11th Jun 2010, 11:03
I own a 1.2 Easytronic Corsa 51 reg. Had it since 2004.
It has been fine (although a little jerky changing in low gears, especially pulling away at junctions into traffic, but I tried to master a gentle acceleration method) But now it is no longer fine. It is just awful. It keeps getting stuck in 2nd gear - this is when I am driving in auto mode - revving like mad, making a terrible noise and getting stuck at about 22mph. Highly embarrassing, not to mention dangerous.
Sometimes it corrects itself if I ease up on the accelerator and allow it to drop down, but today it did it twice and would not change to 3rd at all, so I 'limped' my way to my destination.
It has also always 'clunked' into reverse, so I had felt the best way of dealing with it was to put it into auto first and then reverse, which resulted in it changing to reverse more quietly and smoothly.
Along with my 2nd gear getting stuck problem, it now sometimes refuses to go into reverse. I don't even have a warning light coming on to say anything has happened or gone wrong with the transmission. When I tried to Easytronic move today, it simply will not move above 2nd - showing only changes from 1 to 2 on the dash panel. Any further shifting just keeps the same gear.
Fed up. I know my car is older than some of the previous post's cars, but at just under 9 years old I did not expect this. Very frustrating.
21st Jul 2010, 16:01
Thank you for all your comments, my wife has just been 'F'ed by Vauxhaul. There was no fault with the car until two days after the workshop 'repaired' a worn ignition barrel, now the car is rendered worthless, and Vauxhaul state that it's nothing to do with them!!
27th Jul 2010, 17:13
Must echo many of the above sentiments, after a year of my daughter's 2001 Corsa's engine cutting out under heavy braking and our otherwise very useful local garage being unable to diagnose the fault, we finally bit the bullet and had it towed to a Vauxhall dealer. I found them very helpful and although the news was a shock:
1) Carry out diagnosis £41.13 inc vat cost to date
2) Supply and fit new g/box shift motor £608.61 inc
3) " " " " " ECU if required £893 inc
4) " " " " gearbox & clutch £4360.17 inc.
They were very open in basically saying that neither the replacement of the shift motor nor the ECU would guarantee success, and that it may be better to get rid of the car rather than spend over half its market on doubtful outcome. Let alone nearly four and a half grand on a gearbox for a car, which only cost three and half 4 years ago. As advised by others, DO NOT BUY ANY VAUXHALL WITH AN EASYTRONIC BOX!!
28th Jul 2010, 03:38
Re: above problems, may be worth posting on a specific Vauxhall forum, who will have come across this problem many times and may have an easier fix; just google "easytronic fault".
I would avoid the Vauxhall dealers at all costs, unless the car is under warranty, as they usually guess at the fault, and go through pointless part after part at huge cost, without any guarantee of ever fixing it.
I had an Omega, which would have cost well over £5000 to set up correctly at a dealer, but via omegaowners.com, it was done for less than £1000.
Easytronic is well known for issues, like Alfa's Selespeed and Citroen's Sensotronic; all have sensor/actuator/programming problems.
If you cannot get forum help, I would simply sell it into the trade and move on.
19th Dec 2010, 04:54
Yes, you can drive a Easytronic on an auto licence. I do! And I rang up the DVLA to check; to them, if it has no clutch, you can drive it!
I drive a 1.2 Y reg Easytronic Corsa, had it for a couple of months now and no problems (touch wood). I haven't been experiencing any problems that you have, but I love my Easytronic gearbox as I am disabled driver, as I was born with no fingers on my left hand, so I don't use the gears, just A, N and R.
When I brought mine, it has had only one lady owner from brand new, so she must have liked it too!.
21st Jan 2011, 11:46
I own a Vauxhall Corsa Easytronic and for the last two years of owning, it's going great.
I had "f" displayed on the dashboard twice, but after replacing the rear brake bulb, it's gone.
Now it has started jerking a little when cold. Can anyone advice on the jerking behaviour in first gear when it's cold? Also it started making more noise then before when started in the morning.
Any help will be much appreciated!
25th Mar 2012, 16:17
I bought a 2002 Corsa 1.2 SXI Easytronic in 2008, one lady owner and 50K on the clock.
Nearly four years and 30K later, it has not missed a beat.
Here are a few tips for Easytronic survival:
Never disconnect the battery; back it up with a spare one if replacement is needed.
Never use the snow button.
Engage "N" when stationary; saves cooking the concentric release bearing.
Ensure you're at a complete halt before reversing direction.
Change the clutch fluid in the little reservoir once a year (syphon it out, mop out with a clean cloth, refill with new DOT4 brake fluid).
Change the gearbox oil at least every 70K; there's no drain plug, but it's easy to remove the diff cover, and obtain the right kind of oil from a Motor Factors.
Hold 3rd or 4th as appropriate in a 30 or 40 limit; saves wear on the shift motors.
Keep the selector gate nice and clean.
Drive it gently, never exceed 4000 RPM; you'll get there just the same.
I love my Corsa. Had a Merc 260E auto before, £40 a week on fuel then, £25 now.
Would I buy another Easytronic? Yes, if it was a 1.2 or 1.3D (chain cam) 2-door with alloys and no aircon. So it's not all bad news.
29th May 2012, 04:52
Totally agree with you, I took my car into Vauxhall on Thursday 24th May 2012 to get sorted. Was told the fault was the engine coolant sensor. Paid out for a test, and for the part to be repaired.
THE VERY NEXT day, what happened, same fault was back. I did the pedal trick, and it was coming back the very same code as the day before - p0115 = engine coolant sensor.
Returned the car on the Monday, got another test on the car; they then came back and said they couldn't find a fault etc etc.
I argued with them, and said I've paid out over £300 to you ****s, and you're now telling me there's no fault. He said he will re-do the test, and guess what... They came back to tell me it came back as faults with the ECU or CLUTCH costing £££££, and asked me to leave car over for 2-4 days while they work on it. I told them straight and stormed out. They are robbing *******s.
Once I took the car in to a different Vauxhall dealer after a small crash. I had the air bag light on, and they said I needed a whole new airbag system costing £700-£800! Then took it to my dad's mate; he sorted it within 20 minutes, costing £20!!! PROVEN my point about Vauxhall.
28th May 2010, 06:24
Got a Corsa Reg 51, has been no problem for 4 years, but F code came up on motorway and then died when pulled off, and all lights on and completely dead. After 15 minutes, it came back to life for no reason, then F code again and all lights, and had to be towed home. It has to go to a Vauxhall garage for computer analysis, which judging from above is going to cost - will post when it all gets concluded. I DON'T TRUST IT ANYMORE FOR LONG JOURNEYS.