engine playing up this morning, your advice required

humbucker

got in the car this morning to find engine light will not go off. revving seemed a bit high on idle, but was running, then when i slipped it into drive (automatic gearbox) and attempted to pull away the car was hunting really badly, unable to accelerate and just jerking forward quite violently. i put foot on the brake and the engine cut out. each time i fire the car up same thing happens. after one abortive attempt at driving the car it started to accelerate properly without error although the engine light was still on. sadly it then returned to jerking along like a kangaroo.

i havent got a fault code reader or tech2 for the car (i have a tech1 but this wont work!) but have tried the pedal test. nothing. does this work on a 2.2?

ran the car all weekend over many miles without any issue at all. very surprised this has happened and not sure what it could be.

thanks in advance for your advice.

EDIT just noticed that in idle when i put my foot on the accelerator there is hardly any increase in revs at all. :thumbdown: some, but not much

humbucker

Re: engine playing up this morning, help required

ok so small update. i found instruction online to do the pedal trick, but no fault code coming up at all. in fact, i was informed that even without fault code the little car with the spanner should flash to show testing in operation but i get nothing (brake and accelerator flat on the floor, ignition on, left it for 30 secs but nothing)

it's not the EML/car with spanner light that's on, it's the light that shows the picture of the engine that is on, to the left of the oil warning light.

i cleaned throttle body in case it was sticking, had injection module off, cleaned contacts, removed and replaced spark plugs, topped up with oil. still problem persists.

it revs high, like 2000rpm as soon as you put engine on, only to start dropping until it gets to near zero, chugs a bit then dies altogether. when trying to drive off it kangaroos up the road, although as mentioned earlier i did get it to drive up the road perfectly fine for a brief period altough the engine light remained on.

could this be misfiring/dodgy injection module? how best would i check?

humbucker

additional info for you:

astra coupe 2.2
registered 30 06 2003
46k miles

could this be timing chain issue? it didnt sound ropey but you never know. anyone? hoping i can get a tech2 readout later, but im not sure that will tell me anything if there arent any fault codes showing

humbucker

ok so been back out trying to troubleshoot... i dont think its timing belt. i might be wrong, but it doesnt make any rattle noises and providing my foot is on the accelerator it continues to run (although i havent driven it out yet). doesnt seem to have a problem through the rev range now, although take your foot off and it quickly reduces down to a cough and a splutter before it dies out. no eml still, just the engine light. notsure.gif

it's a lonely old business this troubleshooting z22se's eh :problem: :eh: 😃

waiting to hear back from a friend whether he can bring his tech2 over later; that should be able to tell us if the timing is out (i think). if all else fails i'll call the AA and see if they can bring their snap-on reader round to help and hopefully get the tech2 tomorrow instead. either way, advice from you guys based on your experience and familiarity with these engines gratefully appreciated.

si_c1978

try coil pack first and cross your fingers! my build was awfull like that when i blew my ford one up, put the stock gm one back in it was fine.
i wouldnt wanna jump straight on the chain unless you have had rattling or oil pressure prob's.
doubt its the injectors.

humbucker

thanks for the reply. if the coilpack was faulty wouldnt i get the spanner light rather than the engine light? also when i've had the coilpack go on an omega it's been a gradual thing, starts popping and farting a bit and then results in lumpy idle and misfiring. this has been sudden and immediate on my astra. not beyond the realms of possibility, would be a result if this is all it is, but wondered if the fault would be so sudden with a coilpack? notsure.gif

humbucker

si.c1978 said:
try coil pack first and cross your fingers!

well pottsey was kind enough to come over this afternoon and try the coil pack from his engine into mine. unfortunately the problems persist so we can rule coilpack out! chain sounds quiet as anything so im pretty sure it's not that, maybe some kind of fuel starvation? weird, i changed the fuel filter a couple of weeks or so ago, it's been running fine since then, did 185 miles without issue yesterday. three quarter of a tank of fuel in it so it's not like it's running low... it has only been since i fired the car up this morning. hmmn...

