Comments: 1-15, 16-24
It is such a good car except that our climate here in the Philippines, during summer, reaches 34 degrees centigrade. Current models have been advertised to have an Asian driving package, but my particular model has problems with overheating which, in turn, caused problems with the air-conditioning and idling. In short, the car overheats and stalls in traffic. It has been an inherent problem ever since I got the car. The mechanics at the dealership simply refuse to acknowledge that the main cause of the problem is with the thermostat spring of the TV TCP (Thermostat Control Valve). It is set to 100 degrees Fahrenheit which is almost too late to cool the engine circulation. In temperate countries, this would be a perfect setting, but in tropical countries, this would simply be disastrous.
There was also a problem with the automatic transmission lever which jarred everytime it shifted. The dealer replaced it only after 21,000 km and fortunately it was still under warranty.
Then came the problem with the suspension which had a loud clanking sound. The roads in the city are not exactly prime. There are a lot of undulations as a result of the asphalt giving in to large loads and high temperature. Every time I go over those undulations, I would hear a clunking sound which is chassis or suspension related. They have changed the rubber suspension boots, but to no avail. The problem is still there and I think is more of a design problem than anything else.
My previous car, which was a Nissan Cefiro is still with me, but my wife is the one driving it and it does not have a single problem. The dual independent radiators handle our tropical climate with kid gloves. I hope that the dealership solves the problems soon. I have been an Opel fan since the days of the Opel Manta and Opel Ascona (which were both my previous cars). I just hope that Opel still has the same quality which it did with their previous cars and not suffer a heat stroke.
This car is suited for cold climates, but once exposed to the tropics, suffers a heat stroke.
A lot of the problems mentioned here aren't heat related at all, but rather manufacturing faults.
I'm from New Zealand I have a Vectra as well. The problem might be because of humidity and high temperature. My car did overheat in a traffic jam once because of high humidity and temperature.
I too live in the Philippines and have a 1997 Vectra Station Wagon, but it is the 2.0 16v manual transmission model. I have noticed the temp gauge reach just below the 100 degree mark, but does not really bother me since the car has never stalled on me. Seems that I may have gotten used to it. My Vectra is pushing 70K km and still going strong and running like a dream.
Hi! I'm also from the Philippines. I'm a 25 y/o medical student and I just had my vectra last year. It is a 1999 model 2.0 automatic transmission. I have no qualms with the drive cause it is very smooth. what bothered me is the idling problem and overheating. The idling still bothers me now even if I changed a chip that costs P7,000 (120 USD)!!! My panel reads Automatic Transmission every morning I start it up. and yes it does die every now and then. My other problem does not bother me anymore. They placed a ground that fixed my temp. and it never reached catastrophic levels again. My dad told me that it is due to our tropical temperature that is why it is not tropicalized. I dunno what to do!!
Hi, I'm from Portugal, a moderate climate country, and I have the same heating problems.
The temperature where I live, is about 10º to 30º, so, I shouldn't have any problems, but I'm having it with my '98 opel vectra 2.0i manual shif.
The heating fan works only at 100º, and it's OK. But, when A/C is on it goes berzerk: or is always on, or goes on-off every 3,4,5,10 seconds... and it gets noticed when riding full gaz. And then, when I stop, it stahls...
Any comments please mail me at apoli@netcabo.pt.
Hi.
I'm also from Portugal and own a 1997 Opel Vectra 17 TD CD. The car has more or less 150.000kms. The main faults I find in it are: severely underpowered engine (but I was aware of that before buying, so can´t really complain), and overheating problems. The car has never stalled because I take real care with the temperature gauge which routinely crosses the 100ºC mark and reaches the red zone. The problem is especially bad on hilly motorways. I used to own a 92 1.5 TD Opel Corsa and never had any heating problems: I could do 300 kms straight, at any air temperature, at an average speed of 140 kph and it would never overheat. With the Vectra I never tend to go faster than 120/130 kph on motorways, and even so it heats really bad (especially in the summer).
HI I live in Egypt. It seems that I have the same problem with the heating and I hope you still check this so that I can help you out with your problem. I also have an opel vectra 2.0 1997 and well the weather is really good so yeah I had the same problem you did until..
I put coolant water in the radiator its not cheap, but it does the trick and this car requires putting water in a different manner than any other let me explain.
