Hi Guys,

I have a vauxhall vectra that is playing up.

Here's the symptoms -

When I accelerate - for example after turning a corner or something in second gear - I can feel the car juddering...as if it run out of fuel. First gear is ok - always - but second and upwards has this problem. When I try to do the samething in halfclutch it seems to be fine. My first instincts is a worn out clutch disk - am I right?

Also At idle speeds after a good run 10miles appx (basically after the engine is hot) I can see white smoke comming out of the exhaust. On revving the engine - no problem - only idle speeds.

There are a few air bubbles comming through the coolant reservoir - but no coolant loss at all - i mean if any - looks very very minimal for me to notice!! - I am thinking head gasket here...am I jumping the gun???

AlphARomeo_143, April 2007

have a 1.8 Vectra 08 sri when turning or pulling away the left weel is juddering. not like when a bearing goes theres not a knocking nose .its like its not been driven? whats wrong.

dave, November 2014

white smoke, oil lost, and oil found in water tank. Could this be ring problem?

Muneer, July 2014

My p reg 1.6 vectra is popping when im accelerating ?

donna, July 2013

Vectra 2007 has oily water dripping from exhaust and temperature gauge is on zero whilst driving, help??

Rodney, March 2013

06 opel vectra. loss of power going up through the gears. drives fine. just no power!!! its diesel 6 gears.

pebbles, April 2012

keep jumping out of first gear other gears ok

SMM, April 2012

when im changing gears i have a clicking noice any ideas

brian, January 2012

1999(t)vectra sri 140..white smoke from exaust..run fine ..no water loss a small oil leak from unknown area..also looks like oil in exhaust tips... any help please..no mayonaise in oil...

Garry Decaro, June 2010

might not be head gasket althought dont rule it out would change coolant and bleed air out first also check thermostat

mark, April 2010

iv just done a head gasket change on my vauxhall vectra 2.0 2000 used the old cambelt back to orignal marks but now the cam is noisey what can it be

cez, February 2010

WHEN I CHANGE GEAR IN MY 2.2 DEISEL VECYRA IT PUFFS OUT BLACK SMOKE

MARK, August 2009

got a vauxhall vectra 2.2 elegance when i turn a corner the power steering takes all the power away from the radio and it goes off then when driving straight the radio stays on any answers?

wes the plumber!, February 2009

white smoke is a good colour to have, worry when u get blue or grey or even black smoke out the exhaust. The basics of knowing if your head gasket is about to go is if your oil filler cap have got a yellowy gunk in it, this means your engine is leaking water into the oil so u should always replace this asoon as possible.It is perfectly normal 4 your coolant bottle to be bubbling it is just circling round the engine. as 4 your engine stutter this might b down to a good service, try to change your air filter oil filter and your spark plugs, if this fails do the clutch, clutch pressure plate and the clutch bearing at the same time but try the easier cheaper methods first b4 u get going on the big jobs! have fun mate its all fun.

flymo, February 2009

hi my vectra 2.0 keeps over heating while im driving and can hear the expansion bottle popping but if i leave it to tick over it goes back to normal temp while driving the heater in the car is cold when stood ticking over comes through hot ive changed the thermostat but didnt make a difference can anyone help

aidy, January 2009

how can i use the vacuum pull to restart my diesel engine

lhims, November 2008

do i need 2 put new head bolts on vectra

baz, September 2008

Hi,
I have a 1999 Vauxhall Vectra.
My Head gasket has just gone today. Here were my Symptoms: Loss of power (felt like I was running out of petrol), Lots of smoke coming from exhaust, Water leaking - noticed pool of water now and then under the car, Battery was dead today then garage gave the bad news that it's going to cost £300 - £400.

Claire, April 2008

hi ,
i have a computer problem with my car a yellow light with a zig zag in the middle stays on on the dash would any one no how to fix it or have any idea of what it may cost?
many thanks

james mann, October 2007

Sounds like your head gasket is leaking compressed gases from a cylinder into your cooling system (this is the bubbles).

Once the engine is warmed up the hot water in the cooling system is pressurised, while the engine is running at a medium revs or above cylinder-compression and coolant (hot) pressure are equalised so the counter-act each other.

But when the revs are at tick-over cylinder pressure is lower so a small amount of water is pushed into the cylinder and exhausted out creating whit smoke (ie; steam & smoke mix) remember that one small drop of water when heated expands by at least 1,000 times volume!

A temporary remedy is to purchase some BARRS Sealer (a few pounds) and put it into the coolant header tank and run the engine for about 10 minutes then do a few miles down the road. This I have done myself and has kept me going until the head gasket was replaced.

The juddering when accelerating is small amounts of water in one or more cylinders wetting the spark-plug preventing it from firing on that cylinder. Another symptom is after the engine has cooled off overnight the next morning on starting the engine will mis-fire for a while until the moisture leaked from the cooling system is cleared out by engine rotation.

Note: If you change the head gasket have the head checked for warping as if this is so then suspect the radiator thermo switch as being faulty because this does not switch on the radiator FAN when the engine gets hot, then overheating will occurr thereby warping the head again. You might as well change it when changing the gasket as you have to drain the coolant out anyhow (the thermoswitch is only about £10.00) to stop it happening again.

Another reason for the head gasket to leak is by corrosion this happens if there is little or no antifreeze mix in the coolant, it has to be kept in the ratio of at least 1 x part antifreeze to 3 x parts water, as antifreeze has a corrosion inhibitor that prevents electrolytic action between the different metals in the coolant system eating the gaskets. Antifreeze should be kept at its optimim strength in the engine all year round to prevent this. I have seen this problem many times during my carreer of 30 odd years.

Mike, April 2007