Vectra C, Issues..

[Koolkuts]

Hello all, New here recently bought my first vauxhall vectra C.

Its a 2007 model design with the 8 valve 1.9 CDTI 120 bhp engine, I got the car cheap considering it runs, drives and has heaps of service history and being a design its pretty close to a top spec. 

So i've already found a few issues with it I would like to run by some gurus on here, 

1) The lights, the car came with a dull bulb so i replaced it with some known good ones and they do work however they point directly in front of me making it almost impossible to drive at night. I've had a tinker and the projector has came away from the refelctor housing if you get what I mean. The adjusters don't work and after a quick google I couldn't find a lot of useful information on fixing it. Is this a replace the headlights job? or am I just being incompetant.

2) The car sits quite low on the back, theres a good 2 cm between the arch and wheel and it's not anything in the boot however a little concerning. On first inspection the car seems to have new trailing arms and springs so can't really put my finger on the issue.

3) It turns over about 2 times before actually starting, this is where i begin to sweat. The car runs smooth as soon as it starts and i do wait for the glow plug light to turn off before starting it however it's everytime no matter if it's warm or cold. I'm sweating because this might be linked to the next 2 issues. The EGR came blanked, i've cleaned the boost sensor and went over every single turbo pipe looking for boost leaks.

4) The temperature, it doesnt seem to heat up most of the time. While its driving the gauge seems to never move, it'll move when sat still go right up to the 90 mark and sit there happily but as soon as i start driving it drops and pretty quickly. I have had one occasion on a hot day where it sat at 90 for a bit while doing some town stop start driving but haven't had it since. Suspected the temperature sensor but i'm open to opinions. 

5) Finally, Looks bad this list but i don't mind considering the price. The cars slow, i know it's only 120 bhp and I have gone down from a mondeo 2.0 TDCI, which was remapped so i expected a little loss but this seems too slow. As said above i've checked for boost leaks on almost every turbo piping and I can hear a faint hiss from the turbo when building boost, but it just has no kick to it. It will pick up speed and sit happily at 70mph pretty quickly so maybe it's just me. 

 

Overall it's a good car and i think most of these are me being a little nit picky, but I am planning on keeping the car for a little bit and just ironing out the little bits as i go. I've only drove around 400 miles since buying it, however it's never spluttered, it's got amazing fuel economy and apart from picking it to bits like I have above I can't really fault it. 

I look forward to hearing from you all.

[AndyR]

Hi Koolkuts, 

Welcome aboard. Does sound like a lot of problems you are facing. I am not up on diesel engines, but your temperature problem is very similar to my own, which is on my Astra G. I gave mine a good flush through of the cooling system, and put in fresh coolant. I also replaced the temp sensor too. Now the gauge reads correctly, but I have not had a cooling fan since I bought the car. I AM looking at fixing this problem. Hope this is helpful. 

Regards Andy.

[Derek2021]

Koolkuts, I have a petrol Vectra with the problem you describe the temperature gauge, but I'll wager yours might be similar.

My engine is fitted with an electronic thermostat rather than a conventional bimetallic or thermal spring. When these fail they fail in the open position for safety reasons. Initially I thought I had a faulty gauge and a possible head issue due to the poor heating.

 

Get it up to to near, but still below, what should be running temperature and then check the radiator. The radiator should be more or less cold. I'll bet it's quite warm and of so, that's problem 4 identified.

Diesels hate being cold and this would be enough to do all sorts including poor fuel economy and power.

 

Derek