l have a vauxhall vectra 1.8l 16v S reg 1998 auto.

My car has been playing up for sometime with the EMS light coming up. In Jan l took it to a garage who advised me that l had two fault codes showing up for the Crank Shaft and Cam Shaft. l was advised to get the timing belt done which l did and had one of the sensors replaced.

The problem has persisted and now an error light has shown up underneath my clock ! inside a cog. l have been reading about on the net and seem to think that this is telling me it is in limp mode. When l turn the engine on the light comes up and if l put it into D (drive)or R (reverse) it kinda jugs the car. This made me think it was something to do with the gear box.

l have checked the gear box oil etc and all seems to be fine. So ti left me bit confused.

l ran a paperclip test which would only run when the engine was off and it came up with 2 codes 0335 and then 0340 in that order.

As l have read on the net this is the crank and cam sensor again.

l wanna get this problem fixed asap and wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction as to what needs doing. Also l am concerned that maybe the test did not show up a problem with the gerbox with it jugging when putting it into gear can anyone shed some light on that matter as well for me.

l am NOT very mechanical and so l ask that people replying try and put their replies in laymans terms as much as possible. Thanks.
Thanks for that scruty but do you know if that is what is causing the jurk when going into gear n causing it to drive in limp mode??? Great answer though.x

If u have had the cambelt replaced the timing should be ok. a fault code for the crank sensor will be stored if the engine stalls, if u r still getting a camshaft sensor fault code, there is a modified sensor available with an additional extension loom which should alleviate the problem, this does not need to go to a main dealer, just get ur local garage to order the sensor from vauxhall which will come with the extra section of loom which must be soldered in to the exsisting loom as per the instructions

Cheers Scruty

Have a look on here http://vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/
Should be able to help.

The cog symbol is to tell you that there is a problem with the auto gearbox or its computer.
At this age it might be better to consider a newer car as this looks like costing more than the car will be worth when fixed.

The 'cog' symbol indicates an automatic gearbox problem - this will be in addition to your other issues, and may well put the car beyond economic repair. You will need to get this diagnosed separately.
Your car uses a Siemens engine management system;
Codes 0335 & 0340 show crank sensor & camshaft sensor in that order.
The problem is invariably due to a faulty crankshaft sensor.

A common problem with the older Vauxhall automatics was the selector switch on the top of the gearbox. It sits underneath the small arm that the gear change cable clips on to. It costs a couple of hundred pounds if l remember correctly & is not that easy to fit unfortunately.

You need to get the code confirmed first (Vauxhall dealer) but I'd bet on this being the fault. It always makes the gear change very harsh & u usually lose the lower gears.

As far as the crank & cam sensors go, these were common faults too & it was not unusual to have to replace both items on some Vectras when they came in. If u go to a Vauxhall dealer they will tell u whether or not the code is ''present'' or ''not present'' & advise u one way or the other.