2006 Opel zafira 1.6 emissions light on all the time. Help needed!

Sharon mc

Been to dealer 4 times since last November and they cant find the problem.
Failed nct on emissions, O2 sensor covered in soot, this was cleaned so then the emissions came down and it passed.
Coil pack was changed twice and gasket 3 times(don't ask!) temp housing replaced, new plugs, timing belt but emissions light still on all the time these past few weeks.Oil topped up may 31st but light coming on intermittently now so topped up yesterday.
Diagnostics read as misfire but dealer has no clue as to why. Brake test shows codes ECN 03000,030100,030200,030300, 031400 then 000000. But it cant be coil pack again.

Any ideas please?? Have spent way too much on this already and cant afford dealers prices again when they cant even find what the problem is. When the 02 sensor is cleaned the light does go off again but there has to be an underlying reason for the soot build up. Any ideas greatly appreciated please.
The EGR was reading as fine on the diagnostics.
Many thanks.

biko

Not DIY, moved to main forum.

jimgoose

The soot is carbon residue from either oil or, rather more likely I think, fuel. Does the car use oil? If not, it's probably running way too rich, probably due to a bad sensor, or a duff injector. Get the OBD codes read.

visual

When you say dealer is it main dealer ?

Sharon mc

Yes . A main opel dealer.

Sharon mc

It does use oil and the diagnostics have been done several times with all sensors and everything reading normal.

discodavie

When you say read normal do you mean active dtc's stored in the computer or did they look at what the sensors were actually reading ?

Sharon mc

I think they went through them individually because i suggested changing 02 sensor but they said it was working fine. The catalytic converter is fine too.I really dont know all the terminology but i know they were quite baffled and couldnt find whatever the problem is. They ran it through their diagnostics test a few times but im not sure what exactly that covers, except that they told me it checks everything!

discodavie

Sharon mc wrote: »

I think they went through them individually because i suggested changing 02 sensor but they said it was working fine. The catalytic converter is fine too.I really dont know all the terminology but i know they were quite baffled and couldnt find whatever the problem is. They ran it through their diagnostics test a few times but im not sure what exactly that covers, except that they told me it checks everything!

Where are you ? What county ?

Sharon mc

Galway.

Sharon mc

I really just need ideas as to what is causing the emissions light to be constantly on and the fumes are awful particularly when idling, so much so that i have to turn engine off if waiting in traffic.
After failing nct in nov ( emissions light did not come on before nct but levels were at 10!) i took it to opel dealer for diagnostics but nothing showed up despite emissions light now coming on. My brother in law, Ken, who is a mechanic, did work on it checking sensors individually, he found the 02 sensor covered in soot, cleaned it and the emissions came down straight away, light went out. Then the car started to need water every week and in jan started misfiring. Ken changed the coil pack which stopped the misfiring but emissions light started coming on again shortly after. It still was needing water every week.We got the thermostat and housing changed by the dealer in case this was the cause of the emission problem. When i left it in for this to be done as ken was too busy i informed them of the water leakage from radiator and that the heating wasnt working. This was in march and ken was out of the picture. They didnt seem to take it on board and it was only when i was talking to my dad that he said it was a classic head gasket problem. In april i brought the car back in to them again, mentoined the gasket and hey presto it was head gasket!! Got it fixed but driving home that evening it was chugging and very slow on hills, few days later emissions light came back on, into garage 6 days later after getting it back. This time they said it was a stuck sparkplug which required gasket to come off to get it fixed. Garage insisted they did not touch sparkplugs in removing cylinder head or in sending it to be skimmed, they also said they did not do compression test. We argued over paying and a compromise was reached where we paid parts and they covered the labour. Within 5 days the emission light was on again, they did diagnostics, it was misfiring and this time they said it was the coil pack even though it had been replaced only in january. Paid for that. But yet again the light started coming on. At their own cost this time they did the gasket and cylinder head for a third time in case there was a small leak but nothing was found, the 02 sensor was covered in soot again and they cleaned it. The diagnostics at this time did say it was still showing a misfire when it wasnt actually misfiring.They were completely at a loss and were to contact the opel help desk and get back to me but they never did and i didnt chase it up as i was so pissed with the whole thing. But 3 weeks ago the light started coming on again and breathing in those fumes cant be healthy so im really frustrated and downhearted about the whole thing. I never would have spent so much on the stupid car if i'd known the costs from the outset. Now i'm stuck with it as i cant afford another car and really cant afford more trial and error, putting in parts that may or may not solve the problem so any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

alibabba

Any luck with this ?

