I have done update last week unfortunatelly. I didnt know how bad would be.
Bu now is done and i cant "roll back" right?
Car is less responsive to throttle and i think it uses a lot more fuel now. I regret doing this update.
I would say that now engine is "lazy" under 1800 rpms and i have to shift more frequently.
Not happy with how it feels now to drive.

One question though:
last two, three tanks (before update) i noticed drop in range when i reset BC after refuelling. Now on full tank it shows me only about 950-970km of range. I use metric because i live in europe.
Is this normal?

That's it...I am going to dodge this update, i dont want worse fuel economy.

The only thing i can think of is if some "tuner" based his tuning file on the older firmware.

The range estimate is based on average mileage, mine is always above 1000 km of range, but it is wildly optimistic.

I have done 1000 km on one tank a few times, but normally i refuel at about 800 km and then i have 5-6 liters left.

 

How, more regens and poorer fuel economy can be better for the enviroment is beyond me to be honest.

Regen uses extra diesel to heat up the DPF, and less MPG = More pollution per mile.

So essentially they want to update the software to make the car use more diesel, and burning diesel is polluting.

TBH I can't figure how DPF's improve emissions anyway :?: Seems to me (mebbe I'm being naive - or thick - lol) but the dpf attracts all the larger particles of soot until it's full, then burns them off to produce a huge glut of smaller particles once in a while :shock: . How exactly is that improving emissions ? Instead of the car steadily releasing by-products of combustion over time, it runs cleaner forra few hundred miles then chucks a huge gob of filth out forra couple of miles......end result is still the same amount of emissions, just concentrated into a smaller time-period :roll:

It's not as if it's like a cat which actually converts some of the pollutants into less harmful substances.

I know on our works Sprinters, when a re-gen is being done they kick out a load of black smoke. No warnings given but the engine seems down on power and sounds like there's a small hole in the exhaust.

Like I say, mebbe I'm being thick but that's how it seems to me :lol:

 

How, more regens and poorer fuel economy can be better for the enviroment is beyond me to be honest.

Regen uses extra diesel to heat up the DPF, and less MPG = More pollution per mile.

So essentially they want to update the software to make the car use more diesel, and burning diesel is polluting.

TBH I can't figure how DPF's improve emissions anyway :?: Seems to me (mebbe I'm being naive - or thick - lol) but the dpf attracts all the larger particles of soot until it's full, then burns them off to produce a huge glut of smaller particles once in a while :shock: . How exactly is that improving emissions ? Instead of the car steadily releasing by-products of combustion over time, it runs cleaner forra few hundred miles then chucks a huge gob of filth out forra couple of miles......end result is still the same amount of emissions, just concentrated into a smaller time-period :roll:

It's not as if it's like a cat which actually converts some of the pollutants into less harmful substances.

I know on our works Sprinters, when a re-gen is being done they kick out a load of black smoke. No warnings given but the engine seems down on power and sounds like there's a small hole in the exhaust.

Like I say, mebbe I'm being thick but that's how it seems to me :lol:

Yeah it's a bit of a mystery to me as well.

Maybe the reason is that when the diesel is cold, it puts out a lot of particles.

So the car collects the particles and then eject them when you drive on the motorway, in less populated areas ?

Our old Zafira, though, had this idea that the best place to do regen, was after a long motorway drive, just when we got off the motorway and entered the city.

It also did the "Onslow's car" puff of black sooty smoke, when it was doing regen, and i was stopped at a traffic light, and then when it turned green i would accelerate.

Have had more than a few angry looks and people blowing their horn at me, when i laid out smoke in front of them

 

My BiTurbo had the update last week, together with 5 year interim service and MOT.

over the weekend, I did over 500 miles, and didn't notice any difference in performance, or economy.

I was a bit apprehensive after reading about the update on this forum, but am perfectly happy now.

 

I may be totally wrong but from what i have read the soot burn off creates very small particles of ash which stay in the filter and need to be cleaned out as it states below every 150,000 to 300,000 miles. (this is a truck)

Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) Regen is a relatively recent issue facing truck and fleet owners.

Starting with 2007 model years, diesel trucks are "blessed" with a diesel particulate filter (DPF). DPFs grab soot from your exhaust before it blows out into the environment. It's a wall-flow filter usually made of cordierite, silicon carbide, or a ceramic monolith.

Cleaning
The DPF must be cleaned every 150,000 to 300,000 miles to remove accumulated ash. This ash buildup is not necessarily related to regens, but is most often due to sulfated ash in the engine oil. The filter must also be cleaned if a fuel injector or turbo problem causes contamination with engine oil or non-combusted diesel. This contamination causes unacceptable back pressure.

