1999 Vauxhall Zafira Elegance from UK and Ireland - Comments

I too have a Zafira 2.0TDI, firstly the problem with the car starting in a morning is more than likely down to the spill tubes on the injectors perishing. I have had this problem for around a year now and have tried everything, while looking around the engine and moving tubes I found that the small spill tubes (takes the excess diesel back to the pump) were very hard. When I tried to take them off they literally came apart in my hands. I have replaced all the tubing from the injectors to the pump (about £4 worth) and all seems OK now. The car now starts after the first turn which it has not done for over a year now.

Secondly the problem with the engine management light coming on and you loose half the power, this is happening to me and I was at a loss as to what it is. I also have an Audi and when I bought it I took it in for some work and they told me that the air mass meter has stopped working, I had not noticed as there seemed enough power, but not quite enough. After they replaced this it was like driving a new car. I will get this replaced and see if it fixes the fault.

We have just bought a Zafira 2.0 l dti, 2002 plate. It has had no problems up to now. I parked on a steep driveway overnight and it would not start the next day, despite the fact that I had half a tank of fuel. Luckily, I had a friend who was able to bump start it down the hill and it started almost immediately. I can only assume that the fuel leaks back into the tank allowing an air lock into the fuel line. Next time I will be parking downhill!

I have a 2.0 DTi Zafira Elegance (X-reg). 67000 miles. On a cold start, the glow plug light comes on, then goes out as expected, the engine starts after about 4 cranks, then the Engine Management Light comes on. I rev the engine (to 1100 rpm) a couple of times and it goes out. Hot starts no problem. If left for a couple of hours, it refuses to start straight away, and when it does I have a cloud of smoke coming from the exhaust for a few seconds.

Looks like I may be joining the army of unhappy zafira drivers!!!

Until last week I loved my 1999 1.8 16v Elegance 115K miles however having driven through the worst rains in the world (yes the ones that flooded the river don) EMS light on battery light on power steering failure all dash electrics shut down.

RAC recommend replacing alternator, this done then 80 miles later the exhast blows and now three days after alternator fitted the car will not start at all tried a jump start and no better... hoping its not the fuel system as quoted in a post earlier (mega bucks) I will update you when I know whats what.

Unhappy in washington.

Oh no! Just been given a present Vauxhall Zafira 2002 reg with 82k miles and full service history 1 and 1/2 days ago. It was bought for 4500, and the missus today said it lost power while slowing down at the junction. I stumbled across this website and well disappointed, 1 with vauxhall, 2 with the bloody dealer who sold it to the person who gave it to us (Arthur Daley comes to mind).

I am a japanese man myself, as I know these cars are nothing but trouble, but thought they may have changed their ways.

Get Vauxhall, they know about this and are to blame.

Reading some off the problems on this website I to have had many off these problems with my zafira 20di w reg 1.not starting in morrinig used to take up to 20- 30 minutes,replaced spill pipes (drain off pipes) still the same till some body sugested glow plug relay switch (around £25 same as vectra) been fine since then (8 months).now the bloody engine mangement lights come on and off,changed air flow still the same thing if any one can help or wants more info contact me on amo786uk@hotmail.co.uk.

Guess What? Same issues here too.

Zafira club 1.6 2002, 47k on clock.

When coming off motorway, engine cuts out. Sometimes restarts after around 10 minutes, but last time had to call RAC, who reset the management system (free of charge) Worked for a week, until I had to use motorway again. Same thing happened.

I have just bought a code reader off ebay, so I don't get ripped off by vauxhall like some of you guys.

Just to note, the RAC guy said it could be either the ECU, or the pedal box sometimes sticks, but both of these are expensive, and I want to know exactly what the problem is before I hand over my cash.

