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Electric Traction System Fault: Repair Needed

60K views 71 replies 27 participants last post by  roxienews  
#1 ·
So I received this message after fast charging at a pod point charging station, which seems to be a common issue. However I can't find anyone else with the exact error message that I have.

I managed to drive it home 30mph or less 3 miles with no issues. My only issue now is getting it to it's appointment in a week and half which would be majority dual carriageway driving. Do we reckon it'd be fine to drive it or just organise AA towing me there? Garage not very helpful with the situation, no other vehicle currently, no recovery and no courtesy car.

Dreading when it does eventually go in as most people reporting weeks for a fix!

Cheers,
Robbie
 

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#4 ·
I saw the same error after plugging into a PodPoint that said it was broken (I didn't look at the screen first). The car moved just fine, right up to the 60mph limit, but with warning symbols. I disconnected the 12v (nice easy quick release), waited a while, reconnected, waited another 20 minutes, and it's been fine since. There's a recall out, as you may be aware, with 2 firmware updates required. Mine is booked in for the 2nd of August.
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#11 ·
I haven't heard anything from Vauxhall or the dealer I bought the car from, or my local dealer. I heard about the recall here! I googled it, and found two different government websites, one which searched by reg number and said there was a recall, but didn't say for what, and another that asked for the make and model and said two recalls, one for the BMS and another for the ECU, both just needing software updates. Turns out if the air con has an issue, it will crash the whole system, and the car will stop and won't move again. The other one might be for the traction system failure error, which seems fairly common and is easily cleared by a powercycle, just like any computer.

I'm still using the car, it's fine now.
 
#6 ·
Traction faults after a rapid charge are not that common, but not at all unheard of. The general solution is to unplug the battery as @Rbrian says. When plugging it back in turn the car on, but not ready (keep the foot off the brake when Turning on), for 1 minute, before going into ready mode. This allows everything to initialise properly.
 
#8 ·
So I received this message after fast charging at a pod point charging station, which seems to be a common issue. However I can't find anyone else with the exact error message that I have. I managed to drive it home 30mph or less 3 miles with no issues. My only issue now is getting it to it's appointment in a week and half which would be majority dual carriageway driving. Do we reckon it'd be fine to drive it or just organise AA towing me there? Garage not very helpful with the situation, no other vehicle currently, no recovery and no courtesy car. Dreading when it does eventually go in as most people reporting weeks for a fix! Cheers, Robbie
I got the same message and car just stopped all sorts of problems trying to get the car to a dealership. Eventually got the car taken in and hire car supplied now nearly 2 months later car still not fixed awaiting parts on back order no eta. An absolute disgrace costing me a lot of money on fuel and pcp payments. Meanwhile no response to complaints a t vauxhall . I will never purchase another vauxhall or electric car again.
 
#9 ·
Update:

I started the car as normal yesterday evening (so it'd been sat more than 24 hours) and the alert had disappeared. Decided to drive it round the block and all fine.

I've driven it to work which is a 30 minute commute and all seems fine. But I think I'll leave it parked up until the appointment just incase.
 
#14 ·
My Corsa is currently at the dealer's for this fault. In our case it wasn't caused by a faulty charger, it came on as my wife was driving. As it didn't seem to affect the car in any way, we ignored it for a while, driving over 500 miles during the next few weeks. The car was booked in for another look at the proximity locking issue, brought on by the body controller software update, so they could look it both problems. They have had it for a week, so far with no news.
 
#21 ·
Well... the day before my car is due to leave to the garage (and never been seen again apparently 🤣) something strange happened.

I was driving approx 60mph on a dual carriageway, when suddenly steering wheel started tugging to one side. I quickly realised that it was the lane assist but thought that was strange as I turned it off the day I got the car.

And right enough, it was off as I had left it but was pulling when I tried to change lanes. Switching it "on" (orange light on) switched the actual feature off. How bizarre.

Another example of quality engineering from Vauxhall!
 
