Project Corsa

[t-tony]

It really isn't a good thing to get all that carbon on your skin Faheem,, you need to wear two pairs of gloves (double bagging) when handling that stuff as it's very carcenagenic. Even clean oil is not a good thing to have on your skin for extended periods of time.

Tony.

 

[Faheem]

Ah I did not know that. let's hope I make it through the night

No but honestly I didn't know anything about it being harmful, thanks for letting me know

 

[Faheem]

It's time for a much needed update.

A. The speakers in the car are horrid, worse than the stock speakers than come in the zeds.

B. The performance issues are still present, unsure whether I've mentioned this previously but there was lots of black smoke coming out the back, so much that it coughed out soot and stained the entrance outside the office. Colleagues were not happy... But I disconnected the Maf sensor, which has caused the car to go into limp mode (I think) and the black smoke has gone completely. The car used to jerks during acceleration and no longer does that either.

Sadly now, the car won't go above 50 and this morning I was stuck behind a tractor on a single carriage way and despite there being lots of space to overtake I was incredibly terrified so I followed a tractor for 6 miles.

I'll get a new MAF and see what that tells me.

Also thinking MAP sensor? Though it's not throwing out any codes for that...

Fuel economy has been horrid too. I filled 14 litres of diesel and got 90 miles, if I filled 14 litres of petrol in my zed I get 110 miles. And my zeds a 1.9 vs the 1.3 diesel...

 

[Tracy Dee]

Chuck a bottle of Diesel Magic in it give it a blast cures black smoke.
Cliff.

 

[Faheem]

@Tracy Dee will do thanks! Although I've already put 3 bottles of fuel treatment in the tank.

Today limp mode struck again, worse than ever, on the way to work on a carriage way and the car refused to go above 30mph, had to pull over 4 times in the space of 6 miles.

 

[Tracy Dee]

Sounds like your Z might have been more economical to keep using it with all the problems and expense you are experiencing.
Sounds like you have more underlying issues my 1.3 cdti egr v has been cleaned out twice I just throw diesel magic in once a year with just under half a tank cures the smoke for about 5 k.
Not the best engines in the world but as long as it keeps plodding along happy days.
Hope you get it sorted.
Cliff.
P.S could it be your turbo has packed up with power loss?

 

[Stevo7682]

Hi @Faheem firstly I'd just like to reiterate what @ t-tony said anyone who reads this gloves really important diesel engines produce much higher levels of carcinogenic contaminants in its used oils and deposits that form.
I reckon if your car going to limp mode try getting a diag done see if fault codes stored.
Does the knocking noise come with the power loss if so could be a faulty injector which on a common rail can give bad knock and power loss limp mode.
Dual mass fail noise tends to not go away once wear has occurred.

 

[Faheem]

@Stevo7682 I plugged in my trusty eBay £10 code reader and it finally chucked out a code - P0100 - faulty maf sensor. So I disconnected the maf - although thinking about it now that may have chucked the car into limp mode, problem is I don't want to spend money on a new maf sensor to then find out that it hasn't resolved the problem.

When the car was going 30 on the carriage way I pulled over and plugged the maf back in but the car wouldn't jump out of limp mode. I didn't have a code reader or a spanner so I was unable to remove the battery to clear the CEL.

As for the knocking it goes away once the engine has warmed up. I've taken it to a garage to get a diag for the knocking and they've said exactly what Tony said the DMF - but they also said it's not worth doing until the clutch is on its way out.
Also with a long screwdriver (using it as a stethoscope) I was able to hear the knocking coming from the gearbox. Could it be loose flywheel bolts? It's weird though as the car does produce the awful knocking but goes into all gears fine. I still have to check gearbox oil

@Lee suggested that the cat may be blocked, today I tried putting a normal garden hose (minimal pressure) in the exhaust to remove any carbon deposits as that's what google said - there was a bit of carbon in there but not massive amounts to suggest the terrible slow speeds.

 

[Lee]

I had a few issues over the 140,000 miles I did.

First was a sticky EGR valve throwing the car into limp mode. The second was a blocked cat limiting my speed to around 50mph. I actually did 2 EGRs in that time I had it.

 

[Tracy Dee]

Dual mass fly wheel plus clutch plus labour it's a big job and expensive job I am sorry to say.Well it was on my cdti combo which is basically the same fiat engine they do suffer from problems especially the tiny oil filters collapse with the stupid extended service intervals.
Might be worth checking oil filter.
I was in two minds to scrap my combo or have DMF and clutch done in the end went for the later it cost almost as much as the combos value.
Good luck.
Cliff.

 

[Faheem]

Thanks @Tracy Dee and @Lee

A few hours after you guys posted the corsa completely broke down and I was stuck at work, it would refuse to go above 20 mph. In the end my zed came to the rescue and we towed it home.

I bought a new Maf today and tested it, however, it didn't make a difference. I wonder how long the car takes to adapt to the new Maf.

Im starting to think the cat may be blocked as @Lee has said

Have a look at this picture, that's just when I turn the car on.