"Uphill starting problems". I am glad that I am not alone with not being able to start my Zafira 2.00 Dti (2002) model when parked uphill after several hours. It went back to Main Dealer under warranty twice and they did not fix it. Various mechanics have looked at it and replaced the crumbling injectors lines, but still no better at starting. Consigned my self to leave it pointed downhill every night. Also, the Engine Management light used to come on constantly and it would not rev over 2,000 revs and would cough and splutter. A new sensor was put on and seems to have cured it, but light still comes on now and again. Come on Vauxhall, there is a serious problem with this car which needs looking at.

Came across this site because I too started to get the annoying 'engine management' errors and rev problems...however, it is a known problem (as some have said) but most Vauxhall dealers don't know it!..

Found out about about field remedy 1590 from an independent dealer... it actually involves changing the throttle valve adjustment by means of making a small hole in the bore and then reprogramming the ECU.. total cost about £50.

Hope this helps..

I have a 2003 2.0 DTI Zafira with 58000 miles. On long journeys, completely at random, the intermittent engine management light on with loss of power problem. Sometimes the light stays on and power stays low, which I fix by stopping and starting the engine, even while doing 60 on the motorway. I daren't take to the garage in fear of excess charges and no guarantee of fixing it.

What amazes me is that loads of other have the same problem. Is there a fix, or what is causing it?

Oh, I had the car serviced, which had no effect.

Hi there.

Got a question.

I am thinking about buying a code reader from eBay, but need to know what to do with it. Where do I plug it in on the car, and how do you translate the code to matching the problem?

My engine management has been on a lot recently, and when I now turn on the ignition, the engine management keeps on flashing and car doesn't start. It has also been losing power for ages.

Anyone help please.

I have a Zafira 2.0 Dti Elegance 2003 on 73000 miles. My last 7000 miles of motoring have been a Russian roulette affair of having to turn the ignition off and on again whilst moving to enable the engine to regain full power and disable the well known "spanner" warning light. 3000 rpm rev limiter - tick. Rough sounding engine - tick. Warning light - tick. Never buy another Vauxhall - TICK. If anyone tries the on/off ignition trick on the move be warned - the power steering can cut off for a few seconds resulting in brown trousers around corners.

My 2003 Zafira 2ltr diesel suffered with the spanner warning light and loss of power when showing 68000 miles on the clock. The fault was intermittent, but progressively deteriorated. The main dealer were unable to confidently locate the source as the diagnostic failed to reveal the cause. They suspected the EGR valve and quoted £460 the replace with no guarantee of success. Another month down the road I took the car to an independent mechanic who was able to run the diagnostic with the car running under fault. The EGR valve was the culprit and was promptly replaced for £100 less than the main dealer price. I am told this is a common fault with this particular car, the Achilles heel of an otherwise OK people lugger. The car has been running without fault for two weeks since the repair. I am still going to replace the vehicle due to its poor towing ability (1050kgs max).

We have a 4 year old Vauxhall Zafira 1.8 elegance model and it is on its 3rd replacement starter motor and 2nd replacement ignition switch. Faults have occurred without warning, but generally triggered when putting on further electrical equipment such as air conditioning.

Transpires that the ignition switch is sticking and not returning to its normal position when engine is started, hence its still providing power to starter motor which is burning out. Have noticed that the recent replacement switch is also sticking. Here we go again!

We also have a 4 year old Vauxhall Zafira 1.8 model, and it is on its 3rd replacement starter motor and 2nd replacement ignition switch.

Faults have occurred without warning. Vauxhall have replaced all but the last one under warranty, but the last I have paid for; nothing for the lost time and breakdown recoveries though.

Same thing: the ignition switch is sticking and not returning to its normal position when the engine is started, hence the starter motor is still engaged and the overriding engine speed burns it out.

The breakdown men (6 so far) and others in the know who have had Zafiras tell me it is a common problem. It may be common, but not enough bad publicity for Vauxhall to be bothered doing anything about.

I used to have a company diesel Zafira that had engine management lights and loss of power.

Last Vauxhall I will ever buy.