1997 Astra 1.4i
6 months ago, distributor was replaced after engine kept cutting out. Before diagnosing that it was the dist. the ECU was 'tinkered' with by Vauxhaul. Since then the car has not had the power it used to. It was underpowered before (it's only a 1.4) but now it feels like there's a 1.1 under the bonnet. There is no other problem with the engine running just a severe lack of power.
before I take it back to the Vauxhall garage (reluctantly)can anyone give me any pointers that I can tell them to look at ? (settings in the ECU ?)
This way I can tell them to look at specific areas, hopefully stopping them just plugging in a laptop and say, oh it's running fine.
Any advice welcomed
Phil
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Has it not got an ecu light on the dash.as I recall they cannot be adjusted in anyway Except for a software update
All 1.4i`s even single overhead cams are pretty nippy.
How long have you had it?
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Do you mean the one that lights up briefly when starting up? yes it\'s got one of those. We\'ve had the car nearly 5 years. It definately used to be nippy, you really have to rev the pink fluffy dice off it to do anything now, it\'s really lame. It\'s only just done 50,000 miles and it\'s in mint condition so it\'s a bit fustrating. It\'s our only car so it\'s a bit difficult to get things sorted as we need it for work.
I thought there were all sorts of settings in the ECU that could be changed (like when rev heads \'chip\' their cars) to get optimum performance from the engine?
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It may be a vacuum pipe split.there is one that goes to the ecu. trace it back and see if any splits in the rubber connectors to the main plastic pipe.Sound like vacuum to me.
if it was a problem in any part of ecu/sensors the light would normaly stay on?
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ok, thanks for that I'll check the vacuum pipe.
I'm sure there isn't an actual problem with the ECU, just thought a setting or something else may have been changed in order to the engine cutting out (original problem that was solved)
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Not sure if the timing can be adjusted on later Astra's by moving the distributor to advance/retard it, or it's all done electronically. Sounds to me like the ignition might be retarded too much, which could have been disturbed after fitting a new distributor cap.
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poss map sensor prob or timing has been set wrong need tech 1a to do it properly or go to scrap yard and take off a carton 2ltr 87 on the plug with loop lead on it mounted near bulk head and with your car runing plug on to diagnosic plug located in fuse box under steering wheel,car will run differant now set timing to zero(pointer is allready set to 10)and then remove plug to allow full elec control back to ecu last but not leased single point inj needs sonic clean/replaced
hope this helps
fbillytom@ntlworld.com
ex vaux tech
ps single point 1400 astras are always a bit slow/flat due to not enough info or prosessor speed in maping out way that car runs later cars had more sensors and runing info programed into ecu
hope that dissy cap is now/was brown in colour(bosch) not black(lucas)
black cap- dissys are unreliable/rough runing/stalling,even slow starting up
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are you saying it is a learning ecu.or should be?
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is what a learning ecu?/?
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Ok on second reading it isnt.
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does not have dis pack!!!
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Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I had a quick look at various bits last night, but decided it\'s way to technical for me. I\'m good with PC\'s but cars are beyond me! It sounds like my theory of the ECU being tinkered with may have been over-simplified.
There is another symptom I forgot to mention, but it is only minor, there\'s definately \'flat\' spots when accelerating right through the rev range, it\'s not bad but you do notice slight fluctuations in the rate of acceleration and the power drops off quite quickly high up (like flat diesels do). It\'s a poverty model so I dont have rev counter.
I\'ll be taking it to Vauxhall next week for them to bleed me dry of any cash I might have handy.
P.S. Has anyone had a \'good\' experience with Lookers in Birmingham? {Rest deleted as boardering close to naming/shaming}
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all workshops only as good as the mechanics
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Ok, maybe my comments were a little harsh. I apologise.
(but they have just charged me £30 for the just the glass part of the wing mirror!)
The latest event to this saga is now that we made an appointment the car has it's 'power' back. It has been lacking in power for around six months and now it's running ok.
If the problem is a vacuum issue, could it be that the cold has shrunk something and sealed the hole?
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This fault could be caused by a partially blocked catalyst.I would suggest you get exhaust back pressure tested.
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Sounds reasonable and yes it could be.What I did not say was other vacuum pipes exist coming off the inlet manifold you would need to check all pipes that come off the manifold trace to where they go and make sure all are sound.Any signs of a crack/split in a pipe will cause problems.Reason being a the inlet manifold is sealed if a leak occurs in a vacuum pipe air is taken in bypassing air filter and under fueling occurs because the ecu cannot control it due to sensors not registering what is going on and tries to work as normal.hope that helps but is a common problem.
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