Winging It

JULIAN ZAFIRA 1.9 CDTi

A short while ago, I noticed a drop-off in the Zafira’s ability to accelerate quickly. I also noticed gear shifting getting progressively more ‘jerky’. These weren’t pronounced changes in the car’s behaviour, but it’s easy to notice even the slightest of difference in driveability when it comes to dealing with your own motor!

After a session of head-scratching, I suspected the fuel filter may have been playing its part. Perhaps it had started to choke the engine’s supply of diesel? There was no record of the filter being changed in the lead up to me purchasing the blue bus a year ago, and I haven’t fitted a new filter since then. Deciding the time had come to swap old for new, I was forced to enlist help, not least because I don’t have the right filter housing cap removal tool. Anyway, job’s a good ‘un and with the filter renewed, performance was noticeably restored.

The Zaf’s MoT was looming on the horizon, and not wishing for lastminute hassle (and potential failure around the time I needed to embark upon another long trip to the Midlands), the test was tackled a couple of weeks early. I’m always a bit pessimistic when it comes to MoTs. I usually prepare myself for bad news!