Vauxhall Corsa - Corsa 1.3cdti engine problems - cdti

I recently purchased a 1.3cdti Corsa on a 2005 plate with 47k on the clock, FSH from a main dealer, however after just over a week of ownership I’m having some problems:

Intermittent starting problems- after 3 to 4 attempts it will eventually start with a cloud of grey smoke and the engine sounding rough.

Hesitation on acceleration

Spanner light coming on with loss sudden loss of power. Spanner light coming on and then engine dies (makes over taking horrifying!)

The car seems hard to control at low speeds in town - almost light it’s driving its self when I lift foot of accelerator, then sometimes it feels like it’s going to stall and chugs.

All these problems happen intermittently, the other day I had no problems, then today it won’t start on Tesco car park and the hesitation is back.

Also I’ve noticed occasionally a smell of diesel or exhaust fumes inside the car.

It’s been in to the dealers last week and all they did was reset the light, then soon as I drove off on the dual carriage way loss of power and light back on.

It’s driving me mad! I can’t have a car like this, it’s going back to the dealer again on Wednesday, but I’m sure they will just 'reset the light ' again.

Can anyone offer any advice to what might be wrong?

Edited by cdti on 30/10/2011 at 17:44

Vauxhall Corsa - Corsa 1.3cdti engine problems - injection doc

This sounds very much like an EGR valve issue, will cause bad starting and difficulty driving in traffic and loss of power.

Vauxhall Corsa - Corsa 1.3cdti engine problems - cdti

thanks, i did mention this to the service manager only to be told they were self cleaning??

Vauxhall Corsa - Corsa 1.3cdti engine - Galad

Sounds like you're being fobbed off. Ask a friendly taxi driver to recommend a local diesel specialist to ensure the problem is sorted. Personally, I would never buy a second hand common rail diesel that's out of its guarantee with no idea how it's been driven from new. The engine sensors tend to get clogged up with carbon deposits especially when driven predominantly on stop-start trips and you can't tell if it's ever been misfuelled by previous owners!

Vauxhall Corsa - Corsa 1.3cdti engine - madf

Sale of Goods Act.

Dealer to sort it free...

Read HJ on this site about Used Cars and your rights.

You should need only to quote the SOG Act to them.. and they should sort it failing that, threaten Small Claims Court.

Vauxhall Corsa - Corsa 1.3cdti engine - sandy56

Must agree with Madf above.

Play hard ball and take it back and tell them to fix it.

Vauxhall Corsa - Corsa 1.3cdti engine - cdti
bit of an update its been to the dealers and tech 2 and these codes come up

p0380 glow plug curcit open (not present)

p1093 fuel system malfunction .

ive left the car with them, he said if its too expensive they will get me in to another car, but i like this one!! :(

Edited by cdti on 04/11/2011 at 18:39