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[NiallyV6CDX]

Hi guys,
I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on some trouble with a 2014 1.2iVVT corsa.

The car suddenly started emitting thick blue smoke from the exhaust last friday.
AA was called, who advised not to run the car and car was towed back to dealers who said they couldn't find anything wrong, but that it looked like the engine had been run with the oil filler cap off, due to some oil spray present on the engine cover.
Would running the engine without the filler cap on cause it to burn oil?
They also said that they had picked up a stored fault code (manifold pressure sensor) which suggested the same.
However I don't recall seeing any engine management light come on at the time of the incident.

I am not convinced thier diagnosis fully explains it.
Anyone got any theories on this?

Cheers, Niall

[4x4]

The main question is,was the oil cap left off?

[Phil]

The main question is,was the oil cap left off?

Or just not seated properly - cross threaded for want of a better description.

I had it happen on my 3.2 Signum and in 35 miles its covered the engine bay and lost over a litre of oil, so very likely the cause of the smoke if the cap isn't on properly

[05omegav6]

I would be more concerned as to why the oil cap would need touching within the first year at all

[Kevin Wood]

I would be more concerned as to why the oil cap would need touching within the first year at all

Not properly secured by the gibbon who did the PDC?

[NiallyV6CDX]

The filler cap was definitely on and appeared to be secure when we stopped at the roadside and checked under the bonnet.

It was definitely on when the car was towed away, although I did notice some light spotting of oil on the engine cover, as mentioned by the dealer, which I am not sure how it got there.

I also checked the oil level at that time and it was half up the dipstick, there was no smoke coming from under the bonnet as you might find by oil dripping onto the exhaust etc, as occasionally happened on my old V6 omega.
It was only thick blue smoke coming out of the tailpipe, like the piston rings were gone or something (car has 2.5k on the clock).
I did not see any warning lights on the dash come on at the time.

Vauxhall dealers seem to think this was all caused by the oil cap not being on securely, which they say would explain the oil spotting on the engine cover and cause a leak in the intake manifold, hence the manifold pressure sensor fault code.

However I have never known this to cause an engine to burn oil like it was doing when it started smoking on friday.
Is what they are saying plausible?

Basically they are saying that there is nothing wrong with the car and the occurrence on Friday was caused by user error (i.e we have tampered with the car or run it incorrectly and that has caused the problem).
I think they are telling fibs, as the car has also had a number of engine related electrical problems which the dealer has been unable/unwilling to trace and fix until we threatened to get the motoring press involved.

[05omegav6]

Might be a Friday afternoon car how long have you had it? Guess 2.5k is too long for 'Not fit for purpose' rejection

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Is it still under warranty?

2014.....so I suppose it must be.

[Webby the Bear]

Unsure on how a leaking / incorrectly fitted oil cap could cause thick blue smoke out of the tailpipe.

As Al suggests... perhaps made on a Friday afternoon

[NiallyV6CDX]

Well this is interesting.

I now believe this indecent was not caused by the car being faulty, but by the dealers messing with something.

I have now found out that the dealer (Bristol Street Vauxhall, Keighley) is telling us bare faced lies.

They said that the car was returned to them (by the AA) with its oil filer cap missing.
I was there when the car was towed away and it was present and secure.
I have contacted the AA about this who have checked with the attendant who has provided written and signed confirmation that the oil filler cap was present and correct when dropped off.

It's now clear to me they are making stuff up to make it look like we have caused the fault with the car.

I've spoken to a couple of different Vx dealers who said that an insecure oil cap could cause the engine to burn oil by causing a leak into the manifold via the crankcase breather, which could cause it to take in oil mist and run rough, but not to the extent that oil should accumulate in the exhaust system. So the oil in the backbox is still unexplained 

I think the dealers did something to it (not sure why when the car only went back in for electrical issues) and failed to put it back on properly, which cause the smoke & oil in exhaust incident the same afternoon we got the car back, and they are trying to make out like we have caused that by tampering with the car.

