johnl

Hi Paul I have been looking at the heater controls and the temperature selector has a tendancy to flip to either cold or hot settings. I applied lube which increased the problem. It only happens when the blower motor is on settings 3 or 4 and feels like you are turning against the airflow. TBH I think now that the lube has shown the problem up more. A solution would be to actually make the control "stickier" if that makes sense, otherwise excellent car. Thanks John

Hi Paul Very similar circumstances to yourself, cold few yards and crack. It does have the cups fitted and due to lack of time I took it to my local garage who replaced the spring and the damaged bearing. Cost was reasonable at 175, due to weather and time of year I went this route and had it back the same day. Its a pity that no one manufactures up rated springs, had one go on a picasso a few years ago. Thanks for the info I shall contact Anthony just to see what he says and yes the car was just about drivable and the brakes etc did not get damaged,which makes me think this is not the original spring Thanks John

Hi Paul Yes you have guessed it broken o/s/f spring. I have an 02 plate do you think barclays would entertain a free fix? Thanks john

Hi Paul Thanks for the reply yes it does feel like a twisted cable or a kink producing the spring effect. The air recirculation slider seems to work fine no problems. I will have a look to see what I can find John

Hi All As its been getting colder I have been using the heater... obvious really I suppose. I do have a problem with it though. The selector seems to be spring loaded so you set in on warm and the selector will spring to another setting you can feel the spring resistance on the selector. Is this a common problem and is it an easy fix ? Thanks John

Hi Paul / John I havn`t checked the wiring diagram but that would make sense putting them there for other models in the range. I suppose it would all depend on the level of extras you have. Thanks John

Hi Can anyone tell me what these electrical connectors are for. The are located under the o/s headlight, car is an 02 plate Thanks John

Hi Paul Lst time I did the vectra brakes i used a compressor connected to the resevoir. It worked but wasn`t yhat good as it soon ran out of fluid and the cap leaked a bit, throwing brake fluid about. I will have a look at the one you detailed and see if I can pick one up thanks john

Hi Paul Thanks for the info on the clutch, I think you are right it does look like they bite near the top. I was thinking about a mity vac where did you get one from ? I will probably look at changing the fluid but I must admit the brakes are excellent. Thanks John

Hi Paul Had a bit more time to have a look at the car and if the weather improves I will have a go at belt replacements. Eurocar parts living up to their reputation of supplying the wrong products again, I will probably use my local factors who probably use andrew page who can be a bit pricey when supplying direct. The clutch seems to be biting near the top ie you don`t need to press that much to disengage, is this normal or do you think its new clutch time but as above its only got 50k on it, how long do clutches last on the C3 ? john

Hi Paul I shall be having a look at the belts and throttle this weekend.Do the two pulleys generally need replacing and is it best to do the water pumpat the same time ? Looking at the belts they look in reasonable condition even though they do have 50k on them. I `ll have to wait a bit though as I spent so much time trying to sort the vectra, if the wife sees me taking bits off the C3 she`ll blow a valve. Thanks John

Hi Paul I found the documents under the drivers seat with some part history which was a bonus. The wire on the ignition coil was secured with a wing nut which I used to put it back. You have me thinking about the throttle now as its a little jerky but I put this down to driving a petrol against the diesel, is the accelerator pedal easy to fix. It doesn`t look like the timing belt has been replaced again does this pose any problems ? Thank you for all your help so far Paul, its very much appreciated Thanks John

Hi Paul I tried Bentleys yesterday but the parts dept was closed so I went to eurocar parts, plugs, pollen filter, airfilter and oil filter. They supplied the wrong oil filter so a trip to halfords. Changing plugs is different never come across coils above the plugs before. For some reason I didnt get the security codes or the c3 handbook but it looks like these are readily available, no dtc`s found either. I will have a look at the air con pipes this morning. thanks john

Hi Paul Thanks for the reply, looks like you have hit the nail on the head. Picked the car up today and the garage said they had replenished the air con, pump kicks in but not really cold air. Is the condenser repair expensive and whereabouts does it leak ? I am not far from you as I`m in Golborne. I do have the v600 fault code reader if you are ever in need let me know and you can borrow it. I got the car for the wife as with the vectra it really was hit and miss whether it would work in the mornings. The number of problems it had had to been seen to be believed, including knackered turbo. I spent a small fortune on that car but simply lost faith in it. If the fuel pump goes its 2k and about 500 for a new clutch. I will have a look at the injectors tomorrow, as you have seen its been heavy rain all day. How do you seal the bonnet ? Must admit for a ten year old car I am quite pleased with it. Thanks John

Hello All New to the forum, but in the process of buying an 02 plate C3. I did have a vectra b diesel but I can say that it was the worst car I have ever owned. Its good to see that there appears to be no major problems with the C3. Its the 1.4 petrol version is there anything I should look out for ? thanks john

Hi Johnd Yes both brakes release properly but it felt like abs ie juddering. The front pipe needed to have some weldind done on it near the cat. Its an m reg and I didn`t even know it had a cat in the first place.

Hi KFK Its a 1600 petrol model M reg so doesn`t have a catalytic converter. I think its the downpipes as they have to remove some springs to get the section off. I also replaced the brake discs, on the front, about 2 years ago and they have warped is this normal even with pattern replacement parts ? Thanks Johnl

Hi All new member got a question. The car failed an mot test and I have been quoted about £400 for a new front section of exhaust and told that its a big job, rocker cover off etc is this true ? Thanks Johnl