2007 Chevrolet Kalos 1.4L 16v. - Sticky exhaust valves.

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Thu 21 Aug 2014 14:39
2007 Chevrolet Kalos 1.4L 16v. - Sticky exhaust valves. - Railroad.
Has anyone successfully cured a problem with sticking valves on this engine or any other? My car starts fine every time, but if it's started from cold and then driven immediately it will start to misfire about a minute later. The harder I try to drive it the more severe the problem becomes, until after a few minutes it'll gradually clear and then run perfectly fine again. Sometimes the fault code P0300, random multiple misfire will be generated. However, if I start it from cold and allow it to idle for three or four minutes before driving away the fault will generally not occur.

I flushed the engine with Forte Advanced Motor Flush and changed the oil and filter for Mobil 1 fully synthetic 5w30. This did not cure the problem. Although I can live with it and I know how to avoid it, I would be interested to know if anyone has cured it without removing the cylinder head and replacing the valves, which I don't really want to do.
Thanks in advance.
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Thu 21 Aug 2014 18:56
2007 Chevrolet Kalos 1.4L 16v. - Sticky exhaust valves. - The-Mechanic

If this engine is similar to the Vauxhall Corsa / Astra one fitted in the previous models, the way Vauxhall technical said to effect the cure in the first instance was to add a flush to the original oil when hot and then drive in second or third gear and hold it on the rev limiter for a couple of minutes depending on the severity of the stickiness, (Italian tune up style). Then the oil/filter got replaced.

If that didn't cure it, the next stage was head off, exhaust valves cleaned and de carbonised (not replaced) and the exhaust valve guides were reamed out gently with a tool supplied by Vauxhall (SST).

It seems you've done the flush and oil/filter change part but did you drive it hard with the flush in or just idle it ? It needs to be driven at high RPM to allow the valves to be on the point of what used to be called 'valve bounce' and hot enough to help clear off the carbon deposits. You could try a fuel additive such as Millers in the tank along with another oil flush and take it for a thrash then change the oil and filter again ?

If that doesn't cure it, the next step is head off and physically clean off the carbon from the exhaust valves and guides I'm afraid.

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