Our Zafira just broke down..

gabyjane

Wev'e only had it about 2 weeks:( Bought privately from someone down the rd.

It couldn't have happened anywhere worse..right on the main junction at peak traffic time and as the lights went to chnage the whole car just made that shutting down noise..i looked at the dash and all lights were on and it wouldn't restart. I tried a couple of times and managed to get it home but was really shakey as have never broken down before.

There was a strongish smell of petrol the other day which i mentioned to dh who said he couldn't smell anything so i left it maybe thinking it was me. This morning i was driving back from school and it felt as if the fuel wasn't feeding through properly..slightly jerky at times when driving. Not sure if this has anything to do with it but?

Have it booked in friday morning and they are coming to collect it so i don't have to risk not making it there!

Any ideas on probs with fuel as such if it is that? (and being female no i haven't put the wrong fuel in!)

Thanks x

colino

It may just need a good service to sort it out, beyond that it needs code read to check for other probs but coil packs, MAFs and egr valves are things your clued up independent will look at.

gabyjane

Thanks.

One reason i bought it privatly was the fact it had excellent service history. It has always been done by a local garage and has been really looked after so just typical this should happen to us!

I really hope it is nothing serious but will update when they have looked at it.
If anyone has had anything similar happen please let me know what you think it may be and prepare me for the worst as knw there are quite a few zafira owners on here.

Thanks x

bigjl

Could be camshaft sensor, crankshaft sensor etc. i would be slightly concerned that it might have had the problem before, hence the sale, and the previous owner has out on another sensor to get it sold, it could just be bad luck. I have heard several stories of Vectras, with the same engine, breaking down in a similar way, it usually tended to be a crankshaft or camshaft sensor, hopefully the garage can scan it for codes.

gabyjane

bigjl wrote: »

Could be camshaft sensor, crankshaft sensor etc. i would be slightly concerned that it might have had the problem before, hence the sale, and the previous owner has out on another sensor to get it sold, it could just be bad luck. I have heard several stories of Vectras, with the same engine, breaking down in a similar way, it usually tended to be a crankshaft or camshaft sensor, hopefully the garage can scan it for codes.

Thanks. I have NO idea what they are and what they do? are they a lot to fix if that's the prob? Being an older car it may not be worth it? I have to say i really think they looked after it but unsure as to obviously whether they knew somthing was going on it.

bigjl

They are fairly easy to do and any decent garage will have done loads by now.

The main thing is that the car didn't go bang, don't drive it just in case their is a cambelt issue, I am sure the 1.6 had a cambelt, though I have never owned one. But I think the 1.8's we had at work had cambelts but it has been 3 years since I have looked under the bonnet of one.

The fact that it smelt of petrol would indicate possible overfuelling, which would make me think sensor every time, maybe even a collant temperature sensor, as it may be making the engine think it is cold and over fuelling it.

mcjordi

i had the 1.8 astra g (w reg iirc) same problem turned out to be the cam or crank shaft sensor cant remember which..

gabyjane

Thanks. Well luckily we have 2 cars so have used the other one today and will leave that till friday when they can take a look at it. I have never broken down before and never in an awful place like this morning so will deff not be using it till it's sorted out.

gabyjane

mcjordi wrote: »

i had the 1.8 astra g (w reg iirc) same problem turned out to be the cam or crank shaft sensor cant remember which..

Thanks when we bought it on my other post i said that i thought the cam possibly needed doing as diff engine etc so knocked a couple of hundred quid off for that..can you remember how much off the top of your head?
Thanks

mcjordi

i did it myself got the sensor for about 30 off ebay

mikey72

I'd only use genuine crank or cam sensors, pattern parts are hit and miss.
Having said that, if they fail the injection system cuts off, so it won't smell of fuel, or goes into limp mode but not run rough normally.
Even overfuelling won't cause a misfire, unless the injector is actually stuck open.
Sounds more like a leak in the fuel system.