Vauxhall called for a full safety recall status after it found new evidence from its investigation of fires involving the Zafira model.
Vauxhall has tested almost 1,000 components from Zafira B cars at the the manufacturers' German laboratory. They found 26 "manipulated" thermal resistors, a type of fuse designed to protect the heater system.
The evidence revealed that a "variety of techniques" was used to disable the resistors making the car vulnerable to fire according to ITV News.
Driver Vehicle Standard Agency (DVSA) will start a full safety recall of the Vauxhall Zafira model as a result of "improper repair of the thermal fuse of the resistor in the heating and ventilation system, undertaken outside of Vauxhall's authorised service and maintenance processes and schedule."
The car company has previously announced it will inspect and repair all 234,938 Vauxhall Zafira B vehicles in Britain. Vauxhall has already repaired 45,000, and plans to complete the inspection within ten to 12 weeks.
"This has no impact on the action being taken by Vauxhall. The rework replaces the resistor pack and other faulty components and returns the heating and ventilation system to its original design condition," Vauxhall said in a statement according to Chronicle Live.
"We recognise that owners may have vehicles which have been improperly repaired without their knowledge or before they bought the vehicle," Rory Harvey, Chairman of Vauxhall Motors, said.
"Safety is our priority and we have been working tirelessly in the past weeks to find the root cause and contact owners to explain the situation and our actions. The DVSA's acknowledgement of the root cause is an important milestone but the important thing now is to ensure that all Zafira B owners bring their vehicles in for inspection and rework," he added.
As part of the safety recall process, owners of Vauxhall Zafira cars are asked to bring their units to their retailer shop for inspection of the heating system and replacement of thermal resistors free of charge.
