Corsa 1.4 Hi-torque misfire - kurnal
Please can anyone point me to the most likely cause of a misfire on my 1998 corsa breeze 5 door 1.4 hi-torque hatchback? It has done 36000 miles and is in generally good nick. The misfire is only noticeable when the engine is warm and when running on a partial throttle setting, eg poddling along at 30 or 40 on the flat, when the car seems to jiggle along.

Nothing drastic- no vibration is felt through the gear lever, it just doesn't feel smooth. Hard acceleration ( I know!) is clean without any trace of a misfire.

It passed its mot emissions test with flying colours last week and I asked for a diagnostic check while they were doing - no fault codes found. I have tested the leads for continuity- all more or less the same resistance- and replaced the plugs- which seemed to make things a little worse. I'm thinking TDC sensor, Coil or weak mixture- Any tips please?

Corsa 1.4 Hi-torque misfire - Andrew Moorey (Tune-Up)
Fouled injectors or a lazy Lambda sensor first suspects. Switch to Texaco petrol and add a bottle of their fuek treatment each fill for a couple of tanks and give it a good 'outing' on a fast road and ignore 5th gear.Otherwise it may need some diagnostics. Interesting that replacing the plugs made it worse, what make of plug did you use?
Andrew




Happiness is a T70 at full chat!
Corsa 1.4 Hi-torque misfire - kurnal
Andrew- Thanks very much for your advice. I do use texaco all the time - cos thats the only garage locally- but havn't thought about trying any of their additives before. The plugs- both old and new are NGK. So I will take your advice and try the additive then the lambda sensor- roughly how much is one of those likely to cost over the counter?

Corsa 1.4 Hi-torque misfire - Dynamic Dave
The plugs- both old and new are NGK.


If I can interupt here, personally I would have fitted Vauxhall ones - which are, IIRC, generally AC Delco or Bosch packaged with Vauxhalls own label on.
Corsa 1.4 Hi-torque misfire - Andrew Moorey (Tune-Up)
Lambda sensor is going to cost you around £40-£50 assuming it is a single wire unit £50-£60 for a 4 wire one. However as you are using the texaco all the time I would not think that the injectors are the problem. I would be surprised if the NGK plugs are giving a problem as I have used them almost exclusively for 16 years with few problems but in this particular instance OE plugs from GM may be worth a try (Bosch), as I have found that in a few situations, notably Ford and Renault/Volvo OE plugs are better in the long run as DD suggests.
Andrew