Cleaning methods include air blasting, the use of de-ionized water, and a vacuum-like system. Cleaning must be done very carefully so as not to damage the filter. The particulate matter removed must be carefully handled so technicians are not exposed to its extremely fine contaminants.

Timewise, cleaning a DPF should be quick enough to be accommodated during an oil change.

What's coming out of the exhaust
While expensive for truck owners, the removal of diesel particulate matter before it blows into our breathing air certainly has its benefits. Following is a table showing the different elements that make up the matter DPF filters capture:

https://www.fullbay.com/blog/diesel-particulate-filter-dpf-regen/

 

Well from that description, I can see it having benefits but..............that certainly doesn't happen with our work vans and as astraowner has stated, his last Zafira also used to blow out a cloud of crap while doing a regen.

Has anyone on here noticed if their Astra Diesel does this during a regen ?

Mebbe the truck systems (being MUCH larger motors) are a more sophisticated system ?

Although how may people are actually going to own a car for 150-300k miles is gonna be a very small % and I would've thought they would have to be replaced well before that figure ?

God knows !

 

You can certainly see the difference between a dpf equipped vehicle & one that does not have one. Then there's the old problematic adblue system too.

 

Well from that description, I can see it having benefits but..............that certainly doesn't happen with our work vans and as astraowner has stated, his last Zafira also used to blow out a cloud of crap while doing a regen.

Has anyone on here noticed if their Astra Diesel does this during a regen ?

Mebbe the truck systems (being MUCH larger motors) are a more sophisticated system ?

Although how may people are actually going to own a car for 150-300k miles is gonna be a very small % and I would've thought they would have to be replaced well before that figure ?

God knows !

I read that cars can start having issues from 100,000 which these days is not a huge milage for a diesel.

 

Well from that description, I can see it having benefits but..............that certainly doesn't happen with our work vans and as astraowner has stated, his last Zafira also used to blow out a cloud of crap while doing a regen.

Has anyone on here noticed if their Astra Diesel does this during a regen ?

Mebbe the truck systems (being MUCH larger motors) are a more sophisticated system ?

Although how may people are actually going to own a car for 150-300k miles is gonna be a very small % and I would've thought they would have to be replaced well before that figure ?

God knows !

I have never seen any visible black smoke from my Astra, like on the Zafira.

Maybe down to the fact that the Zafira was 10 years old and had done ~250.000 miles.

I remember just when these filters came out for busses, the bus company in a larger city in my country bought these. They were the type that collected the particles and then it needed to be blown out when it got clogged.

This had to be done, using a machine that was supposed to be at the bus garage.

The company had not bought this machine as they felt it was too expensive, and just buying the filters, they felt would be enough to be able to advertise how "green" they were.

Until some day local TV had the story of how, when the filters were full, the bus garage, just flipped them around, and took the bus for a good thrashing down the motorway, to blow out all of the accumulated soot.

After that, they suddenly found, that it was a good idea to also invest in the machine to blow out the filters in a controlled manner.

Another tv program revealed that a lot of busses were driving around our capital, and polluted A LOT more than what was normal.

Turned out, the bus company found that with these filters the MPG was a lot worse, and also the filters were expensive, so they just bought a few good filters, and the rest was just smashed to bits so they were essentially just a hollow tube.

When it came time for the bus to go have their MOT (1 year interval) they slapped on one of the good filters, had it pass the MOT and then took it back and put on the "tube" again.

The police and MOT stations got wind of this, after the program, and started marking the filters the bus came in with, so that they could not use the same filter for all busses, and also the police cracked down and started pulling busses over, and if they had an inoperative filter, they got an instant driving ban....Which in turn cost the bus company a lot of money also, because of angry costumers, when their commute suddenly ended prematurely because the bus could go no further...I even think they ordered the bus company to have the bus removed, by towtruck

 

today i entered myopel website after a long time and saw that i have a "technical action" awaiting me. the "lovely" myopel site doesn't show me what the action is :x so i called the closest auth. dealer and got an appointment for the next week. i was told that it was smth related to emissions and my software (ECU probably?) needs to be updated. anyone heard anything about this tech. action/recall?

my car: MY2016, 1,6 CDTI (B16DTH), manual transmission

 

This ?
https://www.astrakforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7987

 

got the same notice for this emissions recall.

from what i've read from this thread...time to cancel my appointment

 

got the same notice for this emissions recall.

from what i've read from this thread...time to cancel my appointment

Yeah, i have decided that i am going to NOT have the update applied, unless they make it a MOT fail, if it is not installed.

