Ever since I have had my 1997 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2i, I have experienced quite a lot of misfiring and stuttering when using the Corsa on a damp, cold morning.
The car starts perfectly every time I start it, but on a cold, damp morning, it stutters along for the first 10 minutes or so of my journey to work. It really hits acceleration and makes the car shake a lot. But after 10 minutes or so the car runs perfectly again and is very responsive.
Are there any checks or replacements I can perform to alleviate the problem? I recently replaced the spark plugs, but the HT leads are 5 years old now - could they be replaced? Would spraying ignition sealer? Just to re-emphasise, starting is not a problem.
Many thanks!!!
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Is the flap on the air inflow pipe working? The one that decides whether hot air from the engine gets drawn in to the airfilter box, or cold air from outside depending on what temperature it is outside.
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Thanks. I checked the flap inside the air cleaner box which decides whether to draw warm air from the exhaust or cold air from outside, and it appears to be working perfectly.
The problem only really occurs when it's damp, rather than cold, though. Any other ideas?
Thanks.
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Where to do you park your car at night?
Under a tree? (damp leaves under the car)
On street with two wheels up on kerb? (water running underneath car to drian)
Over a drain?
On grass?
etc
A car parked on damp grass or the like can be difficult to start first thing in the morning. So look carefully at the surounding environment and you may find that a different choice of overnight parking solves your problem.
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Sounds like condensation on the spark plug leads/distributor.
Are they clean?
Any signs of cracking?
After 5 years, maybe it is time to replace the leads.
First clean them with a dry cloth, examine them for cracks, and if none, then spray with a damp repellling fluid..
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Does the engine have those metal shrouded plug gaps that Vauxhall used to use? They had a habit of breaking down intermittently, performance then was terrible, often clearing after a few miles. Good luck.
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Thanks for all the advice, people.
I came to the conclusion that it would be best to replace the HT leads, which looked a little worn after 5 years of working fairly close to the exhaust manifold.
So far so good - fired it up this morning (after rain fell overnight) and ran smoothly from the offset!!!
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