Breakdown in Germany - engine cut out

[eagle]

POBC,

 

As I have mentioned in a separate thread, my Seven broke down whilst on a mini-tour in Germany this week.

 

It's a 1.6 8v VX Classic and only 0.5hr before setting off, I checked the oil and water as I was heading off for a 1.5hr drive. All seemed well. About 15-20mins into journey and whilst cruising along at a constant 60mph, the engine cut out dead.

 

Whilst freewheeling I was unable to restart it by either bumping it or via the starter motor. Once I'd ground to a halt on the hard shoulder I tried to restart it but still no luck - it was cranking well but no sign of any firing. The fuel filter was still receiving fuel from the pump and I the throttle cable was still connected and was working fine. Fluids levels were also still fine.

 

By now I figured it was probably electrical and didn't fancy any roadside tinkering as lorries were flying past only a meter or so away.

 

I should probably add that in my usual pre-tour paranoia, I'd had the car serviced by a Seven specialist (no point in saying who as I place no responsibility with them). Despite this, I also took out breakdown "plus" cover with ADAC who I duly called for help.

 

When had arrived a very reasonable 45mins later, the guy didn't really try to do much to diagnose / locate the problem, only spraying some carb cleaner to no avail. He conceded defeat and put the Seven on the flatbed and transported me to one of their local service centres. However, once back in safe territory, I saw no sign of my car being worked on.

 

There then ensued a bit of background checking as ADAC were unsure of how to deal with my situation as I was a rare case for them as I had cover directly with them and I reside in the UK. Anyway, as discussed separately, my car will be repatriated in the next few weeks which is when I can get it fixed. As an aside, I feel that ADAC (or just the people at the service I went to) seemed good for speed of recovery, good for personal help with figuring the best solution for me, but they also seemed pretty useless at fixing my car.

 

Can anyone think what it's mist likely to be? I don't think it's plugs or HT leads as there was no indication of any firing. I'm thinking electrical, maybe coil or LT (?) lead. Maybe the ignition box or even a fuse or relay somewhere...!

 

Bit painful thinking it might be a fuse when they didn't check the car over. It was almost as though they were scared to touch the car. I told them it was a Vauxhall engine and that it uses a lot of Vauxhall (ie, Opel) parts.

 

Are there any common issues that result in this?

 

Also, for those familiar with vehicle repatriation, is it normal for a company to require the V5 document to repatriate the car? Naturally, I was / am concerned when they said they had to keep it so I hit them to give me a photocopy with a signed / stamped note to say they needed it to return my car. Is this to avoid being accused of stealing the car or even to prove that they're nit importing the car or similar? I'm still nervous about this but I didn't exactly have much choice at the time.

 

Hope you can all help as usual....

 

TIA, Andy

[Drumster]

Pretty sure when I needed to repatriate from Andorra I was asked to provide V5 as well. Wasn't too bothered as I only ever carry a decent colour photocopy when touring

[Stationary M25 Traveller]

Could be something daft like ECU fuse. Originals were 20A. CC tech bulletin suggested changing to a 30A. Bottom fuse on main rail on my 2002 k-series.

[eagle]

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind when the car finally comes back to blighty.

[andy couchman]

Pretty certain you need the V5 to enter France (rarely checked, but if they do, you and the car are not allowed in and sent back to the UK I believe), so I guess it's needed on the return trip too?

 

Hope it's sorted soon and inexpensively.

 

Andy

[Stu_I]

If it was a fuse then surely something was an issue with connection, ground or something wiring related? I would imagine changing the fuse it should blow again but i guess it should indicate where the fault has come from?

 

Interested to know the cause and again Andy would be gutting if it indeed it could of been fixed roadside.

 

I was surprised to hear that ADAC didnt check the car as i would of presumed they would of. Especially considering how open and easy the cars are too work on. Its making me question my ADAC cover.

 

Good luck with it and as i said in the other post, hopefully the car is back with your soon and is a cheap fix.

 

Good luck.

[flaps7]

Pretty certain there is a crank sensor magnet and if you were to lose this the car will not run. Just another item to put into the 'suggestions box'.

 

Interested in your experience as I will be going abroad either later this year or next and as the car is over 16 years it is excluded from some of those offering breakdown cover. Certainly do not want to end up being refused repatriation of the car (or me come to that).

 

Rick

[Jonathan Kay]

On that ECU fuse:

Most faults that blow fuses will blow the next one when the circuit is turned on. But the ECU fuse may be different: for many cars 20A seems fine, and those that have blown them have often run happily for years and the blown fuse doesn't seem to be attributable to anything else that has gone wrong. I think the operating margin is just close to zero. I'd keep it on the list.

 

Jonathan

[eagle]

Thanks for all the advice so far guys - keep it coming!

 

Hmm, I was reading another thread about a hot cutout and it made me think that the car had been struggling a bit with hot restarts (like at a petrol station), but since it had happened after a retune, I assumed it was fuel related as a work-around was to not touch the throttle at all when attempting a hot restart (previously, a tiny dab of gas was enough to get it going when hot).

 

Am I clutching at straws thinking this might be related? A suggestion in the other thread is that it might be a symptom of a dodgy coil.

[eagle]

Edited to move the latest info to the top of the page.

 

 

Edited by - eagle on 26 Apr 2014 22:52:54

[eagle]

 

 

Edited by - eagle on 26 Apr 2014 22:53:06

[elie boone]

Does the coil get hot after some time ?

[eagle]

I've no idea as I've still not seen the car since it all happened a few weeks ago. Is it a case of if it's too hot to touch, then it's overheating?

 

 

[eagle]

 

 

Edited by - eagle on 26 Apr 2014 22:56:08

[elie boone]

If the coil get hot it will breakdown internally, also I don't know if you received a PM but apparently the rotor can give problems when up to temperature.

[Sam Monoogian]

When I collected my 1.6 Vx from its previous owner, I got about an hour into the journey home and it cut out.

 

I'd sit for 10 minutes or so and it would restart, only for the same to happen another 10 minutes down the road.

 

I thought it could be a blockage in the carbs, and so removed them, ultrasonically cleaned them and rebuilt with new gaskets etc.

 

Only for the same thing to happen about an hour after taking it out again. This time though, I was pulled over on a quiet country road with no other noise around and could hear the unmistakable sound of air leaking from behind me.

 

I twigged it was a vaccuum being created in the fuel tank and the fix was drilling a small hole in the fuel filler cap underneath the catch.

 

The previous owner had replaced the fuel filler cap after losing the previous one, but it wasn't vented and neither was the tank.

 

Your issue may be completely different, but at least this is an easy one to check.

[eagle]

Thanks for the info so far. It looks like it's probably coil, but the garage are doing a bit of an investigation.

 

If anyone has a coil or a crank sensor for the C16NZ2 engine they would be prepared to sell, let me know.

 

Even what the part numbers are would be very useful as I can't find any definitive numbers here. There's one thread that mentions coil part numbers and I've chased those as much as I can with no clear answer on which one is the current number to use!

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

[eagle]

Right, apologies for the delay - I should have dedicated a bit of time to writing the update.

 

Basically, my car has a new coil and a new crank sensor. I collected it on Friday and I've done almost 150 miles in it. Dare I say, so far, it's been okay.

 

Still no guarantees that's been okay but on a few occasions I've done a longer drive than I had done when it died in Germany.

 

I was talking to someone about it recently and they have also recommended I also change the relays as a matter of course. I need to get onto this before it's too late...!

 

So, thanks again for all the thoughts and advice. You all helped a lot! 😶‍🌫️

 

 

Andy