Hi guys,

I am hoping that someone here can shed some light on a very new issue I have had recently with a Vectra 3.2 V6 2003. (Is this an A,B,C??) It only has 50,000 on the clock but has primarily been used 'in town' and at 35 mph.

I borrowed it about 1 month ago from my brother and until recently only been driving it short distances of no more than 20 miles or less and at speeds at no more than daily traffic on B roads with the occasional sprint at 70 down the motorway for about 10 miles.

No issues with it what so ever. Last week I was on a course 35 miles away and driving at 70 ish down the motorway for about 30 minutes, followed by a 10 minute ‘5 mile town drive’ with a few lights etc. No issues whatsoever in either direction.

However, this week whilst driving home from the same location, same distance, same route, and same speeds as last week etc I got within 1 mile of home and nipped into a shop. When I came out of the shop I tried starting the car and it wouldn’t start. Loads of power from the battery but just wouldn’t ’kick in’. No warning lights, no sign of any mechanical failure or fluids on the floor etc. I left it in the car park for about an hour and walked home to get my tool kit.

I returned to the car about an hour later and it started first time????

I took a chance this morning with it again and it started first time. Drove the same route at the same speeds etc but after about 25 minutes noticed that the temp gauge was hovering between 88-92 degrees c. I was only 3 miles from my destination, came off the motorway and into a dual carriageway doing about 50. Then got stopped at a set of lights, which would have been the first real ‘stop’ that I had on my entire journey. As I pulled away from the lights, the car started to judder and the engine completely cut out. No warning lights whatsoever. I managed to pull it over just in time before it stopped completely and tried repeatedly to start it. Again, plenty of power from the battery and it ‘felt’ like it wants to start but it just wouldn’t ‘kick in’. I thought ‘Fuel’ but had plenty and then thought ‘fuel pump issue’ or an ‘overheating’ issue??

I left the car on that dual carriage all day as I had to attend the course. I returned to the car some 8 hrs later (yes it was still there and it still had its wheels) and guess what? It started up straight away??????

I then gingerly limped home at 50 mph, hoping that it is ‘just’ a overheating issue. The temp gauge again hovered again at around 88-92 degrees c within 25 minutes but other warning lights whatsoever. After about 25 minutes I got a slight judder from the engine and a flash of a red light from the dash but the car continued to run and the light went out so fast that I didn’t actually see what it was. I travelled for a further 8 miles on tender hooks and I then pulled into another shop close to home and switched it off. I thought I would try it immediately to see if it would start again. It wouldn’t start. I went into the shop for about 2 minutes and then tried to start the car again…………it started?????

I am scratching my head as to what this is. What is causing it to cut out and why after an hour does it start again and run? The internet forums seem to come down to a few possibilities such as ‘ECU’ or ‘Crank case sensor’ or ‘Rad Fans’.

Has anyone experienced such an issue and if so how did you sort it and what costs are involved in spares such as a ‘crank shaft sensor’ etc. I can manage to do most things on a car with a manual and correct tooling etc, just not so good at the ‘fault diagnosis’ stuff.

Cheers in advance.

Very Vexed Vectra