[hendry]

Hello, just picked up my new Corsa E tonight, anyway its the SRi spec with DRLs and auto lights/sight and light pack.

Now I'm not sure if the DRLs Are supposed to stay on when the main headlights are on or if they are meant to go off but when I switch the AUT lighting control to off both DRLs light up, when I switch auto lighting control back on or even manually turn the light switch to sidelights setting or headlights setting "manually" then the headlights obviously come on but my left DRL goes off and the right DRL stays on so definitely a fault somewhere, I just want to find out before I take the car back to Vauxhall what the actual fault is, whether its the right DRL staying on that's the fault or whether its the left one going off, thus does anyone know if the DRLs are meant to be on or off when the main headlights are on.

Also, according to the tyre pressure monitor display my tyre pressures were too high (58 psi on NSF and OSR and 43 on OSF and NSR) so I checked the handbook which states to identify your engine code and tyre size to get the correct pressures so not knowing what engine code my car was but knowing Vauxhall of old had a "car pass" which has amongst other things has the engine code and number on it, set about finding that and it states my engine code is B14XER, fair enough thinks I, only when I check the book the only engines with a similar code are B14XEJ, B14XEL and B14NEJ so either my car pass is wrong or there's a discrepancy in the owners manual, its a 1.4 Ecoflex 90 bhp engine in mine, anyone know why engine code it should be?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

From reading other technical sites your code states it is (B) Euro 6, (14) 1.4 litre, (X) 10 to 11.5 to 1 compression ratio, (E) multi point injection, (R) high output. I would ask your dealer to check as if it is the high power unit as it could invalidate your insurance as I presume you would have insured it as the 90ps model

Just done somefurtherchecking and the B14XER code relates to the Meriva 100PS unit.

 

[Guest]

Is your Corsa manual or auto? From what I can work out if it is manual your code should be B14XEL and auto should be B14XEJ

 

[hendry]

Is your Corsa manual or auto? From what I can work out if it is manual your code should be B14XEL and auto should be B14XEJ

Its a manual with 1.4 90bhp Ecoflex engine. Well supposed to be. Based on what you're saying it seems the manual is correct that B14XER engine isn't fitted to the Corsa and the car pass is wrong but I'm flummoxed as to how that mistake could happen.

 

[hendry]

Right I've just checked the engine itself and on the block its stamped B14XER so matches the code on the car pass and the engine number stamped on the block matches the one on the car pass too. So it seems to be right, that being the case, does this mean some Muppet at Vauxhall has fitted the wrong engine to my car?

 

[Guest]

Right I've just checked the engine itself and on the block its stamped B14XER so matches the code on the car pass and the engine number stamped on the block matches the one on the car pass too. So it seems to be right, that being the case, does this mean some Muppet at Vauxhall has fitted the wrong engine to my car?

Not sure on that one, best check with Vauxhall themselves as I doubt very much they would use the same engine code for a different power output engine, after all they had different engine codes for the VXR and the 1.6T SRI and they both used the same engine just different power outputs.

 

[hendry]

Is it the 1.4T 100bhp you've got mate?

If so whats your engine code?

 

[Guest]

Yes it's the 1.4T 100PS engine in mine, the code is B14NEJ

 

[hendry]

Just a wee update to this, spoke to Vauxhall customer services about the engine code thing, they are adamant my car should have b14xer engine fitted so that engine fitted is correct (car check out as an SRi ecoflex 1.4 on car data check sites, plus my V5, which also gives engine code as b14xer, as does car pass and stamp on engine itself, also lists on DVLA website as £30 a year tax and 119 g/km emissions, whic are the characteristics of 1.4 90bhp ecoflex engine) however theyve spoken to the Corsa brand manager who says it should be b14xel so engine fitted is incorrect and they are having to do further deeper checks into this as a result of the differing info they have, so whilst awaiting them getting back to me on Tuesday I've done my own research by going to 2 local Vauxhall dealerships and checkin the actual engines fitted to new Corsas, all 1.4s for comparison to my car, first car 1.4 90bhp Ecoflex SRi 5 door, its car pass gives the engine code as 14xel (I haven't missed the B, it isn't there on this cars car pass, although the 14xel is at least listed in the owners manual with the B in front of it) the next was a 1.4 90bhp Ecoflex SRi 3 door, its car pass shows engine code fitted is B14XER which is what mine says too, so if my car has been fitted with wrong engine then at least its not the only one, theres now at least 2, so probably a batch of them. Finally a 1.4 Turbo 100bhp start/stop Ecoflex SRi 3 door, engine code fitted to it is B14NEL, the manual says that the 1.4T engine in the Corsa should be B14NEJ so seems there's a few discrepancies with what's being fitted to the cars compared with what Vauxhall have listed in the manual as supposed to be being fitted.

