Please Help, Car Question??!!!!?

Question

I have 1.8 R Reg Vauxhall Vectra an im having loads of problems!!!!!

!st - engine managment light is on and the car occasionaliy cuts out if the clutch is down, but restarts fine

2nd - Battery light is on, its either flashing, or dimly light

3rd - ABS light occasionaly comes on

4th - the dials on the dashboard stopped working when the battery light came on.
Occasionaly they will work but only if im accelerating

help!!! got the car into a garage but not till Friday morning

Anyone else had any of these problems before?

sorry ment to say
i had the battery tested and it works fine so what could th problem be for the light to be on?

Answer 1

Sounds like there are a couple of major problems with the car, I will thry to give some advice in the order of importance.
1) Engine cutting out, this is a well known problem with all vauxhaul vectra cars. Within the fuel circuit there is an idle speed control solinoid that maintainse the engine idle speed when the drivers foot is of the accelerator and the car is in nuetral. There have been problems with the solinoid not working resulting in the car stalling. It is very important that you get the solinoid replaced as soon as possible as it is possible for the car to stall when approaching a roundabout or trafic lights.
2) Battery light, this light only lights up when there is a difference between the output of the alternator and the power required to run the battery. By the sound of things the battery is full charged but the light is still one. I suspect that either the diode pack on the alternator or the alternator its self if on the way out. The quick check for this is to start the engine and check the output voltage from the alternator. It sould be above 12 volts at all times.
3) ABS lights, check first the brake fluid level, then take a look at the brake pads to see if they are due for replacement. While checking the pads look to see if there is any damage to the wire that runs to the brake pads.
4) Dashboard lights, this may be a problem relating to the alternator problem. Because the electronics in the dash are very delicate if there is an over charge in the system the dash will go dead. Alternativly it may be something assimple as a loose connection on the back of the dash.

Answer 2

As far as I know, whoever "hits" has the liability or is "at fault". In other words, insurance companies and law enforcements viewpoint is, "If you are following all the rules of the road and safety, there is never any reason to hit anything." Now, if there was ice on the road, that might atleast make things lean more in your favor, but I think you have to have a photo taken that day of the stretch of road you slid on. That's why they say you should always have atleast a disposable camera in your car to take a photo of an accident and accident scene on the day of the accident, along with a cell phone, your insurance information, driver's license and registration. Hopefully you have car insurance that will pay even if it is your fault, or if not, a lot of friends and family that will help you in this time of crisis. There's a lot of other factors to take into account: was either of the drivers driving while impaired, or in a rush, did either leave the scene of the accident before law enforecement arrived, what kind of vehicles were involved, did both have car insurance-dl license-registration-etc... So hopefully, maybe there's other factors that are in your favor here. In either case, it's a wake-up call to always drive safely and defensively and keep as much space between you and other moving vehicles or objects as possible, have a seat belt on, and don't have any distractions like listening to the radio, eating, drinking, talking on a cell phone, etc... I know all this because I've been driving for years now, and have only been in a few accidents. In every accident except one, someone hit me and for some reason none of them even had a driver's license!!!! In the accident where I hit someone, I rear ended someone, just like you did. So since I "hit", it was my fault, even though the car in front of me stopped short and really fast, not giving me any time to stop. The only thing that saved me was that the car I hit left the scene of the accident, and, from what I understand, it was some kind of insurance scam on the part of the other driver.

Answer 3

Sounds like either your battery needs replacing, your alternator has a fault, or both - A bad battery can damage an alternator.

All the systems you describe require a good supply of 12 volt electricity, and if your battery isn't being charged , then you don't have that.

Another thing that comes into my head is that you may have a short circuit somewhere in the car, but I'd check the battery and alternator first.

Answer 4

I had a similar problem on saturday, it was a knackered battery, and engine management light came on because the battery was low, the garage will reset this after anew battery is fitted, good luck

Answer 5

Have you car checked by a professional with the tools required for the check out. I know things look bad but it could be as simple as a corroded battery cable or loose wire. Many very simple problems are neglected until they become serious, because people assume the worst.

Answer 6

Check that your battery is properly grounded. This means the black terminal on the battery is linked to the metal chassis of the car. If this connection is not good it can cause all sorts of funny electrical problems

Answer 7

HI you will probably reallies that all the things your car is doing are related to an electrical fault, Ive been mechanic 20 years and if you take my advise DO NT go to a garage, you need a auto electrician, garages will tend to use outside auto electricians then charge you a bomb. good luck hope this helps martyn

Answer 8

The engine management light means somethings have gone wrong like fuel system.
They will replace the EMC unit.its mainly the fuel and exhaust sytems have wrong.
Get it serviced as well while the car in the garage.
Dont drive long distance till its fixed.

Answer 9

Hi Lisa

Your car seems to be very sick does'nt it.

It really needs to be seen my a qualified mechanic to get all this sorted out, any for safety, you shoildnt drive it until its fixed.

Sorry I can not be of more help, but its best to play it safe on this one.

Let me know how things turn out.

Simon x

Answer 10

R reg is 1998. this is gonna sound basic, but sell it (unless it means something to you). You can throw thousands of pounds at cars and some will be ok, some won`t.