Hello,
As stated above I have a Astra. I brought this car almost a year ago exactly. I've put it through an mot about 9months ago and serviced it not long after. Ever since the service (not implying it was linked) I have had a couple of problems although it seem to be getting worse now.
Firstly about 3 months ago I started to loose a tiny amount of coolant, very slowly. Then the alternator went. I had the alternator replaced and asked about the coolant at the same time. The garage said it had a tiny leaked on one pipe which they could only notice when the car was put under high pressure when testing. They replaced the pipe and clips. However it is still loosing it somehow, in the last week it has nearly lost from near enough max to min line.
Bear with me, now moving on to the second problem. Just after the service the car starting to cut out just after starting. This would not happen every time. I have only noticed it when starting from a cold engine, and not every time the engine is cold. It will start fine then after about a minute, maybe two, definitely no longer, the engine will cut out. Now what happens next has changed over time (this has been happening for approx. 9 months). In the beginning the car would not start again for about 5 minutes, you could turn the key and it would try but noting would happen, even with accelerating. Then the problem started to fade and it was only happening once a week maybe. Then it got worse again and was happening more often, however you would only have to wait about 2 minutes before it would start, and if on a slope it could be jump started and after lots of revs, if lucky it would pick up. Now it has got a lot worse and is happening almost every time I start it. But if I turn and hold the key round and rev continuously it normally pick up. (slightly worried this could be ruining my starter motor, or so I've been told). The car also sounds a lot louder than it use to whilst running....
I know this is a long shot, but I was just wondering if anyone has had a similar problem? Could the coolant problem be related?
Many thanks in advance,
As stated above I have a Astra. I brought this car almost a year ago exactly. I've put it through an mot about 9months ago and serviced it not long after. Ever since the service (not implying it was linked) I have had a couple of problems although it seem to be getting worse now.
Firstly about 3 months ago I started to loose a tiny amount of coolant, very slowly. Then the alternator went. I had the alternator replaced and asked about the coolant at the same time. The garage said it had a tiny leaked on one pipe which they could only notice when the car was put under high pressure when testing. They replaced the pipe and clips. However it is still loosing it somehow, in the last week it has nearly lost from near enough max to min line.
Bear with me, now moving on to the second problem. Just after the service the car starting to cut out just after starting. This would not happen every time. I have only noticed it when starting from a cold engine, and not every time the engine is cold. It will start fine then after about a minute, maybe two, definitely no longer, the engine will cut out. Now what happens next has changed over time (this has been happening for approx. 9 months). In the beginning the car would not start again for about 5 minutes, you could turn the key and it would try but noting would happen, even with accelerating. Then the problem started to fade and it was only happening once a week maybe. Then it got worse again and was happening more often, however you would only have to wait about 2 minutes before it would start, and if on a slope it could be jump started and after lots of revs, if lucky it would pick up. Now it has got a lot worse and is happening almost every time I start it. But if I turn and hold the key round and rev continuously it normally pick up. (slightly worried this could be ruining my starter motor, or so I've been told). The car also sounds a lot louder than it use to whilst running....
I know this is a long shot, but I was just wondering if anyone has had a similar problem? Could the coolant problem be related?
Many thanks in advance,
