I thought I would relate a problem I had with the engine in my Corsa D diesel and how I fixed it.

I have a 2007 Corsa D 1.3 CDTi with a Z13DTJ engine and 80k miles on the clock.
It developed a intermittent problem where it would start OK but wouldn't pick up when the accelerator was pressed, the engine would run rough, emit loads of smoke and have no power. If I let it idle for a few minutes it would eventually pick up and would be OK for the rest of the day.

None of the dashboard warning/error lights came on when the problem was occurring.

The problem slowly got worse so I searched the interweb to see if anybody else had
suffered the same problem and it seems that a few people had but nobody came up with the fix to this problem, just loads of none-relevant theories.

So I was on my own, first I changed the air filter and then the diesel fuel filter, this made no difference.
Further searches on the interweb on rough running engines seemed to point to the Mass Air Flow (MAF) unit being at fault, this unit measures the air flow into the engine
and sends the relevant signal the the engine's Engine Control Unit (ECU).
If the sensor in the MAF unit gets dirty its sends the wrong signals to the ECU and the
engine doesn't run right, cleaning the sensor might be the cure the problem.
Another search on the interweb on how to clean a MAF unit opened up another load of
mis-information on what to use but I came across one entry that that stated categorically that you should use nothing else but a special MAF cleaner, anything else could damage it.

So the search was on for a UK firm that sold a MAF cleaner and I came across a firm called Power Enhancer near Norwich which have a product called Archoil AR2810 in an aerosol can and did mail order.
A can was purchased for less than £10 (+ p&p) and the directions followed on how to use it to clean the MAF unit.
The MAF unit was replaced back in the car and the problem was fixed and there has been no recurrence.
Job Done!

Edited by BelliniTosi on 04/11/2014 at 17:54