Vauxhall Says: “Engine Fault, Repair Needed” – How to Fix?

Well, if you are on this page, you should be the proud owner of one of the modern Vauxhall cars or SUVs. But the recent occasion made you a little less proud than before because the vehicle told you “Engine Fault, Repair Needed”. No worries, I will now tell you what to do and, what’s more important, what not to do in this case.

If your Vauxhall says “Engine Fault, Repair Needed”, it means some engine sensor, ECU, or emission unit malfunctions. This is the same as check engine light in older vehicles, but now the error message sounds even scarier and may lead to a minor heart attack, especially if you are driving a relatively new car.

In this article, I will cover the following:

1. What should you do immediately after you see “Engine Fault, Repair Needed”?
2. Can you still drive after Vauxhall throws this message?
3. When will you need professional help and how much will it cost?

What should you do when Vauxhall says “Engine Fault, Repair Needed”?

Whenever you see this error message, you should stop the vehicle in a safe place and then make sure it’s safe to drive it further. I want you to calm down because, in most cases, you will not get any bad breakdowns or problems with this error message. It just tells you that there is a minor problem with the engine that you should pay attention to.

But if the message is accompanied by the following symptoms, driving may be unsafe:

• the engine sputters and/or stalls;
• the engine vibrates and makes weird sounds;
• the power loss is significant, you just can’t drive the car;
• there are several other warning lights on the dash;
• other error messages come on the dash along with the first one.

If you experience one or several of the symptoms listed above, then the Engine Fault warning light is not just an informational thing. It really tells you about one of the serious problems that may have just happened to the Vauxhall engine and you should stop the vehicle and learn more about the possible problems.

Sometimes, it’s even worth calling a tow truck and paying some hundred pounds just to save the engine from a fatal breakdown.

If your Vauxhall is driving well and you don’t feel any changes, and the “Engine Fault” error message is the only problem, you can drive further. But be careful and don’t ignore this message as any minor problem can quickly grow into a serious issue with the engine.

How can you research the problem with your car?

If you see this error message in your Vauxhall telling you about engine repair, the best thing to do is to use an OBD2 scanner and check whether you can catch the code. Whenever this message pops up on the dash, it’s triggered by a certain fault code in the ECU. Usually, a malfunctioning sensor may sit behind this code, but there are a lot of options.

So, if you have a compact OBD2 scanner, it’s the best time to use it. You can now buy these scanners in any online store with car accessories and they don’t cost a fortune.

So, the scanner will help you understand what exactly is wrong with the vehicle. For example, the P0300 code will mean that the engine misfires in different cylinders. Also, you may use the code you learn from the scanner and type it in any search engine adding the word Vauxhall to learn more about what happened with the vehicle.

If you don’t have a scanner, you need to check all the possible features of the engine’s work like temperature, vibration, sounds, exhaust color and density, smoothness of idling, etc. If everything seems to be fine, you should drive to the garage or to the dealership where the vehicle will be diagnosed and the problem will be found.

What can trigger the “Engine Fault, Repair Needed” message?

In your Vauxhall, there are literally hundreds of things that can trigger this unpleasant message, so I will not be able to list all of them. But I decided to outline the most common problems for this warning.

Here they are:

1. Mass airflow sensors

It appears that modern diesel engines that are installed in Vauxhall cars have pretty faulty MAF sensors and they are often replaced under the official warranty in the first three years of the life of the vehicle. If your warranty period is over, you will need to pay for the replacement part and labor. Unfortunately, it’s not going to cost you little money.

2. Emission system failure

It’s not often that the new Vauxhall had some problems with its emission system. But the new diesel engines have all those EGRs, DPFs, and other bad things that tend to fail over time. If your vehicle is 5 plus years, I would check its exhaust system first because a fatal failure in this system may cost you a fortune, in the end.

3. Oil pressure

Unfortunately, a lot of new Vauxhall engines are quite problematic in terms of oil pressure, especially when cold-started. Although it’s not a very popular opinion, I still recommend warming up these engines (all of them, actually) for about a minute before you start driving. Otherwise, oil issues will most likely destroy the engine way before you expect this to happen.

4. Engine throttle sensors

I haven’t heard a lot of complaints about these sensors, but if they fail, they will surely trigger this error message. Also, you will notice uneven or high idling, bad acceleration, and other symptoms that will help you easily identify the problem.

5. AdBlue problem

Very often, new diesel engines will throw this error message when the AdBlue is on the low level. You will need to add the fluid and the problem will disappear in several miles. Of course, this is not going to affect the performance and safety of the vehicle unless AdBlue tank is totally dry for a long time.

6.  Misfiring engine

There are a lot of reasons why your engine may misfire (bad spark plugs, poor ignition coils, low compression, bad fuel injection, etc.). And any of these problems may trigger the “Engine Fault, Repair Needed” warning message.

It’s not that easy to understand what the actual problem is if your Vauxhall engine is misfiring. But you can still use the scanner to see the code. If the problem is in a certain cylinder, it’s easier to locate and solve. But if multiple cylinders misfire, the inspection is going to be pretty tough.

When will you need professional help?

I strongly recommend booking your inspection right when you see this error message in your car for the first time. It’s important to have it inspected before it catches a fatal problem and eventually stalls on the roadside.

Even if you have a scanner and can diagnose the issue on your own, you can’t repair your Vauxhall without proper expertise and tools.

Unfortunately, Vauxhall dealers are very expensive, so if your car is not under warranty, you may try your luck with independent garages. Be careful and only choose trusted companies with good customer reviews.

Also, you will obviously need immediate help when the car changes its behavior once the message pops up. This means that something bad happened with the vehicle and you need to stop the engine immediately to avoid its fatal breakdown. Call the dealership and ask if they have roadside assistance for you. If not, call a tow truck and get the car towed to the garage or to the dealer.

To wrap up

In this blog, I’m going to give more precise answers on how you can deal with error messages and warning lights in your vehicle. Today, I gave you the overview of the “Engine Fault, Repair Needed” error message in modern Vauxhall cars and I hope I could help you get the needed answers.

If you still have questions, ask them in the comments below!