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Thread: corsa-driving student in peril, needs to DIY-fix his car

  1. #1
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    corsa-driving student in peril, needs to DIY-fix his car

    i wasnt sure where to post this, but since it concerns my car, i figured i'd put it here. i really need someone who's not a 12 year old pretending to own a mclaren F1's opinion.

    basically, i have a 1998 P-reg Vauxhall Corsa, 1.4 16v CDX. by now you've probably guessed i'm english, and since its an old corsa, i'm also a student, a teacher or an OAP. don't ask why i said teacher. in case you dont know, which i doubt very much, the engine like the rest of the car is very unsophisticated so i doubt you need to be an experienced vauxhall mechanic to help, but if you are one anyway then thats amazing.

    anyway, so i installed an amp in the boot and had to employ some pretty cowboy-esque wiring techniques (namely cutting a hole in the insulation of one wire and wrapping the bare end of another around it). this, unsurprisingly, came undone. i went to fix it today, and it worked- however now my speedometer doesnt.

    also, i believe this is due to the air flow sensor or MAP sensor, but i was driving about earlier and every time i changed gear or went into neutral, the revs plummeted like jade goody's popularity since this year's celebrity big brother, and if i didnt apply any accelerator before the revs dropped as low as around 250rpm, it would stall.

    so, may i ask anyone who was gracious enough to read that story the following questions:
    1. do you think its an air flow sensor fault?
    2. could i have blown a fuse somehow when reconnecting the amp remote wire?
    3. if it were a blown fuse, why didnt the stalling problem occur persistently on my way home (it was playing up from about 5-6pm ish, i drove home at 2am)?


    thats the offending vehicle. its a bastard.
    i'm very sorry this was so long, and thank you for reading if you did.
    owner of the most unique corsa in hemel hempstead - its completely mod-free

  2. #2
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    What wire did you tap into? If it was the airflow meter's then the change in load due to the amp being connected will cause problems, otherwise I can't see that being your primary issue.
    Chief of Secret Police and CFO - Brotherhood of Jelly
    No Mr. Craig, I expect you to die! On the inside. Of heartbreak. You emo bitch

  3. #3
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    Did you check the fuses to see if any blew? Did you use an inline fuse on the amp install? Can your car usually go below 250rpm and not stall?

    Man I hate computer controlled cars.

    really need someone who's not a 12 year old pretending to own a mclaren F1's opinion.
    We don't have many of those here, actually none I believe.
    Last edited by johnnynumfiv; 01-28-2007 at 10:40 PM.
    "We went to Wnedy's. I had chicken nuggest." ~ Quiggs

  4. #4
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    It certainly sounds like a fuse has blown, especially if the problems only occured when you went to check the connection.
    I am the Stig

  5. #5
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    "What wire did you tap into? If it was the airflow meter's then the change in load due to the amp being connected will cause problems, otherwise I can't see that being your primary issue."

    it was the ignition switched remote wire on the stereo's ISO connector, which is why i'm so confused.

    "Did you check the fuses to see if any blew? Did you use an inline fuse on the amp install? Can your car usually go below 250rpm and not stall?"

    i haven't yet checked the fuse box because it was dark outside. i did use an inline fuse, on the amp's supply wire (coming from the + terminal on the battery), though its rated higher than the fuse on the amp itself (60A vs. 40A). and normally it idles at around 1000/800rpm depending on how warmed up it is, and only ever goes below that if you make it do so.

    "It certainly sounds like a fuse has blown, especially if the problems only occured when you went to check the connection."

    thanks, i'm just going to check the fuses now, but the thing is the fusebox inside the car only has fuses for things like the headlights and windscreen wipers and stuff. there is another fusebox under the bonnet, though.

    thanks for your help guys, i seriously hope i dont need to pay more than 50p for a new blade fuse to fix this...
    owner of the most unique corsa in hemel hempstead - its completely mod-free

  6. #6
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    If you managed to do it involving a few wires, it should cost the amount of those wires to fix it. Simple.

