I have an 04 plate Corsa sxi CDTi with an Easytronics gearbox which keeps playing up. I can unlock the car, try to start the engine, get an F in the gear indicator display. no start. Turning the key does nothing. I can leave it for a few minutes, turn it on again and the display shows N and the car will start. If I drive off it is likely to suddendly stop and the F indicator returns. Once again I can retry and the engine starts, we move off and can go for a few miles. An indicator on the dash, showing a small car and spanner appears and is described as "the car needs to go to the nearest dealer/mechanic to diagnose a fault that has occured".
The car has been into my local Vauxhall dealer and they initially said there was no fault, despite the fact that I gave them a diagnostics printout from my local garage clearly showing there is a fault. I asked if they would do a software update which might solve the problem as well as a couple of recall mods. I go to collect the car and it stops again 100meters up the road. They recover it and tell me it needs a new engine ECU at £600 plus and after fitting that they may be able to find the other fault. Having lost faith I have removed the car to my local garage where it now sits whilst they do some further tests. We keep getting a message saying that the CAN BUS cannot detect the gearbox control unit.
Does anybody out there know anything about this setup as it appears to be fairly uncommon. Where I have found other owners some of the problems I have they have found too and similarly most garages, inc. main dealers have little or no experience of this transmission.
I am also considering converting the box to a manual change or replacing the whole unit with a manual setup. It seems that the main differences between this box and a normal manual box are the automatic clutch and gearchange module and a slight difference in the actuation of the hydraulic clutch.
Any help with ideas or contacts who might have some knowledge and advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks
slt
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 13/11/2007 at 18:55
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Automated-manual transmissions have a long and disreputable history of biting owners in the wallet.
I think that given the rarity and comparative complexity of these transmissions you will be hard put to find anyone outside a GM dealership who knows much about them or has the appropriate experience and diagnostic tools. It might be worth contacting GM dealers within a reasonable radius and trying to divine which of them has a tech who's been on the appropriate courses etc. I guess on the law of averages you could try the largest dealer within 50 miles - they are likely to have had more 'encounters' than smaller dealers.
I think converting to manual will cost you more, and be more involved, than you think.
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Many thanks for your comments. I'll try and have a phone around to the limited number of dealers in my area and see what answers I get. My local garage man has found water in the connector to the gearbox control unit and having cleaned it and test driven the car no faults have occured yet but it is early days. I take your point about the complexities of converting to a purely manual change and will think very carefully before commiting to do anything. At the moment I have potentially valueless car unless I spend what could be a couple of thousand on it which is not very sensible either so feel caught between the devil and the deep so to speak. If it continues to work I will look to do a part ex and get something a bit more common.
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i asked the vauxhall garage if they could change my easytronic to manual, they said it wouldnt be financially viable. have read on here or on vauxhall owners site of somebody who describe cleaning the electronic connections in some detail, hope it helps. i hated my corsa , heard yesterday of one whose chain snapped at 60,300 miles and garage didnt want to know
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Many thanks for your post. Interested to hear your comments about cleaning terminals as this morning my garage man phoned to say he found a lot of water inside the connector to the gearbox control unit. He thinks the car may have been pressure washed recently and water forced into the connection. having dried it out and sprayed the whole thing with an electrical contact cleaner so far during a 2 mile drive all seems to be OK. We are going to run the car around a bit and see what happens although I'm still sceptical about this being the only problem.
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I came across your posting while trying to figure out wat was wrong with my sister's car when her 01 plate corsa comfort showed an F on the dashboard and just stopped on the road.
I took her car to the local vauxhall dealer, it seemed the best option luckily as she had broken down just 500 yards from it and after carrying out a diagnostic test they found out that her Crank Shaft Sensor was faulty.
They replaced the sensor and we picked up the car and so far so good.
Perhaps you should have that looked at???
It's only been a day since her car was fixed, so fingers crossed!
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I have recently purchased a Easytronic 1.3cdti corsa and was really happy with it until I started reading about its potential problems here..
I have done some searching of after market warranties and looked at what they covered but am none the wiser as to if my gearbox would be covered in the event of the problems that can occur.
With Warranties Direct for example,the policy says this in the relevent section of gearboxes...
Transmission (Manual, Automatic and Overdrive)
Manual Transmission: gears, synchromesh hubs &
rings, selectors, shafts, bearings, drive chains plus
gearlever and bushes.
Automatic Transmission: torque converters, brake
bands, valve block, governor (manual & electric) oil
pump and seals, drive chains, gears, input shaft oil
seal, clutches, servos and modulator valve, bearings
plus gearlever and bushes.
Overdrive: Gears, shafts and bearings.
Is this worth going for..Im being quoted 24 pounds a month?
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Is this worth going for..Im being quoted 24 pounds a month?
I guess you should explain your situation to them and ask them to confirm in writing that they would cover the box and all its components. You're buying peace of mind so no point in buying the cover and then worrying about it.
These boxes afre becoming increasingly common so they must be coming across them now (which may well be why they would want to avoid covering them!).
Edited by Bill Payer on 17/09/2009 at 09:15
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