We got the car back yesterday and it smoked quite a bit initially but seems ok now.
However I am concerned about how this saga may have caused damage to the engine and catalytic converter. Should I have this checked somewhere?
My overall impression is that whenever there is a fault with the car, their approach is to deny that their is anything wrong, or if the fault is obvious, make out like the customer has caused the fault. They have threatened to charge us in future if the car is returned "without any apparent fault". 

We have complained to Vauxhall customer service about this, and stated that nobody except Bristol Street have done any work on the car or touched anything under the bonnet, and on a 6 week old car we have no reason to even open the bonnet let alone touch the oil filler cap, but they are siding with dealers, saying that until the dealer accepts the car as faulty (obviously 4 AA callouts is not enough for them) we have no grounds to reject the car as faulty.

STAY AWAY FROM BRISTOL STREET VAUXHALL is all I can say, they are a bunch of lying con merchants! 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Well this is interesting.

I now believe this indecent was not caused by the car being faulty, but by the dealers messing with something.

I have now found out that the dealer (Bristol Street Vauxhall, Keighley) is telling us bare faced lies.

They said that the car was returned to them (by the AA) with its oil filer cap missing.
I was there when the car was towed away and it was present and secure.
I have contacted the AA about this who have checked with the attendant who has provided written and signed confirmation that the oil filler cap was present and correct when dropped off.

It's now clear to me they are making stuff up to make it look like we have caused the fault with the car.

I've spoken to a couple of different Vx dealers who said that an insecure oil cap could cause the engine to burn oil by causing a leak into the manifold via the crankcase breather, which could cause it to take in oil mist and run rough, but not to the extent that oil should accumulate in the exhaust system. So the oil in the backbox is still unexplained 

I think the dealers did something to it (not sure why when the car only went back in for electrical issues) and failed to put it back on properly, which cause the smoke & oil in exhaust incident the same afternoon we got the car back, and they are trying to make out like we have caused that by tampering with the car.

We got the car back yesterday and it smoked quite a bit initially but seems ok now.
However I am concerned about how this saga may have caused damage to the engine and catalytic converter. Should I have this checked somewhere?
My overall impression is that whenever there is a fault with the car, their approach is to deny that their is anything wrong, or if the fault is obvious, make out like the customer has caused the fault. They have threatened to charge us in future if the car is returned "without any apparent fault". 

We have complained to Vauxhall customer service about this, and stated that nobody except Bristol Street have done any work on the car or touched anything under the bonnet, and on a 6 week old car we have no reason to even open the bonnet let alone touch the oil filler cap, but they are siding with dealers, saying that until the dealer accepts the car as faulty (obviously 4 AA callouts is not enough for them) we have no grounds to reject the car as faulty.

STAY AWAY FROM BRISTOL STREET VAUXHALL is all I can say, they are a bunch of lying con merchants! 

You obviously feel very strongly about this. Maybe a chat with Trading standards and Watchdog might help.

[NiallyV6CDX]

Is it still under warranty?

2014.....so I suppose it must be.

Yes, the car has the "lifetime" vauxhall warranty. But taking it back to the supplying dealers (Bristol Street Vauxhall) means that warranty isn't worth the paper it is printed on.
They always deny there is anything wrong and refused to carry out the necessary testing to find and correct the ECU faults until we threatened to get the motoring press involved, and then attempted to bill us for the work.

If the engine went bang tomorrow I suspect they would concoct some elaborate story as to how it was caused by user error or missuse and expect us to fork out for it.
What a bunch of con merchants, I have never experienced such appalling service in my life, let alone from a supposedly professional franchise dealer! Be very careful who you buy from, thats all I have to say!

[NiallyV6CDX]

Yes, we have now contacted MotorCodes for advice about what to do and also spoken with Auto Express who are in the process of investigating this.

Apparently we are not the first to complain about the dealership in question

[plym ian]

They dont get great reviews either

https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.bristolstreet.co.uk

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

They dont get great reviews either

https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.bristolstreet.co.uk

Fooking hell.

[henryd]

They dont get great reviews either

https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.bristolstreet.co.uk

Fooking hell.

I concur, didn't realise shit like that still happened in this day and age.