Hello again,
The car: 1999 Vauxhall Astra 1.7 TD
The mileage: 67,000 with FSH
The problem:
On starting, the little yellow engine icon comes up and stays up for anything up to a minute, then goes. This may be part of the main problem, which seems to be poor performance in terms of top speed and acceleration. The car will cruise without problem at 70-80mph, but is decidely sluggish in getting there, much more like my old Peugeot 205 diesel which didn't have a turbo.
This Astra will NOT put a smile on your face. It struggles up hills, but seems quite quiet and we have done 1000 miles since buying the car from an auction with it performing like this. My wife doesn't know theres anything wrong, as it all 'works', but I think there's something up. I drove to Bristol last weekend, and tried seeing if I could 'clear' any blockages by adding a Diesel injector cleaner and trying to drive it flat out for at least a few miles. Well, I did this, and it blew acres of smoke out the back, and I could only get it to 3600 rpm - NOWHERE near the 5000 redline, and it only showed 97mph on the clock. I held my foot on the throttle as hard as I could for about 4 miles, and the smoke did clear, but not completely.
Otherwise it starts first time, pootles round our regular 6 mile daily run OK, drives fine otherwise, and has no history of problems apart from the 1st owner said the engine management light was coming on before he changed cars for a newer company car, and the garage got the light to go away.
Any advice to help me sleep easier...(or painful truth?)
Thanks in advance.
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I'm not sure what the warning light is, but performance wise, I'd expect it to be as slow as a non-turbo (60ish) bhp 205. The Astra 1.7 turbo at this age only has 70ish bhp, and is a much heavier car than the Pug.
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The Isuzu 1.7td engine in my 93 cavalier was quite nippy. It would pull well uphill and happily carry four passengers at speed. Certainly nothing like a non-turbo engine. Remember that BHP is all about top speed, Turbos affect torque and acceleration curves etc.
Until recently all diesels were almost totally mechanical, but if you have an engine management light, then this car clearly has an engine ECU.
It sounds to me like the ECU is limiting max revs, possibly also limiting or even preventing any turbo pressure.
Take it to a dealer, ask them to plug it into the code reader and find out what it thinks is wrong.
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I'm no mechanic, but my Xantia was a bit pants in the performance department and adjusting the slack out of the throttle cable made a big difference. Worth a looksee.
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I was after an Isuzu engined Asta Diesel Estate, but local availability meant I had to go for the Vauxhall engined one. It's a '97 with 108K miles so I don't know how close it would be to yours, but the rev profile is a bit like this:
sub 1500 - struggles and not too happy to accelerate
1500-2200 - pulls but not strongly
2200-3500 - pulls well
3500-4500 - getting a bit breathless - definite power tail off
4500-5000 - very slow acceleration
Normally dont't take it above 4000 as the next gear up has much better pull.
Chris TD
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My diesel turbo IMHO is a bit down on power as well, especially 4/5 gears at about 60/70. Maybe it is my mind playing tricks but...
I took it to the dealer for a diagnostic check and all seemed ok. I am still not convinced though. What course of action can be taken now? The car is still under warranty so I don't really want to start shelling out to go to an independent.
I have thought about the throttle cable and will get them to check at next service. Any other ideas would be welcome.
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I had a similar issue with my 2000 2.0 Vectra DI, whereby the performance was poor with the 'engine' light illuminated on the dashboard. This was caused by a failed mass airflow sensor. If this engine is electronically controlled it will have a mass airflow sensor and is often the cause of poor performance.
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