking. Thanks so much.

[Unstoppable]

EGRs aren't really complicated. THey're a thick tube with another smaller tube entering it whose flow rate into the main tube is controlled by a plunger which is either vacuum or electronically operated. The idea is some of the gases from the turbo are sucked back into the engine via the small pipe to reduce emissions.

From your point of view, all you need to know is that it's a hose clip or two, a couple of bolts and either a small vacuum pipe to pull off or an electrical connector to disconnect.

You can clean them out with nothing more than a can of brake cleaner and a rag although if they're really gunked up, it's worth scraping as much of the gunk out as you can with a stick.

[Adam23177]

Hi, I have a 2006 1.9cdti 150 Astra and For a while now I've had a lot of smoke out the back when idling and upto about 1500 rpm, only when the car is warm. I got my hands on an opcom and read the Injector quantities, this is what I got
Cylinder 1 +5.2 mg/stroke, Cylinder 2 -5.1 mg/stroke, Cylinder 1 -5.3 mg/stroke, Cylinder 1 +5.3 mg/stroke
Any ideas whats going on? Thanks in advance, Adam

[laurence p]

try vxzoc forum and opcom users , i have these websites in my favourites bar but dont know how to post links.

[Adam23177]

thanks i'll take a look