Vauxhall starts work on fire risk Zafiras 19 | 05 | 2016
VAUXHALL DEALERS ACROSS Scotland and the rest of the UK are to start work on customers’ Zafiras to carry out updates to prevent the risk of the cars catching fire.
Last December, Vauxhall wrote to all 234,938 Vauxhall Zafira B owners to make them aware of an issue which could affect their vehicle.
After more than 130 owners of the Zafira B reported problems with the car's heating and ventilation problem, Vauxhall has found evidence of “improper repair” of the blower motor resistor and its thermal fuse, which is designed to protect the blower motor system.
“These improper repairs, which may have been conducted without the owners’ knowledge, can lead to overheating of the system’s electrical components and the potential for a fire. Resistors should never be repaired, they should only be replaced,” a Vauxhall statement said.
Since then Vauxhall has been conducting a recall programme designed to return vehicles to their original condition.
The work involves replacing the resistor in every vehicle inspected and the blower motor and the pollen filter in thousands of vehicles.This has been done free of charge to the customer.
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“At the time of the recall we said we would consider additional actions we might take and we have been in constant contact with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA),” the statement continued.
“On May 9 we presented a status update to DVSA and agreed the additional action we are announcing today.
“While the current action achieves the objective of returning vehicles to their original condition, after extensive investigations we have decided to go further and improve the overall robustness of the system.
“We will therefore be initiating a second recall to replace the current soldered fuse resistor with a wax fuse resistor so reducing the opportunity for manipulation. When the recalls are complete, all vehicles will have a new wax fuse resistor, a new blower motor and a new moulding at the base of the windscreen to address water ingress.
“We will soon be writing to all customers to inform them of the second recall action and provide appropriate advice.”
It plans to start this in August.
“Owners of vehicles which have not yet had the initial recall completed should still bring their vehicles to their dealership to have them returned to their original condition.”
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Jim McGill