01 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 petrol Engine cutting out.

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Sun 21 Feb 2010 16:23
01 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 petrol Engine cutting out. - TimOrridge
My pal has called and wants me to give him a lift back from the garage tomorrow as he is dropping the wifes car in for a check over.

He said that the engine is cutting out when pulling up to junctions. He then called me and said that he thinks the HG is going as he is getting the 'mayoniase' on the oil filler cap. I said that is usual of a stop/start short trip car (which it is) and even mine gets that when I'm not using it on the motorway. I said I would have a nosey this evening to see if anything obvious (and to have a pint with him!) but wondered if you could give any points to a failed HG (exhaust steam, funny coloured coolant and maybe sniff?? the coolant)

He called again to say has just used the car to pick her up from work and whilst not cutting out in that trip it felt sluggish and described a missfire type problem so I've no idea what is going on. Its going in tomorrow to a local garage but was going to have a peek anyway.

I think it has around 60,000 miles and it is a 1.2 petrol engine.

Any ideas?

Subject line bug fixed - stab taken at make and model

Edited by Pugugly on 22/02/2010 at 10:39

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Sun 21 Feb 2010 17:35
01 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 petrol Engine cutting out. - bathtub tom
Whip the spark plugs out and wind it over on the starter, see if any liquid shoots out?

This is only definitive it it does fire coolant out. The absence of water doesn't mean the HG hasn't gone. (That's an awkward sentence).

Edited by Pugugly on 22/02/2010 at 10:40

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Sun 21 Feb 2010 18:24
01 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 petrol Engine cutting out. - SpamCan61 {P}
Start the car from cold with the cap off the coolant header tank, then watch for air bubbles forming as the engine heats up - not too closely as it may spit if the head gasket has gone. If no bubbles after 5 minutes, probably not HGF. Certainly dioesn't sound like a head gasket problem from symptoms described. Sounds more like a sticky idle air control valve to me.

Edited by Pugugly on 22/02/2010 at 10:40

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