Engine cuts out on Vauxhall Corsa

[Reds]

My wife has an N reg Vauxhall Corsa and lately she's been having problems with it. Whilst she's driving in top gear the car suddenly loses power and the engine cuts out.After a while she can start it again and she could drive a long distance before it cuts out again. It's even been to a Vauxhall garage and given a diagnostic,car was in garage for two days,tried different tests and fitted a new coil pack took it for another test and everthing seemed to be OK. When my wife drove to work next day the same problem occurred so it could not have been the coil. Anyone out there had the same problem, if so could do with some advice.Thanks

 

[keyplayer]

Possibly an intermittent fault with the fuel pump? This would cause these symptoms.

 

[standeman]

Reds ,

I have the same problem with my Vauxhall Vectra .. although it seems to be a bit better now , it still cuts out sometimes when I stop. I have however had the problem when it cuts when driving .. I have had several visits to the garage and had an new alternator fitted , I have had several diagnostics checks etc etc .. btu nothing seems to help.

Might be a stupid advise .. but I would get rid of the car ASAP , as you will find yourself struggling with this forever ..BTW .. it is very dangerous as well as the powersteering stops working when the engine cuts.. I can speak out of experience as i have to make a couple of serious emergency manouvres ...

Hope this helps you a little ( the alternator bit I mean )

 

[david and julie]

Next time it cuts out remove and replace the petrol cap. If the car now starts and runs OK. It could be a blocked or restricted air vent causing a vacuum in the tank. Modern diagnostics seem to only show expensive faults!

Good Luck Dave

 

[mikeyredtop]

on early vauxhalls u can read off the fault codes urself, if there is a fault the orange ecu light will be on. what engine is it, and i can give u some pointers..

 

[dave_p_r_b]

a friend had identical problem with his vectra...
crank shaft sensor needed replacing. Worked fine after.

 

[PGJG]

My Vectra gives me the same trouble. It cuts out usually when stopping and sometimes in the middle of a journey. I've tried removing the petrol cap and I have also had the crankshaft sensor replaced. I have even had the ECU re-programmed and guess what? It still cuts out. I think I'll give Vauxhall a miss when I changing my car.

 

[kavster]

My vauxhall corsa recently has been having problems by the engine loosing power even if giving higher revs, eventually cutting out. Can anyone help me with this problem.

 

[Onetap]

Next time it cuts out remove and replace the petrol cap. If the car now starts and runs OK. It could be a blocked or restricted air vent causing a vacuum in the tank.

I know that this is an ancient thread, I'm posting this just in case anyone else has this problem with a Corsa, or any other modern car in fact.

R-reg Corsa, symptoms as above, the car would stop at random, usually on a motorway and restart after several minutes and some turning over. I suspected fuel starvation, opening the petrol cap seemed to slightly help with restarting the car.

It was the fuel tank vent system.

The vent pipe goes through a carbon filter, to the tank vent valve and connects to the inlet manifold. The carbon filter canister contains carbon granules, the size of pinheads and there should be a mesh on the canister outlet to keep the granules in the canister.

The tank vent valve is opened intermittently by the ECU, drawing petrol vapour into the engine. The inlet manifold generates a powerful suction, like a vacuum cleaner.

The mesh was broken or missing and the valve was full of carbon granules, which meant it was stuck open but partially blocked. Air was being sucked from the tank slowly and continuously; at times of high fuel consumption (motorway driving) the vacuum in the tank would stop the fuel supply. On stopping, air would leak into the tank; by the time you had opened the petrol cap, there was no noticeable vacuum. Turning over the engine would eventually restore the fuel supply. It doesn't show up on the diagnostic system because the valve solenoid windings are intact and working.

Removing the valve and tapping it got half a teaspoon of carbon granules out, but it was still stuck open. It needs a new carbon filter (£65!) and valve, and the vent pipe blown clean before fitting. A temporary fix was made by blocking the vent pipe with an allen bolt, selected to ensure that it can't get into the inlet manifold.

I hope that might help someone, I couldn't find any answer on the internet.

 

[reevo]

Hi onetap

Thanks for your post, even at this late stage. I have stumbled onto this now!! My wife appears to have this very problem, which showed up about three weeks ago. It has happened twice to her now. It is a Corsa 1.2i Merit, with about 71500 miles on the clock only.

I'll give it a go and see if it is as you say - I hope it is: if I read all the other posts so far, readers have certainly gone round and round, trying to get a solution, at great expense, it appears, in many cases...!!

All the best.

Reevo

Next time it cuts out remove and replace the petrol cap. If the car now starts and runs OK. It could be a blocked or restricted air vent causing a vacuum in the tank.

I know that this is an ancient thread, I'm posting this just in case anyone else has this problem with a Corsa, or any other modern car in fact.

R-reg Corsa, symptoms as above, the car would stop at random, usually on a motorway and restart after several minutes and some turning over. I suspected fuel starvation, opening the petrol cap seemed to slightly help with restarting the car.