pottsey

no worries dan ,just reading through a few threads on duff egr valves ,and i think that could be your next port of call ,ive just had a look thought i had a spare blanking plate but i haven't

humbucker

my mate just called, he's coming over with his tech2 later so im hoping whatever it is, egr or otherwise, will show up on that. if it is egr i'll get a blanking plate as you suggest but would egr cause the car to kangaroo down the road? do you have to put a plate on the bottom of the valve as well, or just the one plate? will let you know the outcome of the tech2 session.

pottsey

ilovemyelite said:
my mate just called, he's coming over with his tech2 later so im hoping whatever it is, egr or otherwise, will show up on that. if it is egr i'll get a blanking plate as you suggest but would egr cause the car to kangaroo down the road? do you have to put a plate on the bottom of the valve as well, or just the one plate? will let you know the outcome of the tech2 session.

from reading the other threads yeah it would cause that ,looks as though its fine whilst cold like yours was but once it starts warming up it plays up .

yeah plate on bottom in place of where the valve would sit then replace valve to one side

humbucker

pottsey! in a round-about way we got to the bottom of it via tech2... it led me on a wild goose chase by throwing up a fault code that was a bit confusing (Manifold Absolute Pressure P0107) but we used the tech2 to do some actuator tests as we knew from the fault code and from our coilpack swap earlier that it had to be something to do with air intake. EGR performed fine with the actuator tests and i removed the airbox and all air intake from the throttle body to ensure there werent any blockages causing the problem. we noticed that the throttle position sensors were both operating perfectly well but that the throttle body itself wasnt moving accordingly when you put your foot down or when you turned ignition on for self test. (this also explains our lack of power earlier today when you were over). anyway, to cut a long story short, the throttle body is sticking causing the car to go into limp mode. we cleared the fault codes, manually pushed the throttle body open and close and generally tried to unstick it and start the car up, clear fault codes, start again. repeated the cycle a few times, throttle body now working properly, car running like clockwork and engine light is off. no fault codes either. hoorah!

im sure this might happen again though, so im going to take the throttle body off tomorrow, then dismantle it and clean it inside and out with carb cleaner til its free of any muck. the last thing i need is for it to play up when im out and about. then refit and hopefully that will be the end of that!

thanks again for your assistance this afternoon :thumbup:

pottsey

glad to be of assistance mate ,im pleased you found the problem,at least its not a expensive fix even if it means getting a 2nd hand one ,or you could go down the ported +polished route ,nickyb on here does them

humbucker

pottsey said:
or you could go down the ported +polished route

haha so much for not meddling with this car! 😃 yeah it could have been a lot worse i guess, and it goes to show that the tech1 and 2 units are so good. i mean, without the ability to perform actuator tests etc i would have been hunting around for ages, especially as the fault code lets you know whats wrong (even if it does describe it clinically) but doesnt tell you what the cause is.

anyway all's well that ends well. just got to clean the throttle body up now, or like you say source a new one if the problem persists.

si_c1978

glad it was a easy fix!

humbucker

si.c1978 said:
glad it was a easy fix!

yeah although we're not out of the woods yet... going to take the throttle body off later and dismantle it tonight, give it a good clean then reassemble and refit. i've still got the tech2 so i should be able to deal with any eml/ecu confusion that arises as a result of removal. do you know of any throttle body gasket that i'm likely to need to replace? haven't looked in the book of haynes yet... 😃

si_c1978

nah you will see a funky rubber o ring under it as long as it ok just refit.
its a nice hassle free job.
i know what its like to have probs and think oh no its the chain! like i say untill i found my problem i shit meself!

astra22bertoneauto

humbucker said:
no eml still, just the engine light.

Isnt the EML light the engine light (shaped like an engine?

si_c1978

thats what i thought! are spanners not service lights?

astra22bertoneauto

I had a similar problem a while back and i found the cause to be worn gaskets on the inlet manifold. I suggest taking off the manifold replace all gaskets & give it a good clean out and make sure map sensor is free of cr*p.

2nd option is to check your fuel pressure as lack of will also give you a code for too much air.

humbucker

astra22bertoneauto said:

humbucker said:
no eml still, just the engine light.

Isnt the EML light the engine light (shaped like an engine?

ah see i thought the eml on the 2.2 was the engine with a spanner through it and that the engine light was a 'youre in limp mode' etc light. thanks for the clarification!