Vauxhall Vectra 2.5 24v V6 SRi

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

My latest cruise-mobile. R-reg, 76K, FVSH, all important cambelt change done at 58K or so so no need to worry about that particularly.

Bought it off my mate who's just bought a Mk 4 Golf GT TDi 130bhp.

I'd already driven it about a month or two before I decided to buy it from London back to East Midlands when we went to pick up his new Golf. Thoroughly impressed with it comfort and performance wise, so when he was struggling to sell it I offered to take it off his hands.

This now means I can sell the second 19 which just needs re-MOT'ing once I've bled the brakes.

Toys-wise it's got CD Player, Aircon, Traction Control, yadda yadda yadda.

Last month I made in impromptu appearance at the RSC Rolling Road day at Hill Power, and Nick being the gent he is let me stick the Vectra on for a run FOC.

Was a blistering hot day and the rollers were struggling to read above 5,800rpm so we only got a partial reading (limiter is at 6750rpm) and this was not helped by the fact the car what appears to be a slight misfire. Nevertheless, she recorded a healthy 155bhp ATW, which compared with the book figure of 170bhp ATF is pretty darn good to me.

No expert but factoring in about 18% loss on transmission I make flywheel power to be around 190-195bhp, perhaps even more had the rollers read up to the limiter and the engine firing properly.

It also suggests to me there's more mods under the bonnet than just a PiperX filter a Magnex back box....

Quick pic:

[IMG:512:384:f159e3d2cb]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/gentlebenny/DSCI0003-1.jpg[/img:f159e3d2cb]

Plan is to keep it standard and use it daily so 19 can come off the road for it's V6 conversion.

Only think this car needs is a new set of plugs and leads, and in a worst case scenario a new DIS pack, but I'm hoping that's not necessary since the car had a replacement fitted only a couple of years ago.

Nice car anyway, very pleased with it. Sounds like a 'rari on wot (I mean what really) at max revs an 'all!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well the Vectra has it's first real problem.

It's losing water, and running like a bag of shit.

Rather than assuming the two issues are separate I'm taking the pessimists' view that it's one of the headgaskets that's away.

Well today it went into Bryan for a compression test. The good news is that at the minute the cooling system is pressurising and working as it should, i.e. keeping the engine cool; not overheating etc.

The bad news is that a definitive diagnosis has yet to be reached, due to the slow rate at which water is being lost.

I've been told to keep my eye on it, and if it gets any worse then to bring it back for the unenviable task of assessing what to do next.

The next thing will be to change the plugs and leads (on this weekend's 'to do' list) and then see if she runs any better. If not I'll have to do the 'paper clip' test (cheap way of finding any faults logged by the ECU) and see if there's any major probs.

At the minute I'm not sure what to feel. I feel relieved that there's no major cause for concern but I'm sure it's the HG that's away.

Just wish it was possible for someone to spend half an hour going over it to give a firm diagnosis!

Retroholic Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 3315

www.purevaux.co.uk

this be a renault forum Razz

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Bah, shat it slag!

Retroholic Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 1000

water pump leaking? gasket?

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

paperclip will only put up a fault if the lights on.

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

No idea matey!

Here's the relevant observations I've made:

Takes about 2 weeks for the header tank to run dry
No obvious signs of water under the car
No problems on start-up, although it does occassionally stall
Runs a bit ropey.... if you bury the accelerator it'll stutter and splutter and then it'll sort itself out and you'll get a nice smooth surge of power
When cruising at constant speed engine runs quietly and smoothly
No obvious wet areas in the engine bay
Little bit of rusty coloured gunk around neck of coolant tank
No overheating taking place
Today's test shows the system pressurising as it should, basically been told it's running as it should at the moment

I'm certain it's one of the HG's but I need a proper cylinder-by-cylinder compression test doing to verify it!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

bring it up and leave it with me

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Okay matey, keep meaning to come up and see thee anyway!

Level 7 User Joined: 27 Feb 2004 Posts: 243

check the oil cooler that sits between the two banks. its an oil-water cooler and they rot. its a known problem on the v6's

jimbo

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Cheers for the info mate!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Right, I've just got back from down with a set of decent NGK sparks and leads for it, set me back the grand sum of Â£40, cheapest I could get 'em after shopping around.

Gonna try and tackle this myself, first bank looks pretty easy, undo 5 circlips holding the plenum on, swap leads and plugs over.

Rear bank looks a mare mainly due to it being at back of the bay and also there's a few brackets, devices and cables/lines running through/on it!

Retroholic Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 3315

http://www.vvoc.com/

thats a vectra forum Razz

edit: i also see your a member Embarassed

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Yep

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well the misfire is cured; albeit not in the fashion I intended!

I tackled the front bank first, inlet came off okay, no major probs. Got cylinders 2 and 4 sorted with a new plug and lead apiece, then onto no. 6 cylinder. It's the cylinder nearest the DIS pack so get the shortest lead and the fecker aint long enough. Arse. Been given wrong leads (although aesthetically they're identical).

So back to cyl's 2 and 4, remove new leads. Of the old leads that came off, two were melted together (crosstalk between cyl's) and one of the leads had had it's insulating sheath chafed to the point that bare wire was exposed. Anyway, some of my magic insulation tape later and the damage was covered.

I fired her up and the misfire/stuttering/popping was cured. Yay!

All in all not as productive a job as I would have liked, only got 3 plugs changed at the end of it, but nevertheless once the taped up old leads were back in place and the inlet bolted back on she was cured. So tomorrow, to get wrong leads exchanged for the right ones, then back to work!

Not looking forward to the rear bank of cylinders that's fo sho!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

good fix there matey, so water leak looks like the pump alone?

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Not sure yet mate, thing is it hasn't lost any water for over a week now!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Will also be interesting to see if/how much the fuel economy improves. The exhaust has been popping like a bitch at low speeds, presumably due to the excess unignited fuel being dumped out the engine.

Would also love to get it back on the rollers, see if it'll better the 155bhp it recorded just over a month ago!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

see if your cats dead as well...

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Nah he's alright I just opened a tin of Kitekat chunks in Jelly for him Laughing

Why you reckon the cat? Poisoned by the unburnt fuel you reckon?

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

they reckon it takes as little as 5 missfire to kill a cat