A sideeffect of this, is that i can not take my car to vauxhall, but have to use independent garages...Vauxhall's loss really.

 

"Your vehicle's fuel economy, performance and noise level will be unaffected" according to my letter from Vauxhall UK.

Mmmmmmm.....

 

"Your vehicle's fuel economy, performance and noise level will be unaffected" according to my letter from Vauxhall UK.

Mmmmmmm.....

Suuure, and the noisy chain is not a defect, it is just an engine characteristic.......

 

I can tell from my own experience that performance and fuel economy is not the same after update!
Engine responds differently to throttle after update. Its less responsive and i need to shift more!
Especially at low revs under 2k.
Worst decision was to do update. Its not drastic change but big enough to feel difference while driving...

 

I can tell from my own experience that performance and fuel economy is not the same after update!
Engine responds differently to throttle after update. Its less responsive and i need to shift more!
Especially at low revs under 2k.
Worst decision was to do update. Its not drastic change but big enough to feel difference while driving...

That's so annoying icy , no way would I take any of my cars in for an update….no doubt all to do with emissions.
I once spoke with a decent remapper and they can tell you what changes a manufacturer will make to your ecu , files etc.
Bugger the owner ref mpg , acceleration etc - as long as the emissions are down to what they said they should be then so be it.
Covering their asses as usual !

 

I can tell from my own experience that performance and fuel economy is not the same after update!
Engine responds differently to throttle after update. Its less responsive and i need to shift more!
Especially at low revs under 2k.
Worst decision was to do update. Its not drastic change but big enough to feel difference while driving...

I'll bet, what they do is the same as Volkswagen does, it makes perfect sense, when considering what your experience with the car is.

Changed torque curve and less horsepower and torque.

https://teknikensvarld.se/nyheter/bil-och-trafik/dieselgate-volkswagen-cars-loses-power-after-fix-456111/

One of the tested cars is a four-wheel drive Passat Alltrack. Before going to the Volkswagen workshop, we measured 176 horsepower and 379 Nm in torque. After the fix, only 163 horsepower and 369 Nm remained. The numbers may not seem that different but the torque curve has changed completely. Before the fix, maximum torque at nearly 380 Nm was found between 1500 and 2300 rpms. After reprogramming at Volkswagen, the torque curve slopes. At 1500 rpms, the engine only provides 220 Nm. It is not until 1900 rpms we get the maximum 369 Nm. Since this is the rpm interval most used in a diesel car, the effect is felt almost constantly.

Both Vauxhall and Volkswagen use Bosch ECU's so the fix is probably the same on both cars.

 

I can tell from my own experience that performance and fuel economy is not the same after update!
Engine responds differently to throttle after update. Its less responsive and i need to shift more!
Especially at low revs under 2k.
Worst decision was to do update. Its not drastic change but big enough to feel difference while driving...

Does your car perform dpf regens more frequently too? Since the update.

 

I certainly won't be taking mine in if asked to , as long as it passes the MOT that's fine.
You've got the hassle of taking it in , then picking it up , dropping in a fast car and then taking back a slower car…..no thanks.
VX arnt fuddling with my ecu at all.

In my country it is the "DVLA" that sends the notices for recall's as the car manufacturer don't know who owns the affected cars.

They also usually require the manufacturer to report to the "DVLA" when the fix has been carried out. Especially if it is related to emissions or there is a risk of fire, for example.

So, if i go to get the MOT'ed, the MOT station will be unable to enter the MOT status into the system if it has active recalls.

It's the same if i owe money for road tax, insurance, have unpaid fines relating to the car. It is simply not possible to do the MOT and have it entered into the system until i sort out the problem.

But yes....I would not want to take it to vauxhall just to have them take away 10 horses and 50 torques to meet the emissions they promised they would.

In such a case, they should be forced to pay me, for the valueloss of having a less powerful car. Possibly it would also have to have it's registration details updated, a car is rated for a certain trailer hitch weight, based on for example engine size, so if it suddenly has less oooomph, then it will maybe only be allowed to pull a 1200 kg trailer, instead of a 1400 kg trailer.

This could be very problematic for someone that has a caravan that weighs in at 1350 for example, suddenly this guy has a caravan that the car they sold him, to pull the caravan, is suddenly not allowed to anymore.

To be honest, they should be forced to buy back the cars off of people that wanted this option, when their car suddenly does not have the specs, it was sold with.

