We're having problems with our 1995 Vauxhall Astra (injection GLS if that makes a difference!) and sorry if this is a bit long. We've only had it for 4 months, and 1 month after we bought it whilst driving the engine management light came on. We decided to carry on home as we were very close but about 5 minutes after the light came on the engine cut out completely and wouldn't restart. Once left for half an hour it started fine again and the EML flickered for a while then went out and didn't come back. As it was under warranty we took it to the garage we bought it from and they ran tests with some sort of computer and said that they couldn't find anything wrong with it. We've been driving it since then and it has been fine until today. After a couple of hours drive the EML came on again. I pulled over to the side of the road and turned the engine off, left it 5 minutes then restarted. It was fine and the light stayed off and it drove fine, although while stuck in traffic and idling the temperature gauge rose higher than usual and once was pretty close to the red. Once out of the traffic the temp went back down again. Then half an hour later and nearly home, the engine cut out completely while driving at speed down a hill with no warning lights showing at all. It refused to restart at all. We walked home, had a cuppa then came back and tried restarting.This time it did but the engine was chugging terribly until we revved hard a few times and it settled down and sounded fine. I then managed to drive to the garage we got it from (although it's now out of warranty) and everything was fine, no lights on the dash and felt great. The garage again say they cant find anything wrong but obviously there is as it wouldn't cut out like that otherwise. I'm not sure whether the rise in temperature has anything to do with the fault or whether that is a separate matter. Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated as we're at a loss.....bloody car! Mel.
EML on Astra
Feb 28, 2004
13 Replies
Crankshaft and camshaft position sensors are rumoured to be a very common problem on vauxhalls of this age (particularly the 2.0 16v engine, but you didn't tell us what engine you have) and can cause all the symptoms you describe. You should be able to read the fault codes from the ECU to determine what the problem is. See
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for how to do this. James of Sunderland
Sorry, it's a 1.6. Mel.
Thanks for that. Very interesting but as I don't have a clue about cars I wouldn't know where to start in trying to read the fault codes. It was plugged into a laptop at the garage (would that be something similar?) which is supposed to diagnose the faults but it didn't report a problem. Mel.
We too have a Vauxhall astra 1.6 GLS P Reg and last year i was driving and the orange engine management light came on sometimes the engine would cut out and could be restarted but another time it would not restart so i left it for a couple of hours and came back to it later and it restarted fine but it felt like it was going to cut out although i managed to get it home this time.
The next day i went out to use the car and it would not start at all. Luckily a friend of a friend knew someone who worked at the main dealer and he came down and hooked up his laptop computer to the car and said that the 'EGR Valve' was faulty we had that replaced and it worked fine.
But now the engine management light is now coming on again and the car is jerky although it doesn't cut out when driving i do notice black marks left on the road from the exhaust when it hasn't been used for a long time and it burns oil quite frequently, all in all we're getting fed up of the car. It has now put me off buying astra's in this age group and i would now go for a newer shape when i can afford one.
du.
Don't blame you. I'm fed up with mine too and am part exchanging it on Saturday. The lights been on 3 times this week and the engine's cut out and the garages still say they can't detect a fault. Fingers crossed that Rover's are ok cus thats what I've got next. Mel.
Frying pan -> fire!
Repairs -> often -> expensive
Dave
Where's -> my -> Water?
Head -> Warped -> loadsa money Exhaust -> replacement -> oh my God -> how much?
Depreciation -> Kill -> myself time.
Dave
Oh bugger, thanks guys! It's actually a Rover 214 sli 1999, 1.4 injection only 30000 on the clock. Full service history, 1 owner. I've only put £100 deposit on it, collecting tomorrow as it's being MOTed and serviced. Now you've made me have doubts and I was soo excited before I came here lol. Mel.
You might get a good one though, with only 30k on it, it should be ok for a few years yet.
Dave
You reckon? Good. I reckon it's a good price at £3200 and plus they're going to part exchange my N reg astra and give me £1300 for it which is much better than anyone else offered. I think I'll take a chance and go ahead with it. Mel.
It's worth buying a warranty.
Let someone else take the hit if (when?) it all goes up in a puff of steam!
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