My wife's 2006 Opel Zafira 1.6 petrol last Friday, the oil light came on. She topped it up in a garage. On her way home the emissions light came on. Doing the pedal test, I am getting the exact same codes you posted opening.

(Basically the very same symptom as your car)

Sharon mc

I just keep driving it with the emissions light constantly on and top up the oil!
My brother in law is going to change the oxygen sensor, as when that was cleaned before, emissions light went out. Haven't got round to doing anything yet as spent a fortune on it already! The last possibility for me is the ecu, which is very expensive to replace, although it may be possible to get it reconfigured. so thats the 2 things we have left to try, having done practically everything else, coil pack, spark plugs, gasket, temperature housing and assay, some other sensor, radiator pipe.....i cant remember what else off hand.

Please note if you do bring it to a garage it will most likely come up as misfiring when they run it through diagnostics. They will then most likely say the coil pack needs changing and so on. Mine was done twice. Along with the other things i was told needed replacing. If it is slow on hills or feels like driving with handbrake on its the head gasket. Mine was also replaced . If not then it sounds very similar to my problem and you just might be able to save a fortune by avoiding the trial and error i've experienced.
My plan is to do the oxygen sensor first ,and if that fails the ecu, but only as i can afford it so it might be a while!
I really hope you get to the bottom of it quicker than i am! Keep me posted please

Sharon mc

A great guy from sligo pm'd me about it. He is a mechanic and he offered to run it through his diagnostics. He also gave me the number of someone who might be able to reconfigure the ecu. I just havent done any more with it yet nor have i gotten up to sligo but i could contact him (to make sure its ok) and pass on the details to you if you were interested?

alibabba

Our car had the coil pack changed before. That fixed the mis fire issue at the time. Then it start not turning on in the morning. The crank shalt sensor fixed that. Now the emissions light is on but that's all that seems to be wrong. I have heard the ecu been mentioned a few times when u have all these odd failures

Sharon mc

Yes. I agree but its nearly €2000 for a new one! In England they reprogramme them but that seems to be practically unheard of here. If you do it ,and it solves the problem let me know please. Also as a matter of interest can your wife smell fumes inside the car particularly when idling? I definately do. Its due an nct in feb and will fail on emissions (like it did before)unless i get it sorted before then.

jimgoose

Sharon mc wrote: »

Yes. I agree but its nearly €2000 for a new one! In England they reprogramme them but that seems to be practically unheard of here. If you do it ,and it solves the problem let me know please. Also as a matter of interest can your wife smell fumes inside the car particularly when idling? I definately do. Its due an nct in feb and will fail on emissions (like it did before)unless i get it sorted before then.

Good lantherin' Jaysis. Jag ECUs are about £100/£200 depending on the model from EuroJag, and they can be updated/re-flashed in about a half-hour by someone with the right equipment. Mine was done a couple of years back after it developed an obscure psychological condition!

jimgoose

Sharon mc wrote: »

I think they went through them individually because i suggested changing 02 sensor but they said it was working fine. The catalytic converter is fine too.I really dont know all the terminology but i know they were quite baffled and couldnt find whatever the problem is. They ran it through their diagnostics test a few times but im not sure what exactly that covers, except that they told me it checks everything!

I wonder is it drawing air into the exhaust somewhere between the upstream O2 and the cat?

Sharon mc

Ok my memory is not always the most reliable but im fairly sure it was a crazy amount! It was a few months ago..... but certainly .....it was nowhere near as cheap as yours. I know i felt the car was hardly worth putting that amount into it, but i could be confusing what i've already spent with the cost of the ecu. Sorry if i got that completely wrong! The oxygen lambada sensor alone is €127 new, thats a definate.

I think it was checked before for leaks but nothing was found, maybe its a teeny weeny one, i'll ask ken about that. Thanks

alibabba

Only symptom we have at the moment is emissions light on and codes 30000 to 30400 etc

Dublin Mum19

Sharon Mc , Just wondering if you got your car fix ? as im Having the exact problem on my Opel safira .
what was the solution to it in the end?