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the boys just bought his first car, an 07 corsa 1.2 club diesel for £200 off his mate. hasnt even taken his first lesson yet so itll be stuck on our drive a while, which will give him (me) some time to look at the problems it seems to have.
firstly a big crack in the windscreen. scrappy? or are they cheap enough anyway? hes been told to wait til he insures it, take out optional windscreen cover then claim for damage. doesnt sit easy with me but its not my decision and hey, its scummy insurance companies. but yes, thats why our premiums are so high etc etc.....
secondly, the steering feels a bit 'clunky' as it switches direction. probably not serious, but what are the possible causes for that?
lastly (for now), the engine management light is on (orange). hes been told the EGR valve needs cleaning, so we're guessing his mate has had diagnostics on it, otherwise how could he be so specific? we're waiting on the answer for that. assuming that this is indeed the case, how easy is it to clean? easy enough for a non-mechanic to do or is it a job for the pro's?
thanks 🙂
I did the EGR valve on my Transit, principle should be the same even if the engine is different. It's just got air going through it so nice and easy, nothing to bleed, reset, or anything. Literally a case of disconnect, clean, reconnect. Did the whole air inlet manifold whilst I was at it, 100k ish on the clock at the time, it was a right mess, full of tar, soot etc, took a while to clean but worth doing, engine felt noticeably better afterwards, could just breath a lot better. I also blanked off my EGR valve whilst I was at it - not for everyone but they are designed to help on short journies with cold engines, on long journies with hot engines, my type of driving, there is no benefit, and as I saw it just clogs the air inlets. Passed 4 MOT emissions tests since with flying colours (failed on lots of rust though)
Anyway, doddle even for a novice and well worth doing. Only caveat is access is really easy on a Transit engine, yours may differ...
Not done a windscreen but I guess a much harder thing to fit. Tends to be only fully comp which have windscreen cover so if he's new to driving and can only afford TPFT he may not get it.
The egr valve on my astra and zafira was easy to clean/replace. I got one from a very new car in the scrap yard for £15 and 15 minutes work.
Also, read the below link on how to perform diagnostics on vauxhalls without any additional kit.
I also blanked off my EGR valve whilst I was at it – not for everyone but they are designed to help on short journies with cold engines, on long journies with hot engines, my type of driving, there is no benefit, and as I saw it just clogs the air inlets. Passed 4 MOT emissions tests since with flying colours
No, EGR valves are there to lower the combustion chamber temperature to reduce NOx emissions, and a hot engine is more likely to produce NOx than a cold one. They don't test for NOx in the MOT so passing the emission tests "with flying colours" isn't the vindication you think it is.
There is no need to bother with the pedal fault codes thing when you can get a Bluetooth OBDII connector and the torque pro app for less than £10. I'd strongly recommend before bothering with the EGR - I used to have a Corsa C (05 body) with that engine and the ECU failed due to water ingress, cue every diagnostic fault under the sun.
Please don't blank off the EGR, everyone else has to breathe that crap johnners is correct.
Oh also mine had serious warm start issues which I never got to the bottom of. It never actually entirely failed to start though to be fair.
Removing/blanking the egr is a dick move. I'm also fairly sure it's an instant fail as of the new regs where any visible smoke at any point is a fail. And a fail in its own right if noticed.
Egrs are either easy and sit nice and accessible or difficult and within the engine blick or out of reach at the back.
Get a haynes manual. They're not what they were but still the most useful thing to have under the bonnet with some back up from youtube.
Also get him to do this work.
Plus 1 on the torque pro and a elm 127 bluetooth job from amazon. Although they're normally just the generic minimum codes ie egr code not egr egrsor needs repkaced etc.
The steering has 'electric' power steering so if it feels heavy there could be a problem with the steering column. Since you say clunky I'd check the front ARB link bushes, top mounts and springs to see if there's any play/breakage. Those things are all easy to change. The steering column not so much but like I say a clunk is more likely to be one of those things.
Does the car drive OK? The engine light came on on my missus Corsa D 1.3CDTI. It would go into 'limp' mode at around 2K rpm (I think). That turned out to be the turbo. It may be worth changing the glow plugs as this can also lead to the engine light coming on.
For diagnostics, a general code reader will only pick up generic fault codes. You'll need someone with the proper kit to run diagnostics and pick up all the possible fault codes.
I would also just get the screen done on the insurance. Why wouldn't you? Premiums go up from accidents & ambulance chaser claims.
thanks for the advice chaps.
ill give the EGR valva aa go myself then. havent had chance to google yet as im at work, but gow do you generally clean these things?
windscreen ill just have to see what insurance policy he can afford and what it covers, but ill also get a price for swapping too.
and steering, i dont know what any of those bushes/mounts/springs are, so thats probably going to be letting someone more informed have a feel about.
Also get him to do this work.
i assume you mean make sure he has a bash himself and doesnt just get me to do it while hes out with his mates. thats a given 🙂
thanks again
Windscreens from the likes of autoglass are 750 quid. When pushed they just say get it done on insurance .
It's a racket
I recently had 2 replaced (much bigger than corsas) for 240 and 260 a piece) from a local mob using the right hallmarked glass rather than the cheap import junk. -could have had it cheaper but previous experience with cheap screens said don't bother .
Diagnostic fault codes are generic by definition. Any OBD2 reader will detect every DTC by law so that manufacturers can't monopolise servicing. The only situation where you will get manufacturer specific codes is where for example there are only 2 generic fuel pump error codes but your vehicle has 3 pumps and therefore they have had to use one of the spare codes for the 3rd. But Google will know what that code equates to for your car - specialistic code readers are a bit of a swizz.
ah nice one. and do these code readers work in any car?
he may have to get a wiggle on, he was knocked off his bike for the second time last night :-/ neither were his fault (supposedly) and he got paid out for a new bike last time. this time the bloke drove off so i think its going to be a costly time for him, another bike written off but this time no payout. the way insurance companies work i believe even if hes never at fault, the fact hes been knocked off twice shows that hes a bigger risk of further accidents, so its all going to shoot sky high for him i fear.
thanks for your help