CAR: 05 Plate Vauxhall Corsa C 1.4 Sri (Engine Code: Z14 XEP), Mileage: 50k
FAULT: Wont start first attempt, but will second. Has been happening about a week and a half, since the car came out of the garage for the below fault with loss of power.
RECENT FAULTS: Couple of weeks ago: Had the car about 4 months now, she had an oil leak from when I got her (got knows how long before, more on that later). Gets driven daily for a half hour-1 hour commute through rush hour city traffic (minus 1 month of that where I was away).
Had been keeping an eye on the oil and keeping it topped up until I had a chance to get the leak sorted. Couple of weeks ago Id neglected to do this, driving out of work notice a complete loss of power.
Pull over, oils barely registering on the dipstick. Top her up, and this loss of power continues, for the next week or so until I could get her into the garage. Felt like I was in 5th when I was in 2nd (after about 2000RPM) to give you an idea of the power loss.
Took her to the garage, they run all their diagnostics, dont find anything, test drive, know theres a problem but cant diagnose, 70quid for nothing. No warning lights on or anything like that.
Change the oil and spark plugs and take her for a good spin out of the country. This has fixed the loss of power. However, ever since she came out of the garage, she hasnt started first time, takes 2 attempts to start now, suspicious it may be caused by them, but unsure.
SPARK PLUGS: Changed spark plugs, look fouled (see picture).
https://imageshack.com/i/eyUesw8Hj
OIL: Changed oil, oil looked fine, but the filter is a mess, fit for the skip (pictured). Bought the car 4 months ago from a dodgy backstreet dealership (mistake) and the dealer tells me hed had a full service.
https://imageshack.com/i/exMcrkDvj
EXHAUST WATER: While changing the oil and plugs I noticed quite a bit of water in the exhaust, seems to be okay now but it was parked on a slope at the time (front end up) to keep it out of the rain.
ALTERNATOR/BATTERY: Tested Alternator/battery. 12+V engine off, around 14V engine on. Seem fine.
TIMING BELT: Noisy but Ive heard worse.
FUEL PUMP PRIME: Read somewhere it could be to do with the fuel system and to try priming the pump before starting her up. Turned the key one clicked a few times this morning and she started first time, but after abit of a struggle (couple of seconds) going to try again tonight.
Faults few months ago: A few months ago she had a similar problem with loss of power, not quite as severe, was intermittent and I found if the fuel gauge was less than a quarter it would happen but if I kept her filled up it would be fine. This hasnt happened since though so not sure what to make of it.
Plans this weekend:
- Plan to replace the fuel filter, see what that looks like and if it makes a difference.
- Going to check the coil pack, if I can find the required resistances somewhere.
- My friend tells me that if I disconnect the battery for an hour it should reset the ecu and sensors etc, in case this is the fault, however I dont have the code for the radio, anywhere I can get this for free or reasonably cheap atleast?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
FAULT: Wont start first attempt, but will second. Has been happening about a week and a half, since the car came out of the garage for the below fault with loss of power.
RECENT FAULTS: Couple of weeks ago: Had the car about 4 months now, she had an oil leak from when I got her (got knows how long before, more on that later). Gets driven daily for a half hour-1 hour commute through rush hour city traffic (minus 1 month of that where I was away).
Had been keeping an eye on the oil and keeping it topped up until I had a chance to get the leak sorted. Couple of weeks ago Id neglected to do this, driving out of work notice a complete loss of power.
Pull over, oils barely registering on the dipstick. Top her up, and this loss of power continues, for the next week or so until I could get her into the garage. Felt like I was in 5th when I was in 2nd (after about 2000RPM) to give you an idea of the power loss.
Took her to the garage, they run all their diagnostics, dont find anything, test drive, know theres a problem but cant diagnose, 70quid for nothing. No warning lights on or anything like that.
Change the oil and spark plugs and take her for a good spin out of the country. This has fixed the loss of power. However, ever since she came out of the garage, she hasnt started first time, takes 2 attempts to start now, suspicious it may be caused by them, but unsure.
SPARK PLUGS: Changed spark plugs, look fouled (see picture).
https://imageshack.com/i/eyUesw8Hj
OIL: Changed oil, oil looked fine, but the filter is a mess, fit for the skip (pictured). Bought the car 4 months ago from a dodgy backstreet dealership (mistake) and the dealer tells me hed had a full service.
https://imageshack.com/i/exMcrkDvj
EXHAUST WATER: While changing the oil and plugs I noticed quite a bit of water in the exhaust, seems to be okay now but it was parked on a slope at the time (front end up) to keep it out of the rain.
ALTERNATOR/BATTERY: Tested Alternator/battery. 12+V engine off, around 14V engine on. Seem fine.
TIMING BELT: Noisy but Ive heard worse.
FUEL PUMP PRIME: Read somewhere it could be to do with the fuel system and to try priming the pump before starting her up. Turned the key one clicked a few times this morning and she started first time, but after abit of a struggle (couple of seconds) going to try again tonight.
Faults few months ago: A few months ago she had a similar problem with loss of power, not quite as severe, was intermittent and I found if the fuel gauge was less than a quarter it would happen but if I kept her filled up it would be fine. This hasnt happened since though so not sure what to make of it.
Plans this weekend:
- Plan to replace the fuel filter, see what that looks like and if it makes a difference.
- Going to check the coil pack, if I can find the required resistances somewhere.
- My friend tells me that if I disconnect the battery for an hour it should reset the ecu and sensors etc, in case this is the fault, however I dont have the code for the radio, anywhere I can get this for free or reasonably cheap atleast?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.