Why is my Vauxhall Astra starting to judder and idle roughly?

I recently bought this 2004 Vauxhall Astra 1.7 DTI diesel estate which, when I first drove it, was nice to drive without any problems. Later on the same day, it started jolting continuously and the revs were a bit unsteady. The following day the same pattern occurred, and when I drove the car for the first few minutes it was fine, then it started jerking horribly. On the the third day, from the first turn of the key the car has been jolting almost continuously and is not idling steadily as it should, and sounds a little rough. Is there something seriously wrong or can you point me in the right direction?

Asked on 28 July 2010 by jack1

Answered by Alan Ross
Firstly, did you purchase the car from a dealer or private? If a dealer, then you should take the car back to them. If private, then I would suggest that you check the following. Is the fuel contaminated? It might be worth draining and refuelling. Check whether your fuel filter is blocked or leaking. Also check your air filter. If none of the above cure the fault, it may be a problem with your injectors.
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