1. drain all water
2. make sure engine is cold
3. Add all the water you need and then close the lid and start the car.
4. Don't drive yet, run the car let it heat up and then when the fan turns on, the engine will take in water now you have about 15 seconds to add more water and close the lid before the water rises up
5. Keep doing if necceary.
You see the problem is that this car sometimes has air mixed with water like that its just water. I know it might even sound stupid, but give it a shot, it sure as hell worked for me :)
To the last comment, that is how every car works, the entire system needs water not just the radiator, otherwise you've got a lot of air in the system, which is not good. To the original review; I live in south central Canada, we have
-40 C winters and usually 6 to 8 weeks of +30 and above weather in the summer. The average car here has a thermostat that lets the car run at 180 to 190 degrees fahrenheit. The only ones that overheat in the summer are the ones that have some mechanical problem such as a faulty water pump, faulty cooling fan, faulty thermostat, low coolant, or anything that causes the engine to run roughly, bad valves etc. We use a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. The antifreeze prevents freezing and boiling of the coolant water. Do you use any such fluid? (probably not called antifreeze in your part of the world). I think you probably don't if the thermostat attempts to keep the engine so cool.
I own a 1997 Chevrolet Vectra GLS 2.0 MPFI 8V Engine, and I Live in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Here the Temperature usually reaches about 40ºC Degrees during the summer and even on Spring.
Generally the temperature here in Rio is about 30ºC Centigrades Degrees.
I have never had such Engine Overheating problem with my Vectra.
However, I have find interesting to know that the Thermostat Valve on the Opel Vectra it's basically the same of the Brazilian Chevrolet Vectra.
Also, I never heard about any other Vectra owner that had this same problem as you related on your review.
I am also from the Philippines and owns an Opel Vectra V6 2.5. I also experience same overheating problem. The temperature goes to red when the air conditioning is on and stays at 100 degrees when off. however, when you accelerate above 120 kph, temperature starts to go up again.
To everyone, I wonder if there is a solution to this. I appreciate your help. If you have some suggestions, please let me know.
HI I AM FROM GREECE AND I AM A FUN OF OPEL!MY OPEL IS VECTRA 1.6 EDITION 2000!YOU ARE ALL RIGHT ABOUT THE OVERHEATING OF THE ENGINE. WHEN I FIRST SAW THE TEMPERATURE TO 100c'THE CAR HAD 1120 KILOMETERES!I WAS READY TO SHEL IT WHEN I READ IN MY OPEL BOOK THAT THIS THINK CAN BE OCCURED!DO THE FOLLOWING THINKS AND YOU WILL BE OK.-AFTER A LONG RIDE ALWAYS LEAVE THE ENGINE 2 TO 3 MINUTES TO WORK!TURN OFF THE ENGINE ONLY WHEN THE TEMPERATURE IS NORMAL!-IF YOU LIVE IN HOT CLIMATES YOU MUST USE ONLY 100%SYNTHETIC OIL AND NOT SEMI-SYNTHETIC (IT IS NOT AT ALL GOOD) -EVERY 2 TO 3000 KILOMETERES CHECK THE COOLANT LEVEL AND FULFILLE WITH COOLANT WATER!A SMALL REDUSE OF A COOLANT LEVEL IS VERY NORMAL EVEN IN MOST EXPENSIVE CARS!A FRIEND HAD TO FULFILL 2 LITRES OF WATER TO HIS RX-8 MAZDA ABOUT A MONTH AGO WHEN THE TEMPERATURE WAS 35c'.BY THE WAY VECTRA, HAS ONE OF THE MOST ECONOMICAL ENGINES!AND HIS AERODYNAMICS PERFORMANCE IS PERFECT. CD BELOW 0.28.
You need to fit an uprated radiator, not a different thermostat.
I would also get the dealer to check the compression as you may have a blown head gasket.
Hello I'm from England and own a Vauxhall Vectra SRI 2.5 V6 I'm a big fan of the car and the overheating problems aren't a problem over here... Maybe Opel should have realised that having the same engines in radically different climates would have some diverse effects.
I'm in Australia and have a 1999 vectra 2.2l manual. When I got it 2 months ago it overheated regularly on hot days and once boiled badly when the fans didn't come on. I found the fan power wire (connected directly to the battery terminal) was loose. That fixed the fan problem, but it still ran too hot (over 100 deg always). I removed and tested the thermostat and found it was a 92/107 deg one, and didn't start opening until 98 deg anyway. I've just removed it for now and the car is fine. Australian vectras are supposed to have 82/97 deg thermostats, so I will have to get the correct one before winter (but they are very expensive!).
Two things about overheating:
1. Check the thermostat! Removing it at all isn't a good solution, because while the engine heats up, it will consume more fuel and extensive wear. You must use a thermostat with a lower opening degrees. Such as 87C.
2. Do not use ordinary water!! Water boils up (depending on sea level) 96-100C. Use a mixture of water/antifreeze, antifreeze or fluid which in our Baltic countries called tosol and made from some kind of ethanol mixture. It boils up around 104C degrees. It should solve the problem. Of course, you should check engine head (faulty gasket can force air into cooling system), may be there is air in the cooling, which prevents thermostat to open, and check fan, fan sensor and sensor in cooling pipe near engine head.