Vauxhall Astra G Petrol (1998 - 2004) - 03 1.6 Takes 30 mins to warm up

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Tue 21 Apr 2009 13:32
03 1.6 Takes 30 mins to warm up - paul_delly
Ever since the ignition coil was changed on my Astra SXI it takes ages to warm up, and prior to that the acceleration is sluggish and response slow.

The car was driven on a warning light from the M4/ A34 junction to West End in Southampton where the RAC was called and diagnosed it was miss-firing on 1 cylinder. The car was nursed back to Swindon and the coil changed almost immediately. The problem was noticed but written off as being due to the snow in January, however it has not gone away. I have taken it to a local garage where they found nothing but changed a temperature sensor - this didn't cure the problem.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks,
Paul.

Edited by Pugugly on 21/04/2009 at 18:08

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Tue 21 Apr 2009 13:38
03 1.6 Engine takes 30 mins to warm up - Dynamic Dave
This engine is overcooled due to the fact it uses the same radiator as the bigger engined Astra's. Some people have been known to block off the lower half of the radiator (below the bumper line) with lino or other suitable waterproof material.

Ultimately though I suspect the theremostat requires changing. Unfortunately that requires the cambelt removing to access it. That's why some people take the easy route and block off part of the radiator. If it were me, I would change the thermostat and do the cambelt at the same time. Also if its done a lot of miles I would also change the water pump at the same time as the cambelt drives it and if it were to leak later it would mean taking the belt off once more.
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Tue 21 Apr 2009 14:20
03 1.6 Engine takes 30 mins to warm up - bell boy
as DD says
and i would also take it to a garage that could read any codes present irf its still sluggish
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Tue 21 Apr 2009 14:45
03 1.6 Engine takes 30 mins to warm up - paul_delly
Owch - sounds expensive :-(

It's done around 70k miles, the cambelt was changed as part of the deal when I bought it at 43k miles. The MoT is due in May so I will have to see if a local garage will quote me for all the work.

Cheers guys,
Paul.
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