[shh120m]

Hi guys i bought an 05 astra h 1.6 twinport with 43000 miles on it a month ago and im having some problems, maybe someone can help...

first of all im sorry if this is in the wrong section

Ive done 1500 miles in the car without a problem. About a week ago things started to go wrong, i was driving at 45 in fifth gear when the car started to jerk, as if the fuel was restricted. this stoped after i pulled over, stopped and restarted the engine. It ran ok with the odd re-occurance during the last week ( iv done 500 miles since it started)

Today on the way home it started to hesitate again at about 35 mph then the engine light came on. I got it home(20 miles), but it was very slow (does it have a safe mode?)

I have read the fault codes and ive got:
030200 cylinder misfire detected
161450 something todo with imobiliser or key
161600 CIM

I have booked the car in for diagnostic check tomorow but will they just tell me what i already know? I was sort of hoping to sort it out myself (skint!!) as im a mechanical fitter by trade but i have no knowledge of these daft electronics they put in cars nowadays.

Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be?

Thanks

Nathan

 

[Scrooge]

coil pack or plug's

 

[shh120m]

hi, thanx for the reply, if it is the plugs and or coil and i replace them, will the engine light go out to let me know if the problem is rectified or will it stay on.

thanks

 

[Scrooge]

it might stay on or a short while after there replacement but in some cases the computer is needed to turn it off

 

[shh120m]

thanks, ill get it sorted tomorrow

 

[shh120m]

well, just got it back from the menders, diagnostics revealed what i already knew. the mechanic checked the plug gaps and found that a small elephant could have walked through them, so he changed them and reset the engine check light. Just done 50 miles and it ran sweet as a nut...

 

[Design Twinport]

I dont understand how the gaps in the plugs can change. Is it possible that shh120m's plugs always had a large gap, or did comething cause them to enlarge?

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I am machanically inept, but morbidly interested!

 

[Alfie_w]

I may be wrong here, but doesn't the spark between across the gap in the spark plug cause the two terminals to degrade/erode over time, therefore making the gap bigger. The bigger the gap gets, the more juice is needed to make the plug spark, which in turn puts pressure on the coil packs. This is probably why they recommend that your change the spark plugs at 40k miles on the 1.6, what with the plugs being cheaper than the coil packs.

 

[Design Twinport]

I may be wrong here, but doesn't the spark between across the gap in the spark plug cause the two terminals to degrade/erode over time, therefore making the gap bigger. The bigger the gap gets, the more juice is needed to make the plug spark, which in turn puts pressure on the coil packs. This is probably why they recommend that your change the spark plugs at 40k miles on the 1.6, what with the plugs being cheaper than the coil packs.

Thanks Alfie. That certainly sounds plausible! Why then, do Vauxhall only change the spark plugs at 4 years or 80,000 miles then, I wonder:shock:

 

[shh120m]

update BIG THANKS AA

well, i guess 030200 means that the coil is *******! I just took my missus to ross on wye for the weekend (230 away). This morning upon leaving the hotel the dreaded engine light came on and the symptoms came back. I called the aa and he decided to try and change the coil, but with it being sunday the nearest place to get a coil was birmingham. Got towed to unipart in birmingham where the aa man had orginised a guy to open up and get the part. My card was maxed out (big weekend, didnt expect the car to die ) so he even gave me 14 days credit on the coil, which was 148 quid by the way. He changed the coil and the car ran better than ever all the way home.

So hopefully the problems solved for good now

BIG THANKS TO TIM FROM THE AA!!