Also the car refuses to start now, and after 5-6 attempts when it does start it will stall after a few seconds. No response when I hit the accelerator either.

After half an hour of trying to turn the car on and giving it breaks in between it finally sprang to life but it's got a new top speed of 10mph.

As the car isn't throwing out any codes it's really hard to figure out what's actually wrong.

 

[Faheem]

In other news my tonneau arrived today

 

[Tracy Dee]

Sorry to hear your corsa troubles but as said it may be the Cat broke up .
Had exactly the same coming home after the service on the Zed banging noise no power at all. Turned round barely limped the Z back to the garage who serviced it and was the Cat broken up inside clogging the exhaust system worked out an expensive service in the end.
Hope you find the cause.
Keep using the Zed I will be all winter.

 

[Stevo7682]

If your leaning towards the cat being the problem open the exhaust up get a look . If revving poorly try exhaust off see if sorts problem then might give you a way forward

 

[Faheem]

@ Tracy Dee Thank You

@Stevo7682 Thanks!

I'm taking back the comment I made about the catalytic converter being clogged. I took it to a few garages who all said the engine is on its way out. I was not expecting to hear that especially with it having covered only 74000 miles - and the service book is fully stamped with all but the last stamp missing.

Anyway, here is the interesting bit, I was getting a fault on my cheapo code reader but it was showing as 'N/A'.

One of the garages I took it to plugged in their code reader and it came up with this - ignore the one about the EGR as that was coming up because I'd unplugged the solenoid.

Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Low Input

Did a bit of googling and it seems that the Crankshaft sensor fails more than the Camshaft sensor BUT a Crank sensor failure could also trigger a cam sensor code?

Is this true?

The bloke at the garage cleared the codes - then I drove home. HOWEVER on the way home the engine lost all power, if I were to put it on a dyno it would probably have 2bhp (seriously). It wouldn't go up a hill so I had to get out the car and push it up the hill. This was not fun.

Yes the engine may be on its way out but I don't see why it would work okay one day and completely die the next. At one point I was able to get the car up to 60mph (despite the 0-60 being about 25 seconds) but why then has it suddenly died.

Could this be a sensor issue? If so is it more likely to be cam or crank? I've also read that a faulty crank or cam sensor left on a car could damage the engine...

Either way the car is getting sold soon, would be better to sell it as a working car - despite the knocking from the DMF (which @t-tony was right about.)

Let's just say I've been very unlucky with the car from start to finish.

 

[DavidM]

@ Tracy Dee Thank You

@Stevo7682 Thanks!

I'm taking back the comment I made about the catalytic converter being clogged. I took it to a few garages who all said the engine is on its way out. I was not expecting to hear that especially with it having covered only 74000 miles - and the service book is fully stamped with all but the last stamp missing.

Anyway, here is the interesting bit, I was getting a fault on my cheapo code reader but it was showing as 'N/A'.

One of the garages I took it to plugged in their code reader and it came up with this - ignore the one about the EGR as that was coming up because I'd unplugged the solenoid.
View attachment 44101

Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Low Input

Did a bit of googling and it seems that the Crankshaft sensor fails more than the Camshaft sensor BUT a Crank sensor failure could also trigger a cam sensor code?

Is this true?

The bloke at the garage cleared the codes - then I drove home. HOWEVER on the way home the engine lost all power, if I were to put it on a dyno it would probably have 2bhp (seriously). It wouldn't go up a hill so I had to get out the car and push it up the hill. This was not fun.

Yes the engine may be on its way out but I don't see why it would work okay one day and completely die the next. At one point I was able to get the car up to 60mph (despite the 0-60 being about 25 seconds) but why then has it suddenly died.

Could this be a sensor issue? If so is it more likely to be cam or crank? I've also read that a faulty crank or cam sensor left on a car could damage the engine...

Either way the car is getting sold soon, would be better to sell it as a working car - despite the knocking from the DMF (which @t-tony was right about.)

Let's just say I've been very unlucky with the car from start to finish.

Push the Corsa and leave beside the nearest skip - leave a few days - go back - make sure the Corsa has gone - pick up the skip - refurb - better VFM!

 

[Faheem]

I fixed it

Despite many mechanics telling me the engine had died, I refused to believe them.

I thought that I should try the camshaft sensor and I did but that didn't solve the issue.

Along with the cam sensor I'd also bought the crank sensor. The crank sensor was a pain to fit as it was in a very awkward location but I fitted the crank sensor and sure enough the car starts working.

The old sensor was covered in carbon build up.

I took it for a long run and hit around 85mph, which is massive improvement over the old top speed of 30mph 

Anyway, there is an issue of excessive black smoke but I'm not too concerned about that as the car is driving okay right now. It has now been listed for sale and I plan on buying something more reliable now.

 

[Faheem]

P.S if anyone has a similar problem hassle @Lee as he is bound to know the answer to all things mechanical.

 

[littlefeller]

you could make a few quid on the spuds you dig out of those footwells.

 

[Uncle_Clanger]

Perseverance has paid off Faheem... Somebody will be the lucky new owner of a vauxhall corsa. Buy a hardtop with the dosh.