 

[mud4fun]

I have a 1.4 turbo LE and the pass card states B14NEL

The engine is clearly a 1.4 turbo though (turbo is under the heat shield at front of engine) and it definately has stop/start so not sure how relevent the pass cards are?

My engine bay:

 

[mud4fun]

Oh and after my own research the B14NEL is the lower power output 1.4T which sounds correct to me for the 100PS as the 150PS is the higher power version as fitted to the Mokka/Astra etc?? The 100PS is actually the detuned 1.4T.

 

[mud4fun]

Hendry, where is the engine type code on the actual engine? I need to check as I've dug up some more info that suggests the B14NEL is the black edition 120PS engine not the 100PS as that should indeed by B14NEJ. On the face of it this means I have more horsepower but less torque. However the car seems to me to have excellent performance and economy so not sure I'd want to report it to VX as I want to keep my engine as it is!!

 

[hendry]

Oh and after my own research the B14NEL is the lower power output 1.4T which sounds correct to me for the 100PS as the 150PS is the higher power version as fitted to the Mokka/Astra etc?? The 100PS is actually the detuned 1.4T.

This must be another discrepancy in the owners manual then because the 1.4 turbo in the E is listed as code B14NEJ.

The 3 1.4s according to the technical DAT section of the manual says theres 3 1.4s fitted to the E - B14XEJ - 1.4 n/a 75 bhp, B14XEL - 1.4 n/a 90 bhp and B14NEJ - 1.4 turbo 100bhp

According to the Vauxhall website car configurator no Corsa E 1.4 is available in the UK with 75bhp so that's wrong for a start, if you are saying the 1.4 T is B14NEL and NOT B14NEJ that's wrong as well, and my car is listed on the car pass as B14XER, the engine is stamped B14XER and the V5 states its B14XER and I've also found another 1.4 Ecoflex SRi with 90bhp which is B14XER, but I've also found another 1.4 Ecoflex with 90bhp that's a 14XEL not a B14XEL so there's clearly several issues/discrepancies/inconsistencies or whatever you want to call in in the manuals and brochures and literature for the E. Hell even Vauxhall customer care, technical dept and brand manager can't decide which code is the right one that should be fitted to my car, all I know is its B14XER, the book says it should be B14XEL, the brand manager says it should be XEL but whether that's just because the manual says so I don't know, but customer care's reply is they doubt I'll have the wrong engine as there's so many checks that something like that wouldn't slip through the net (backed up by my finding of another car province mines not the only one) and its likely a literature issue, but I'm not sure because I know someone who had a 12 plate D Limited Edition 1.4 T Black Edition, which was meant to have lowered suspension but left the factory with standard suspension on the front and lowered on the back, apparently a batch of them were and Vauxhall had to carry out a recall to address it so anythings possible with Vauxhall in my experience.

At least if the wrong engine is fitted they've said they would look to provide a replacement vehicle but this could be a saga going through finance agreements, them taking back my car and supplying another etc

 

[hendry]

Hendry, where is the engine type code on the actual engine? I need to check as I've dug up some more info that suggests the B14NEL is the black edition 120PS engine not the 100PS as that should indeed by B14NEJ. On the face of it this means I have more horsepower but less torque. However the car seems to me to have excellent performance and economy so not sure I'd want to report it to VX as I want to keep my engine as it is!!

