End of a Vauzhall Vectra

[chris portwine]

Hello

I have just joined and I am about to leave. I bought a dual fuel Vauxhall Vectra in 2001. At that time I had to accept the Vauxhall conversion to avoid invalidating the warrantee. It has not been a very happy experience but I feel I have reduced some global warming and air pollution. I live it south east London, or when I want to appear posh, north west Kent. I have recently had problems the car won't run. The last report suggested replacing the electronic control unit. I cannot find a garage that will di this work, they don't want to touch LPG. The car is undrivable. The chap in Strood doesn't answer the phone or reply to emails. I have gone out and bought a new car. I'm deserting LPG. I've bought an MG 4 SE long range. My Vauxhall has less than 31,000 miles on the clock and has been kept in a garage frequently for long periods of up to 18 months. It does seem a shame to send this car to the breakers. The dealer who is selling the new car has agreed to dispose of the Vauxhall. Please feel free to comment.

Chris Portwine

[kbs]

Local reliable mechanics (with time available) are very hard to find. Not just for lpg vehicles.

However, there is no shortage of salesmen ready to take your money and happy to promise an easy ownership for any vehicle they sell you.

A 2001 vehicle with only 31000 miles, running on petrol but not lpg should be a very easy sale. But scrapping is easier and quicker. I'm a lazy git too and am considering this route for my old p38 (so I understand where you are coming from).

I owned a 2005 vaux dual fuel. I scrapped that at 150000 miles after one of the lpg injectors had failed but could only be replaced as a set. It still had its original exhaust - all the mounts had rusted off (replaced with universals). If it had not been for multiple accident damages and me using it as a van, someone could still be using it today.

Don't feel bad about scrapping your car - feel good that you can afford to throw it away.

Best of luck with the MG.

[LPGC]

We don't know which of your electronic control units failed but considering the car won't run (presumably at all?) it points to the petrol ECU having failed more than the LPG ECU having failed. Or maybe there was a misdiagnosis and really the problem is something like the crank sensor that's failed.

Some types of faults on the factory fitted Necam Koltec dual fuel vehicles are not really worth fixing because the parts can be expensive and if you're only changing one or two parts you don't know if the other parts are likely to fail anytime soon. But it is possible to replace the Necam Koltec components with an aftermarket LPG system and such system should have a couple of years warranty.

[kbs]

It was the necam multipoint that I had. You can simply pull the fuse and it will run on petrol only.

If you suspect a problem with real basics (cam and crank sensor), you don't even need a code reader. Just use the "pedal trick". But, a £15 obd reader from Aldi is easier.

If you are interested in diagnosing lpg side, a single led is required.

Any reputable garage (about 5 to 10 % of them) will explain the pedal trick.

But 100% of salesmen will discourage you from investigating if they think they can push you to a new car.

I have known many car dealers (from a trade angle) and am not surprised by your experience. However, I dont believe it has anything to do with lpg.

Good luck with the new car.

K