Vauxhall Astra G Petrol 1.6L X16XE 2001 - Unexplained intermittent engine failure/shutdown

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Sun 26 May 2013 05:09
Vauxhall Astra G Petrol 1.6L X16XE 2001 - Unexplained intermittent engine failure/shutdown - alexsked

Bought this car Feb 2013. Has full checkable service history. Never missed a service since new.

Had yearly service done in March 13 where mechanic noted that timing belt hadn't been replaced since 09 service which was 21,000 miles ago. He felt "it would be ok for a while".so it wasn't changed.

Car had run perfectly since purchase until 17 May. After being parked for one hour, engine turned over but failed to start. As i was in a huge car park I left it for half an hour and it started normally. However, engine stopped again after 20 minutes reaching normal operating temperature before it did so.

RAC arrived and cleaned sooty deposits from EGR valve and refitted it. Engine started and I made it four miles to a filling station before same thing happened on the forecourt..

RAC came back after two hours and test drove it up to the speed limit for three miles. He then followed me home to my driveway and I thought all was now well.

Later that evening same scenario and it's uncanny the way almost exactly 20 mins pass before the shut down. Thinking there was deposit build up in the fuel system, I added "carlube " cleaner to the tank but so far no joy.

car idles at 8.5 RPM consistently before shutting down and finally there is a low whining sound which carrys on for about ten seconds after engine stop. This sounds like the siren all clear alert from ww11.

Previous owner who used the car rarely reports no problems over the last 12 years. Quite frankly I'm stumped. There are no error codes or lights. It's as if the engine is receiving a signal from some physical component telling it to shut down after 20 minutes only to restart normally 20 minutes after that.

I'm a plumber to trade but I feel like I'm morphing into an apprentice mechanic after viewing 40 pages on this site alone. Thank you sincerely for your time spent reading this.

Regards, Alex.

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Sun 26 May 2013 10:36
Vauxhall Astra G Petrol 1.6L X16XE 2001 - Unexplained intermittent engine failure/shutdown - Oli rag

It could be an intermittent sensor fault causing the problem, but the 20 minute frequency is a little bit too regular for an intermittent fault. There's a chance that it could be fuel starvation, this would tie in more with the 20 min period.

Possibly the noise you can hear after the engine stops is the fuel pump?

Fairly sure someone with more knowledge will be along shortly with more ideas.

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Sun 26 May 2013 18:37
Vauxhall Astra G Petrol 1.6L X16XE 2001 - Unexplained intermittent engine failure/shutdown - alexsked

Hi, and thanks for your inpu so far, re faulty sensor or poss fuel starvation. In the absence of any problems over 12 years since new, these two options would make sense to me.

Now I just have to locate the "sensor" and replace it and figure out how to re establish a clean consistent fuel delivery line to the engine. Eliminating these two would be a big step in the right direction.

Thanks again for taking the time on a Sunday to help me out. It's appreciated I can assure you. Enjoy the rest of your day, Alex.

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Sun 26 May 2013 20:01
Vauxhall Astra G Petrol 1.6L X16XE 2001 - Unexplained intermittent engine failure/shutdown - John Boy

There's a Vauxhall only forum here, which you could try:

www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/index.php

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Mon 27 May 2013 00:18
Vauxhall Astra G Petrol 1.6L X16XE 2001 - Unexplained intermittent engine failure/shutdown - alexsked

Thank you for that link to Vauxhall owners John Boy. I'll certainly go there and see what I can find out. Alex.

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Thu 16 Jan 2014 02:43
Vauxhall Astra G Petrol 1.6L X16XE 2001 - Unexplained intermittent engine failure/shutdown - rc12day

I have all the same symptoms in my astra ts . The winding noise was coming from the power steering which would happen when the car cut out. I found that I had negitive wires that were positive starting at the battery to the fuse box then running to the power steering. I disconnected all the wires and the noise has gone but of course I have no power steering. Also I was stumped too when my car would always cut out then start fine after 20 minutes or so. Then just today I noticed that when I turn the key on I cant hear the fuel pump working. After sometime waiting I turn the key and the fuel pump works and the car starts and runs fine .... until 15-20 minutes then same all over again

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Thu 16 Jan 2014 09:54
Vauxhall Astra G Petrol 1.6L X16XE 2001 - Unexplained intermittent engine failure/shutdown - hardway

When fault happens and your cranking to start does anything register on the rev counter?

crank angle sensor will give your symptoms,and no reading on the rpm,

and no codes,as far as the cars ecu is concerned your not turning the key so the engine isn't turning over!.

and I've had CAS going open circuit when warming up and then functioning fine when cool.

and around 20 mins sounds just right!

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