On my car if you stand over the engine and look to the right of where the black "Ecotec" cover is on the engine much lower towards the ground on another black cover (probably just in front of and slightly above the gearbox) in gold writing written side on it says the code and engine number (not sure if the 1.4 turbo has it stamped in the same place)

 

[mud4fun]

All I can think of is that they had a flood of orders, not enough new E engines and instead used engines from stock that were for other models.

I definitely have a B14NEL engine, confirmed by the code on the engine itself. All the references suggest it is the 120PS unit!! This might explain why I left a BMW for dead earlier.... ;-) I guess I could pop up to our local dyno and get it tested? Mechanically they are probably the same, it will be the ECU map that differs so how would you know if they haven't simply but a lower power map on a different engine type?

Yours might be the same situation?

PS. Mine was in blue dotted writing on a sloping alloy face of the engine block.

 

[hendry]

All I can think of is that they had a flood of orders, not enough new E engines and instead used engines from stock that were for other models.

I definitely have a B14NEL engine, confirmed by the code on the engine itself. All the references suggest it is the 120PS unit!! This might explain why I left a BMW for dead earlier.... ;-) I guess I could pop up to our local dyno and get it tested? Mechanically they are probably the same, it will be the ECU map that differs so how would you know if they haven't simply but a lower power map on a different engine type?

Yours might be the same situation?

PS. Mine was in blue dotted writing on a sloping alloy face of the engine block.

OK so yours so far is the third E I know of that has an engine that according to the owners manual wasn't fitted to the E, what does your car pass card say for the engine code, does it match the code stamped on your engine?

The B14XER is according to what I can find a 1.4 VVT 100bhp engine as fitted to the Meriva B and Adam.

You could be right about engine availability, I remember when the 1.9 CDTi engine first came out on the Astra H in 2004, the 1.9 120bhp was supposed to be an 8v engine, the 1.9 150bhp was supposed to be a 16v engine, but due to lack of the 8v engine early 120bhp ones had the 16v the same as the 150bhp but just detuned, then when the 8v became available they started fitting them, although this was widely known and made known by Vauxhall themselves and the brochure and owners manual were all correct with the codes fitted correctly listed, not like in this case.

 

[mud4fun]

Yes pass key card has identical numbers to those on the engine itself so it all seems OK.

I have never driven a Corsa before so I don't have anything to compare to in order to say with any confidence that my 1.4T is 100PS or 120PS.

All I know is it is quick, wheelspins when changing gear upto 40mph on wet roads, pulls 6th up even steep inclines, goes from 50-70mph very quickly in 6th and has a fair amount of torque steer. In lower gears it revs freely, likes to change early at below 3K rpm but will rev freely to 5K. My wife also confirms it feels like a little rocket ship. It also gets 52-55mpg on motorway and even manages 42mpg around town with a family of four on board. Overall 48mpg. Does this sound like the Black Edition or Meriva performance or economy?

We would not want to change it, we love it!

 

[hendry]

Yes pass key card has identical numbers to those on the engine itself so it all seems OK.

Other than - like mine - according to the manual this engine code isn't one fitted to the E, which is my issue and the main reason I've put this update up and contacted Vauxhall customer services.

 

[mud4fun]

Not uncommon for manual to be wrong though. My Mazda pickup had an engine code that was not listed in the manual. It never prevented me getting it serviced or repaired. Then again nothing actually went wrong with the engine itself....

 

[mud4fun]

Hendry, this gets even more intriguing. I have found that the B14NEL engine was a common fitment in the Opel Corsa D in Europe in 120PS form, it was not a limited run like the BE over here was. So it is actually very feasible that they simply used an engine from stock after they switched production from the D to the E. Mine was ordered in January and built in February when there seemed to be a sudden increase in lead times. I'll wager they had a shortage of engines and used what was available. I think gkmorris ordered his alot earlier than me and got his car earlier which may explain why he has the correct B14NEJ as they had not run out of the correct engine at that point?

I notice that my V5 shows 1364cc from the B14NEJ 100PS engine and not the 1398 of the B14NEL 120PS engine so the cc doesn't tally with the engine fitted. So I'll have to get that changed at the same time as correcting my colour from green to yellow :-(