1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting

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Tue 17 May 2011 03:41
1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting - Ryan2.0

Hope someone can shed some light on this problem.

The car is a 1997 Astra GSI 2.0 16v Ecotec engine xe20 series. F18 manual gearbox.

108,000 km on the odo

A couple of days ago, it felt as if the clutch was slipping drastically. The engine would gain revs, but the speed would catch up slowly. I tested the clutch to see if it was slipping by putting the car into 5th, and letting the clutch out. It stalled as it should. Then after reading a post, I lifted the clutch pedal towards me (Supposed to be an auto adjustment on some cars, so I tried), and after that, the car seemed perfect for a couple of days. It was changing gears perfectly, no "slipping" etc. Really was smooth in all aspects of changing gears. Then suddenly it would drop power when I shift up to any gear. Going from 1st to 2nd, it would cause the engine to suddenly drop 1000rpm more than what you would expect and loose all acceleration. I am not talking about heavy acceleration, but the normal type of driving you with do with a police car next to you, so no funny business.

Also, running through the gears, while standing still and the engine running is fine, so it doesn't seem to be a problem that the clutch is not letting go. I can easily change from 1-R-2-R etc. without any sticking or grinding.

Any ideas? I recently changed the ignition cables due to a misfire, so now the engine runs smooth as it should.

Thanks,

Ryan

Edited by Ryan2.0 on 17/05/2011 at 03:44

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Tue 17 May 2011 09:10
1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting - injection doc

If you are convinced the clutch isnt slipping then I would check for faulty cat or blocked exhaust ! I have known pattern rear boxes to cause all sorts of power issues on Vauxhalls. You did say it had been suffereing misfire so may be the cat has started to melt inside and is partially blocked.

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Tue 17 May 2011 12:47
1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting - Ryan2.0

The engine light came on and it reads 0130, so maybe there are some sensors involved...

Thanks for the tip, I will keep looking.

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Tue 17 May 2011 12:57
1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting - injection doc

P0130 relates to the pre-cat sensor, so need to check for an air leak, EGR valve or diaphram issue and if all ok read the voltage switching on the sensor and if faulty it may need changing

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Tue 17 May 2011 14:41
1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting - Ryan2.0

I read quite a bit now about blocking off the EGR, if I try this, are there any problems associated with it? Some sites say it can cause everything to blow up, but I only saw one post like that. Seems like many people do it just to get better throttle response.

I just want to try and find the fault before I go around replacing parts until I find the problem.

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Thu 19 May 2011 03:31
1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting - Ryan2.0

Can it maybe indicate a clogged up catalytic converter, or would the other HEGO sensors start indicating problems? 0135, 0150 and 0173?

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Thu 19 May 2011 12:34
1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting - injection doc

Some cars that have the EGR blanked off do flagg up an EGR fault, but for the purpose of the excercise you should be able to establish whether you still loss power in the same place. the car wont blow up ! The EGR valve dirverts exhaust gases back into the inlet manifold to reduce combustion temperatures at certain points of the driving range.

The cat will only become blocked on a petrol if its an oil burner ! do you frequently top up with oil ?

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Sat 21 May 2011 14:39
1997 Astra 2.0 16v Ecotec - Man transmission, sudden loss of power upshifting - Ryan2.0

I had to find a torx to fit the bolts, but I got the EGR off, and it was clogged up really badly. I could hear it scratch going up and down when I pushed the valve up. So I cleaned it up and put it back as normal, and now the car feels a lot better.

The car uses pretty much no oil at all. I only replace during services. Check regularly, but never had a drop in levels.

But now I noticed that the problem still exists when I am going uphill. Also when I reverse down the driveway. Both are when the nose of the car points up. When I let the engine brake the car going down the drive, then it wants to die, but if I use the brakes, then it is fine by the time I get to the road. Also noted that I can't go above 3k revs. So it is fine for normal driving, but giving a bit of gas going uphill just kills it. I am clutching at straws here, but I think I need to replace the fuel filter. Car smells a bit of petrol, still need to jack it up and see what is happening down there.

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