Z22YH spanner light then dies......help please

simp_2_2sri

Hi, appologies for the long winded post but I need some help with this one, here goes ;

My 2004 60k 2.2 direct sri has developed a worrying fault. Over the past two or three weeks the dreaded spanner light has been periodically coming on then going off at ramdom intervals but the car still runs and drives fine......untill about an hour ago when I was coming home from work. The spanner light came on and thirty seconds later the engine just stopped. I coasted to the side of the road and tried to start it again. It cranked over but didn't fire, i must of tried it five times and nothing. Left it 5 mins while I phoned the wife to tell her the good news, tried again and it started. 30 seconds later it died again. I eventually got home after a lot of stop/starts, and the spanner light is on constantly. I sat on the drive with it ticking over, after about two minutes the idle goes a bit lumpy and then it just stops like ive turned the key off. Interstingly, after it cuts out and you try to start it again, it just cranks and cranks but won't fire and I can't hear the fuel pump doings its usual two second prime when you turn on the ignition. Without getting the car to someone with a code reader, is there anything I can do or check? I have generic code reader software and an obd cable for my laptop that will read fault codes for the engine management, but this is way out of its league. After reading posts both on this forum and on vectra c, the fuel pressure regulator seems to be a common fault and my symptoms confirm this.

Is changing the fuel pressure regulator a job I could do myself?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
Cheers,

vocky

it does sound like it's fuel related, maybe one of the two fuel pumps is tripping out.

I'm not 100% sure where the fuel pressure regulator is on the 2.2 direct, but that could be the problem

simp_2_2sri

seeing as the high pressure fuel pump is £315 + vat and the regulator is £53 + vat i'll try that first, it seems to be a common problem on the z22yh according to vec c.com. Its had a lumpy idle and increased fuel consumption for a while now, which seem to be symptoms of a dying fuel pressure reg? When its running, it runs and revs fine high up the rev range which sort of rules out the hp pump? I'm hoping someone on here can point me in the right direction?

cheers

Tam

I'm guessing it is the fuel pump and regulator mate. They were both replaced on my 54 plate direct back in February

nizzehult

I'm just curious how you managed to fix your problem. Have about the same phenomenon myself. Recently I replaced the coil pack and I thought that was the solution since the problems stopped. But later on they came back...
Have bought a generic OBD-reader as well but it shows no faulty codes at all. Do they show the P1191 (fuel pressure regulator defective) code or do you really need the Tech2 or OP-COM for that?
Before I spend an arm and a leg byuing and exchanging random components: how can I be sure of what to replace? The regulator or the pump. Or both. Of course I wanna survive as cheap as possible from this... The high pressure pump itself is about £900 here in Sweden! :thumbdown:

nizzehult

I'm following a number of forums about this spanner light/pump issue. Interesting that GM just blind their eyes and let us poor s**kers pay without any compensation....
Last I read was that the intake tube to the regulator is made of a materiel that will let particles go into the regulator and sooner or later break it. A new tube is about £300....

I have a theory of my own: the fuel is too "dry"; add a squirt of two-stroke oil when filling petrol next time. Inexpensive and worth trying. My Vectra has not neither jerked nor stopped at all after that.... :think:

nizzehult

Update: have changed regulatur (fuel pressure). £140 wasted - same problem.
Have bought a CAN-bus OP-COM reader from Hongkong. Tricky to get it working, a relay-related ticking sound comes from the unit constantly when operating, don't think it's normal? Anyhow: the reader says: P1191.52 which means something. I know what P1191 means, but what about .52?

colinh

I have just experienced the same fault on my 2007 2.2 Zafira auto. Oddly it got worse when I topped up with a third of a tank of Super Unleaded. The Green Flag man found that it would start after pressing the lock on the key four times followed by pressing Unlock four times. It would also restart after waiting 5 minutes. But it would cut out again after travelling twenty to thirty yards.
I tried starting it again this morning and it ran for about 25 minutes before the spanner light came on followed by the engine dying.
Does anyone have updated info on the likely cause?

nic16

simp_2.2sri said:
Hi, appologies for the long winded post but I need some help with this one, here goes ;

My 2004 60k 2.2 direct sri has developed a worrying fault. Over the past two or three weeks the dreaded spanner light has been periodically coming on then going off at ramdom intervals but the car still runs and drives fine......untill about an hour ago when I was coming home from work. The spanner light came on and thirty seconds later the engine just stopped. I coasted to the side of the road and tried to start it again. It cranked over but didn't fire, i must of tried it five times and nothing. Left it 5 mins while I phoned the wife to tell her the good news, tried again and it started. 30 seconds later it died again. I eventually got home after a lot of stop/starts, and the spanner light is on constantly. I sat on the drive with it ticking over, after about two minutes the idle goes a bit lumpy and then it just stops like ive turned the key off. Interstingly, after it cuts out and you try to start it again, it just cranks and cranks but won't fire and I can't hear the fuel pump doings its usual two second prime when you turn on the ignition. Without getting the car to someone with a code reader, is there anything I can do or check? I have generic code reader software and an obd cable for my laptop that will read fault codes for the engine management, but this is way out of its league. After reading posts both on this forum and on vectra c, the fuel pressure regulator seems to be a common fault and my symptoms confirm this.

Is changing the fuel pressure regulator a job I could do myself?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
Cheers,

Hi i know this was an issue a while ago but I have the same issue, did u find out what the problem was? If so what? My car has just done over 60k she is the 2.2 direct 2004 I have had her plugged in and it's came up with fuel pump and sensor and regulator which has been replaced a few years ago and also came up with the swirl flap which is in the manifold, I know that this is a common issue as they get brittle and knacker up the engine but looking at all possibilities. Can u please help cheers nic