#22 ·
I was confused about that too, but it's actually the other way around - when the light is lit, it's off, same as the buttons next to it - I'm not sure why you'd want to turn off parking sensors, but you can, and also internal alarm sensors. Both are off when the light is lit. If you look closely at the symbol, there's a line through it, showing that the function of the button is to turn it off, which sort of makes sense, if you tilt your head and squint.
 
#24 ·
I've had the exact same issue in my Citroen eDispatch since yesterday. Done a 15 mile journey yesterday morning, parked up and as soon as I switched the ignition off I received the same warning light. I phoned my local Citroen garaged only to be told they won't see it for about a month (despite the fact I have a service booked next week with them, they still won't look at the issue) and told me to call Citroen assist. As I was at a customers and wasn't sure how long I would be there, I went to my customer first and when I returned to the van 40mins later the warning had gone. I done another 5 journey's yesterday with no issue but when I pull up at home last night the warning is back again.
 
#26 ·
Update: My Corsa has been at the dealer's since May 22nd. I needed some bits out of the boot, so I visited it yesterday (I only expected it to be with them for a day). It was up on a ramp with all its electrics disconnected. I'm told that they are waiting for directions from head office, but HO keep closing the case.

I'm quite happy with the loan car for the time being, (I eventually found that it DOES have sat-nav, just not selected the same way as my car). We've knocked up about 600 miles on it so far. It seems to be a bit more responsive (steering, brakes and acceleration) than ours, it's as though it's got about 5% of the Sport setting added in Normal mode.
 
#27 ·
Yeah mine has been at the dealer since Feb 27th apart from the 2 weeks I got it back before the fault happened again.

It appears Vauxhall have no idea how to fix it, I just want to walk away from the finance now but not quite at the 50% PCP mark yet. Been in an ICE hire car most the time which is an extra expense at a bad time as well 😒

Really disappointed, I had 28,000 miles over 2.5 years with not a single issue before it happened.
 
#28 · (Edited)
@CorsaeGaz

It doesn't say much about Vauxhall if they can't fix a car they built. They have to do better than that.

This from the motor ombudsman might help.


At 30p a mile it's £8550 or so off original purchase price for rejection. Worth comparing to just giving it back at the 50% point and seeing what mileage reduction the finance company would use.
 
#29 · (Edited)
A week ago I received the following from the dealer (following an email from me earlier in the week and a phone call :

"Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you.

We have received information form Vauxhall with regards to the traction light being on. They have asked us to power down your vehicle, which it has been for the last 5 weeks or so. We have now got to drive your vehicle for 50 miles with the heating on, to see if any faults occur. If it faults, we need to replace the heater motor, if not then we need to drive for another 50 miles with the air conditioning on to see if faults. If it does, we need to replace the air con compressor.

We will be doing this on Monday if you will authorise us to potentially carry out 100 miles in your car."

I provided the requested authorisation (we've knocked up about 1400 miles on the loan car so far).

I checked each day to see if the car had been switched on, but it still showed the last time was 5th June.

Today I got the following:

"Yeah! we have some good news. We have found a fault as advised by Vauxhall technical, we are replacing the Electric drive module.

I have ordered the part, but at the moment do not know when it is due to arrive.

As soon as I know I will let you know."


The car still has not been switched on, and this new diagnosis seems to be unrelated to the test previously mentioned.

Its 3rd birthday is September 1st, so it's still within warranty fortunately.
 
#31 ·
I've just received a vehicle tax reminder, but when I applied it said that the car needed a valid MOT on the start date (1st September). I contacted the dealer (who has had the car for over 11 weeks now), and they told me that the car is in bits, so they can't MOT it, and they're still waiting for a part (with no ETA), so they suggested that I SORN the car.
 
#32 ·
I've just received a vehicle tax reminder, but when I applied it said that the car needed a valid MOT on the start date (1st September). I contacted the dealer (who has had the car for over 11 weeks now), and they told me that the car is in bits, so they can't MOT it, and they're still waiting for a part (with no ETA), so they suggested that I SORN the car.
That's annoying. Hope you have a loan car while they're farting about waiting for parts.