I assume by referring to the DVLA you are in the UK? If so my two product recalls (one being this emissions one) have been notified by a letter directly from Vauxhall, nothing from the DVLA. So I'm not sure how to true that is

 

I assume by referring to the DVLA you are in the UK? If so my two product recalls (one being this emissions one) have been notified by a letter directly from Vauxhall, nothing from the DVLA. So I'm not sure how to true that is

No not from the UK, hence the ""

In Denmark where i live, only the government office, issuing the license plates, actually know who owns a car.

There are a few other companies that can get license plate to name information, like parking companies that issue parking tickets, police obviously and so on, but they also get it from the government register.

Vauxhall is not able to send out the letters as they only know the original owner of a car, and it would not be useful to send the letter to someone that sold their car years ago...Maybe even traded it in, so they dont even know who owns it now.

So if this kind of thing happens, they send a request to the government department, that all cars currently registered, that has this and this engine, needs a letter.

They then pay the government department to send out these letters on their behalf.

 

So does anyone know for certain if by not having this update in the uk be detrimental when it comes to future MOTs?
Also I have not opened a claim yet...so it would be good to know if getting the update how I would stand in making a claim.
Any ideas anyone?
Tia

 

Evening all and I am new to this forum but have been tracking it.

My Astra 136 CDTI going in for 4th service tomorrow and they have outlined the update reqd.

I wrote under a FOI request to Vauxhall for specifics of the update and was told no change to performance of economy.

The recall letter has arrived showing it as a Safety Recall but the first letter says it is a Customer Satisfaction campaign hence why t is not showing on DVLA. If not on DVLA then I cannot see how it would fail an MOT unless it did have a problem.

Am I cynical bet your life I am and I will be declining the update tomorrow until I next write to Vauxhall asking of any issues reported by customers.

As ever I expect the Service dept to drop themselves in it as I won't tell them about the FOI enquiry until they start giving me the Vauxhall promises. I really like this car and economy always high 50s on my daily commute of 50 miles each way so cannot afford any loss in either economy or performance.

E172109770

 

My son has just had the Customer Satisfaction recall for the software update, my advice was not to do it, if it ain't broke don't fix it!
As the objective is to reduce NOx emissions the only way you could do that (without an AdBlue system) would be to increase the amount of exhaust gas recirculation to reduce the O2 level in the air charge. This will reduce power, increase fuel consumption and lead to faster sooting up of the EGR valve, the same problems VW had when they were forced to change their software.
If he has to take the car in for a safety related recall the computer port will be sealed off with masking tape and signed with a felt pen and photographed and service reception will be given a letter stating that under no circumstances are they permitted to update the software under threat of legal action.

 

Hi
Interesting comment about EGR valve, I had this update carried out recently and one week later engine management light comes on permanently taken in for diagnostic and now need new EGR valve and cooler at a cost of approx £1000 for parts😡
Dealer recommended talking to Vauxhall Customer Service who deny its related and have offered a voucher towards cost of work which is still leaving me about a £1000 out of pocket, even though car is 5 years old with 60000 miles on clock and full service history with there approved dealers😡😡
Has anyone else experienced this and issues with Customer Service attitude? i.e I was not happy with agents offer and asked to speak to someone more senior only to be told that’s not possible I am the manager of your case etc😡😡😡

 

Do you know the location of the software update port - assuming it is not the OBDII port?

My question is whether this recall will be classed as a "Safety Recall" and thus appear as a mandatory update before the vehicle can be MOT'd. From the letter it says "Customer Satisfaction Program" and does not say the word "mandatory" anywhere or when referring to the update. So as far as I am concerned it should not be classed as a safety update that requires a recall.
The problem here in the UK is if it appears as an outstanding recall on the DVSA website this means the vehicle can not be MOT'd until the outstanding recall has been cleared from the system. Vauxhall have obviously been in contact with the DVSA as they have obtained the registered keepers address in order to send the letters, neither of our addresses should be known on any Vauxhall system.

As yet neither of our two Vauxhall's (2015 and 2016), for which we have received the letter about the update, appear on the DVSA website (https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/) under the "Outstanding vehicle recalls" section. So I am hoping this is the end of the matter, apart from receiving further letters with big red writing on them trying to convince us that somehow they can reduce emissions all without affecting "fuel economy, performance and noise level" - if that was the case then surely they would have left the factory with this engine mapping / free lunch ;-). Turns out there is such a thing as a free lunch - in the Vauxhall canteen.