zafira starter motor

Have recently experienced this on a 3 yr old 1.6 club whilst driving
car had strange dial displays then smoke
AA came out and before opening bonnet explained syntoms he said
starter motor had failed to disengage and consequently burnt out .
What i dont understand is if an AA mechanic knows this he says he
alone gets one of these faults a week there must be a mechanical flaw
and maybe a recall or upgrade shoud be offered by Vauxhall if this is
the case can someone let me know please thank you for taking time to
read this..

 

My wife's 2002 Zafira had this twice in the space of 3 months
Fortunately, it was fixed under warranty by Andrews Garage, Coventry
- very good service from them.

I have since been told by the garage that it is a common fault.
They think the ignition swich can fail to return from the starting
position after the car has started, and keep the starter motor powered
(I would think this would make a racket - but my wife never noticed
any).
My wife has been deliberately turning the key back from the starting
position for the last 18months or so, and the problem has not
reapperared.
This is probably worth doing in your case.

Unfortunately, the metal end from the key barrel which engages in the
switch has recently broke off.
Perhaps, this was damaged, and was leading to the original problem.

I have now had the ignition barrel replaced, but the switch looks like
it might also be damaged by the broken metal end.
It needs wiggled around to engage. I am now trying to fix that.

Good Luck,

Ken

 

I have noticed that the lock housing seems to develop a bit of a ridge
inside so it doesn't return all the way after starting. If you take the
barrel out and shove your finger in you can feel it. I had a 1999 Zafira
and I rubbed it away with wet and dry paper and then added some grease when
fitting the barrel in - two years later it was still fine.

 

Just to ley you know spoke to BIG VAUXHALL they say they know about
this problem on cetain models(not to sure which one )
thet didnt iniate a recall because of volumes but if problem occured
and taken to main dealer they will repair.
In my case repaired indepently but they have organised a free health
check at local main dealer on Monday will get them to check ignition
as this feels tight .
One of forward thoughts is how can a manufactor make this statement
about knowing starter motor does burn out on a Family Vehicle
(potentially one adult and six children) running the risk of an
electrical fire and not recall or make a public announcement i am sure
health and safety or trading standards my like to know of this but
lets wait to Monday and will let you know........

 

I have since been told by the garage that it is a common fault.

You think thats strange? My wife didnt hear anything as the cambelt snapped
and the
head and valves self destructed on our zaf!

"it just stopped..." she said. :-(

Mike

 

To be fair, my son was driving our 1.8 Veccy about 15 months ago when the
cam-belt went, and I believe him when he says it just "died" - no
significant audible clue. (Mind you, we never checked the extent of the
damage, cos it was never going to be an economic repair at nearly 150k on
the clock of a 10 year-old car.)

In similar vein, the recent windscreen crack on the wife's car (ref. another
recent thread here) "just appeared" - with no loud crack or clonk from a
passing stone.