It was the fuel tank vent system.

The vent pipe goes through a carbon filter, to the tank vent valve and connects to the inlet manifold. The carbon filter canister contains carbon granules, the size of pinheads and there should be a mesh on the canister outlet to keep the granules in the canister.

The tank vent valve is opened intermittently by the ECU, drawing petrol vapour into the engine. The inlet manifold generates a powerful suction, like a vacuum cleaner.

The mesh was broken or missing and the valve was full of carbon granules, which meant it was stuck open but partially blocked. Air was being sucked from the tank slowly and continuously; at times of high fuel consumption (motorway driving) the vacuum in the tank would stop the fuel supply. On stopping, air would leak into the tank; by the time you had opened the petrol cap, there was no noticeable vacuum. Turning over the engine would eventually restore the fuel supply. It doesn't show up on the diagnostic system because the valve solenoid windings are intact and working.

Removing the valve and tapping it got half a teaspoon of carbon granules out, but it was still stuck open. It needs a new carbon filter (£65!) and valve, and the vent pipe blown clean before fitting. A temporary fix was made by blocking the vent pipe with an allen bolt, selected to ensure that it can't get into the inlet manifold.

I hope that might help someone, I couldn't find any answer on the internet.

 

[reevo]

PS: onetap - it is a 1994 1.2i Merit Corsa, so it still appplies? See my post before this one.

Thanks again.

Reevo

Next time it cuts out remove and replace the petrol cap. If the car now starts and runs OK. It could be a blocked or restricted air vent causing a vacuum in the tank.

I know that this is an ancient thread, I'm posting this just in case anyone else has this problem with a Corsa, or any other modern car in fact.

R-reg Corsa, symptoms as above, the car would stop at random, usually on a motorway and restart after several minutes and some turning over. I suspected fuel starvation, opening the petrol cap seemed to slightly help with restarting the car.

It was the fuel tank vent system.

The vent pipe goes through a carbon filter, to the tank vent valve and connects to the inlet manifold. The carbon filter canister contains carbon granules, the size of pinheads and there should be a mesh on the canister outlet to keep the granules in the canister.

The tank vent valve is opened intermittently by the ECU, drawing petrol vapour into the engine. The inlet manifold generates a powerful suction, like a vacuum cleaner.

The mesh was broken or missing and the valve was full of carbon granules, which meant it was stuck open but partially blocked. Air was being sucked from the tank slowly and continuously; at times of high fuel consumption (motorway driving) the vacuum in the tank would stop the fuel supply. On stopping, air would leak into the tank; by the time you had opened the petrol cap, there was no noticeable vacuum. Turning over the engine would eventually restore the fuel supply. It doesn't show up on the diagnostic system because the valve solenoid windings are intact and working.

Removing the valve and tapping it got half a teaspoon of carbon granules out, but it was still stuck open. It needs a new carbon filter (£65!) and valve, and the vent pipe blown clean before fitting. A temporary fix was made by blocking the vent pipe with an allen bolt, selected to ensure that it can't get into the inlet manifold.

I hope that might help someone, I couldn't find any answer on the internet.

 

[grant1947]

I had the very same problems and went through the change coil pack , change crank shaft sensor. The problem was caused by my putting diesel into the petrol tank. Once I drained it and put fresh petrol in problem solved.

 

[Belle427]

I had the very same problems and went through the change coil pack , change crank shaft sensor. The problem was caused by my putting diesel into the petrol tank. Once I drained it and put fresh petrol in problem solved.

That belongs in the viz comic advice section!

 

[SeabreezeStitch]

Hi.
My Opel Corsa bakkie 2003 model does the same. It has been doing it for the past few months. I have had the crank sensor, idle valve, petrol pump and relay replaced. It has also been in for a decent service, even though it has had all its services up to date. It has been checked by a few computer programs, and it does not pick up any faults. They have suggested replacing the computer board, but that is way too expensive.
I am now waiting for a quote on the petrol tank vent system, as there definitely seems to be a problem with the petrol coming through, and with the last check, they found a problem with petrol pressure, but could not find out what caused it. Even when the car did not want to start at the garage or wanted to continue idleing, the computer still did not pick up a fault. I have found that if the car starts struggling, and I throw in more fuel, it goes for quite a while again before it gives a problem. I do also see that my bakkie is not idleing as it used to. It idles a lot lower, and the lower it idles, the closer it gets to cutting out. If I rev it very hard while driving, it stays running longer than if you are stuck in traffic and have to drive slowly, or if you drive at 120 for long periods of time. Then it quicks out quicker. And once it has cut out and you don't throw in fuel, it cuts out after only 6 km when it does start again. And then it continously gets worse.

 

[Ejay]

Hi SeabreezeStitch,

Having same problems with my 2003 1.8 Corsa Bakkie.
Have you managed to get yours sorted?

Ejay