Corsa B 1.4 auto cutting out - any ideas?

[Toaster Pilot]

Got a 1.4 Corsa B automatic with an intermittent fault - sometimes cuts out when coming back to idle (at traffic lights, say) and then struggles to re start, cranking for an age before it finally decides to come back to life l

It's an old car (1994) but low mileage and has been well maintained. Plugs, leads etc are new. Drives spot on for 99% of the time and until it decides to play up it can go for weeks/loads of miles

My Delphi diagnostics won't connect to it - I suspect that the diagnostic port wiring is defective.

Any ideas/common things to go on these? Not keen to start chucking parts at it if I can help it

[pixelatedJH]

Had this cutting out and trouble starting on my Corsa C, but manual, it was the crank sensor. Get a genuine one from Vauxhall as the pattern ones seem to last about five minutes.

[Drive Blind]

is the ECU light on?

you tried flashing out the codes with the paperclip method?

[Toaster Pilot]

pixelatedJH said:

Had this cutting out and trouble starting on my Corsa C, but manual, it was the crank sensor. Get a genuine one from Vauxhall as the pattern ones seem to last about five minutes.

How much was a genuine one? I agree on pattern sensors, they're awful.

[DKS]

It's pre-OBDII - 2001 cars are earliest for that I think.

I'd sat crank sensor too. Does the ECU light stay on whilst cranking when it doesn't start?

[Toaster Pilot]

DKS said:

It's pre-OBDII - 2001 cars are earliest for that I think.

I'd sat crank sensor too. Does the ECU light stay on whilst cranking when it doesn't start?

Delphi DS150E with the 10 pin Opel/VX adaptor should read it as far as I can tell.

I think the light does stay on but not 100%

[DKS]

I would be very surprised. I'm a big GM/ Vaux fan, but their diagnostic support was non-existant until the law forced their hand.
Short pins A and B in the diag port, switch on and count some flashes. Should be flash - pause - flash flash which is code 12. Does this 3 times, then it might do code 31 which is engine not runnning. It might then do some more. I think there's one for an incorrect crank sensor signal as well as no signal.

[pixelatedJH]

Toaster Pilot said:

How much was a genuine one? I agree on pattern sensors, they're awful.

Cost around £20 if I recall correctly, it certainly wasn't awfully expensive.

As above, here's a guide to getting fault codes without the reader on a B and what they mean.