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2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

I have a 2001 Astra 1.4 16v and it has developed what seems like a misfire problem.

The orange engine management light has come on permanently and when idling it seems to be running on just three cylinders. When driving the management light flashes under acceleration and there is a serious lack of power up to about 4000rpm when it seems better again.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - topbloke

i would guess that the coil pack has expired but it could also be a plug, commpresion issue, injector, the flashing eml is telling you that the cat is likely to be damaged if you continue driving it, first thing is a code read then post back the exact codes and description and further help will follow, Regards TB

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

Hi,

when the codes were originally read they were P0300 and P0302. I did change the plugs when the fault first happened and it solved it for about a week.

Many thanks for the help so far.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - topbloke

okay 300 is genreal misfire, 302 misfire no 2 cyl so next up would be a compresion test, unless you have access to a code reader that can fire the coil pack, assuming that the compressions are okay and you dont have a air leak ie split pipe manifold gasket leaking then i would suggest that its a coil issue you have not posted exactly what engine you have, a engine code would help, Regards TB

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

the engine code is X 14 XE.

the compressions have been checked and were all okay.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - topbloke

well its time for a guess, my moneys on the dis pack, if it definately has a misfire and comps are good, could be injector (unlikely) could be wireing fault (possible) could be ecu fault(possible but a lot more exspensive than a coil pack) so you pays your money and takes your choice, you could swap with someone if they have the same vehicle, see if it cures it before shelling out for a new one, Regards TB

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

Changed the coil pack for a new one and all seemed fine for about half a mile, then the light came back on and the rough running started again.

trying to read up on the web, some people with a possible similar fault are looking at the egr valve. or might this be totally wrong?

Edited by u1112211 on 16/04/2010 at 19:20

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - topbloke

are the codes the same as before ?,Regards TB

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

put in some redex over the weekend and running seemed a liittle better.

codes were read again this morning - 300 and 302 again. having cleared the codes all was good for about 20miles then back to the way it was again - rough running, lack of power, dull sort of popping sound from the exhaust and a smell of fuel from the exhaust as well.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - topbloke

was/is it a genuine dis unit ,Regards TB

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

not genuine vauxhall no.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - 1litregolfeater

Certainly could be your EGR, if it's been misbehaving for a while it could have coked up the valves, while the engine management system compensated.

Rip it off and have a look, clean it out and make sure it seems to work, then stick it back on.

EGR seems very weakly made on small recent Vauxhall engines. Makes you wonder.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

I still need help please.

So far I have changed the plugs, coil pack and most recently a new EGR valve and still the light is coming back on after around 10miles. Have also put some Redex through and that seemed to get it running a bit better.

The codes are coming back the same - P0300 and P0302.

Can anyone help further? Or do I need to take it to a Vauxhall dealer?

Thanks

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - topbloke

i cant think of anything else that has not been covered a airleak could cause it but only real way of finding it if it has one would be to smoketest it, a compresion test may showup something, is it using any oil at all just wondering if its fouling the plug with oil causeing the miss, a four gas exhaust test may show whats happening also if you could get a local garage to do an emmisions test but make sure you get the readout/printout to post the results,Regards TB

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

have just got car back from the vauxhall garage.

fault codes were p0300 again and 1405 egr valve voltage low.

i was advised that the egr valve was not working at all. have now got a replacement again. when fitting the new valve do i need to get the ecu reset?

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - topbloke

only as far as clearing the codes and a reset of learned values wuold be helpfull as would an sps "update"of the ecu, but just a code clear would suffice,Regards TB

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

finally the fault seems to be sorted.

another new egr valve fitted - genuine vauxhall this time (apparently the non-genuine ones are somewhat unreliable). also the throttle body was well 'gunked up' and was cleaned up.

thanks for all the help.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - holtg74

Has the problem come back or is it ok now. I have a similar problem, firstly the engine emissions light came on.....car ran fine but idle speed sounded and felt like it was misfiring. Fault P0302 read by local garage. Aftermarket coil pack fitted and ran fine for two days then same fault came back. Put new plugs in and faults cleared by local garage.Ran ok for another 2 days then fault came back, But then engine emissions light flashed as i accelerated so had to take it quite steady. I then fitted a new genuine Vauxhall egr valve, car ran perfect for 4 days, then original fault came back. Car runs fine but light is on and idles really rough. I would appreciate any help out there.

Thanks

Gary

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

sounds exactly the same as mine.

the only thing i did that you haven't mentioned is cleaning the throttle body.

good luck. i know how frustrating mine was to try and sort.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - holtg74

How bad was the throttle body? did you take it off to clean it?, Mine only has a very thin layer of c*** in it.

Cheers.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - u1112211

it was quite thick with muck. to an extent that the butterfly valve was sticking.

i just removed it and gave it a good clean.

2001 Vauxhall Astra - 2001 Astra Misfire Problem - smiley30kylie

I have a Vauxhall Astra Active 2006 1.4 Petrol car. I have just got it back from the garage unfixed.

It has had new sparks, coil pack and has had a compression test, the no.2 cylinder had 84% leakage and the no.3 cylinder 26%. The garage reckon that no.2 might be leaking into no.3.

They have said they can do more work as it may be the head gasket or the piston rings but they seem to think that it might be more serious as in something split or cracked that would necessitate changing the entire engine.

It would according to them be £3k to change the engine, not keen on that idea!

They have said it will take at least 10 hours to strip the engine to find out what is wrong and if it is the engine needing replacing it would be a waste of time.

After looking at this string I have called them and asked them to let me know the fault codes but I wont get them till tomorrow.

Any ideas??

Kylie