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Astra behavior - please help

Hello everybody.

I have a 1990 Astra (1.3L engine with PB - 2E3 carburettor), which gives out these two problems:

1) The idle is quite rough. Not very badly (it doesn't affect high revs operation) but enough to make the bodywork vibrate in a very unpleasant manner. Uh!

2) When sun shines and the body gets hot (imagine a hot summer day), attempting to start the engine results in 2-3 seconds of normal operation, then the engine dies out. The only way I can drive my car out of the parking is to keep my foot on the gas (thus giving the engine high revs) for 20 secs. Then it operates normally and idles well (see problem no. 1)

What did I do:

Purchased and used a 2E3 service kit. Replaced all gaskets, pumps, needles a.s.o. in the carburettor. Replaced spark-plugs, distributor cap and rotor by new ones. Took it to a garage and had the ignition timing and compression measured. They all checked out OK (that's what they say). Gave the intake manifold gasket a visual inspection. It looks quite well (no stains, light green, like new). Been a good boy, so Santa would fix my car :-) But no, problems are still there.

Questions:

1) Any chance these 2 problems are related? 2) Should I suspect a faulty electrical component (HT wires, ignition coil)? They're not very cheap, so replacing them blindly wouldn't make me very happy. 3) Any way of checking the intake manifold gasket? I mean, without removing it.

And finally, please help. I'm quite at the end of my ideas.

Thank you in advance.

Matei

Reply to
Matei Rusu
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Vibration may be a worn engine mount. Have you checked that the little suction hose on the back of the manifold, below the carburettor has good vacuum available to it? With the engine running pull the hose off the stub on the manifold, the engine note should change, there should be a hiss, if you put a finger on the manifold stub there should be good suction available. If not then clear with a wire or tiny drill, this sis a very frequently found problem on many vauxhalls.

mrcheerful

Reply to
mrcheerful

Thanks for the advice. Took me few days to get under the bonnet of my car, but eventually I got to try that. I pulled quite some dirt out of the little hole in the manifold. The starting problem seems to have been solved. It didn't occur anymore so far. As for the erratic idling... it's still there. Back to my original question: do you think it can be the ignition coil? Anyway, thanks a lot. It's worth posting a question in here. Matei

Reply to
Matei Rusu

One more thing... I keep insisting on the ignition coil for a presumably good reason. I have a 'transformer-like' ignition coil. I mean, it really looks like a 220V/6V transformer. The funny thing about it is that it gives out a ticking noise while the engine is running. The noise comes at the rate of pistons firing I presume, but it's so loud that you can actually hear it even with the bonnet down and locked. Is that normal? Thanks for any suggestion.

Matei

Reply to
Matei Rusu

Nope, not unless it's arcing, try looking at it in the dark.

Reply to
DuncanWood

Sorry, I must be braindead this morning. So, what you're saying is that the ticking noise in the coil is not normal? Should I just replace the thing?

Thanks for your time

Matei

Reply to
Matei Rusu

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