zafira - out of diesel

littlemissfrugal

i'm not having a good week - got home at teatime tonight knowing the car needed fuel but kid crying - you know how it is just wanted to get home, anyway stupidly apart from letting it get so low i parked it facing uphill (derrr) been out not long back to fill it up - wouldn't start - 2 cans of diesel later still no joy, helpful neighbour said there may be a fuel primer on it somewhere but i can't find it mentioned in the handbook which just says "do not allow it to run out of fuel - if it does it requires a complicated proceedure which can only be done by a Vauxhall dealer" Is this the case or is there a quick fix? I am in the AA but only if i breakdown away from home!! Any ideas anyone

steve_bilton

Sorry to say there is no primer on the "old" Zafira diesel - we found out the hard way as well!

One recovery bloke just kept the engine turning on the key and it eventually primed itself and started.

The second - it was my wife's fault! - he said don't turn the engine on the key when it's empty as you are running the fuel pump without lubrication! He said that you needed a special primer tool that only Vauxhall had, but they were trying to purchase some as they were getting more and more Vauxhall's that had run out of diesel.

I don't think that Vauxhall charge too much to prime the system. Our garage had to strip down the fuel pipes and bleed the air from the injectors which costs more that going to Vauxhall.

HTH

littlemissfrugal

thanks for that it is the older Zafira and i tried it this morning after a cough and a splutter she turned over - straight down to the petrol station filled it up, was not looking forward to calling out a garage