  7. #7
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    I think it could be coincidence that those two things failed at the same time. Does the car idle at all or do you have to use the throttle to stop the engine from stalling? There are a few things that could be causing the the car to stop idling, if you don't have any money I wouldn't recomend throwing parts at it and crossing your fingers.
    PPC - Put a V8 in it!

  8. #8
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    this is a bit difficult to explain...

    basically, the engine doesn't always stall. sorry if i explicitly said it did, but it doesnt always. however, thats not to say its fine unless it stalls.
    normally, the revs should level off at 1000rpm or slightly lower or higher, depending on the engine temperature, in fact when the engine is warm its around 800rpm. anyway, whenever i turn the car on i don't need to apply any throttle, it'll start up and idle normally. also, i can drive around and it'll be fine, but this is very intermittent, because there are also two alternatives to this.

    one thing it'll do other than allow the revs to drop to idle, is the revs will carry on dropping and it will nearly stall, though i don't ALWAYS need to apply throttle to avoid stalling as it'll recover by itself, though sometimes it doesnt (and will stall without applying throttle) but still struggles to keep the revs up.

    the other thing, and the engine light always comes on before this happens, is when you come to a stop the engine will just switch off completely and the revs will drop sharply, accompanied by the airbag, battery and engine lights coming on (standard fare when you stall).

    today i found a pair of snapped wires, a live and earth wire, which used to connect to the cigarette lighter, so i wrapped them in insulation tape (seperately, of course) and replaced a fuse i had found to be blown (a 20A fuse in the interior fusebox, the panel marked it as being 'KL' or something, which i presume is abbreviated german (its technically an opel)), which didn't blow the fuse again when i turned the car back on. this, however, didn't fix the speedometer, so i've disconnected the battery for a while since that fixed another problem i had with the electric windows not automatically winding down (which is also happening now, i only noticed it today).

    i doubt that'll fix it, but its worth a go (it also re-sets the ECU to factory settings, not that i've re-programmed it but its a 'learning' ECU).

    anyway, i would appreciate your thoughts as to what's causing this? i think its the air flow sensor because i've had a couple of friends, one with a mk.1 mini cooper S and the other with a honda CR-X del sol, who had similar problems- the mini had an unplugged air flow sensor, and the CR-X started playing up when my friend fitted a massive impreza-esque induction kit... i'm pretty sure its not the fuel pump or any fuel-feed problems because it doesnt stall while on the move, and i also don't think its the idle control valve (though it might be) because it does still idle. it seems like the ECU sometimes forgets where the idle should be, but i dont know if its that either.

    thanks for all your help, guys!
    Last edited by neema_t; 01-30-2007 at 07:13 AM.
    owner of the most unique corsa in hemel hempstead - its completely mod-free

  9. #9
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    hi,

    just to let you know i think i've fixed it... surprisingly, disconnecting the battery seems to have done it, possibly because it resets the ECU as i mentioned, i cant really think of any other reason for it to work. the loose wires were also taped up.

    i was a bit worried at first because the car was quite unwilling to start, it stalled the first time and the second time i had to apply quite a bit of throttle for the first 5 seconds, but after that it was idling at 1100rpm, which is standard when the engine is cold. after that it never once dipped below 1000rpm on my short drive to college and felt more powerful, either because its working now, or because the ECU was reset back to how it was from the factory- i believe i read that the ECU learns to be more efficient at certain engine speeds. either way, its working again.

    thanks for your help and suggestions, i'm so glad i didnt need to take it to a mechanic... being a student i'm something of a target for being ripped off!

    cheers again,
    neema
    owner of the most unique corsa in hemel hempstead - its completely mod-free

  10. #10
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    Heh, ECUs suck somtimes. Well, most, if not all the time.
    PPC - Put a V8 in it!

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