Z16LER turbo fault?

[JDR33]

On my 1.6t corsa my turbo seems to be making a shrieking noise when i apply acceleration and sometimes on start up it judders for about 30 seconds. When coasting slightly picking up speed before changing gear its as if the turbo kicks in then hesitates and goes again. Although this problem doesnt happen with full throttle. Any ideas?

[GreenV8S]

Has it been serviced recently? That sounds like the sort of poor running that might be fixed just by giving it some clean plugs and making sure the leads are all seated properly.

[JDR33]

GreenV8S said:

Has it been serviced recently? That sounds like the sort of poor running that might be fixed just by giving it some clean plugs and making sure the leads are all seated properly.

My last service was 26/06/16 at 37k from vauxhall so it is due this month. Its only done 4k miles in a year but my work colleague said there may be a compression problem as im still losing coolant too.

[GreenV8S]

Is the coolant clean?

Not saying it's likely, but the combination of coolant loss and running problems are potential symptoms of head gasket failure.

Don't panic but I suggest you mention the symptoms to the people doing the service and see what they make of it.

[Little Pete]

GreenV8S said:

Is the coolant clean?

Not saying it's likely, but the combination of coolant loss and running problems are potential symptoms of head gasket failure.

Don't panic but I suggest you mention the symptoms to the people doing the service and see what they make of it.

Seconded. Don't assume a service will cure the problem or even highlight it for that matter.
I'd suggest booking the car in for them to look at the faults the car has got.

[JDR33]

GreenV8S said:

Is the coolant clean?

Not saying it's likely, but the combination of coolant loss and running problems are potential symptoms of head gasket failure.

Don't panic but I suggest you mention the symptoms to the people doing the service and see what they make of it.

I suspected the head gasket as there is slight milking under the cap, would a flushout of coolant from the radiator, replenished with steel seal be worth a try? Or is a temporary fix? Never tried the stuff.

[GreenV8S]

JDR33 said:

I suspected the head gasket as there is slight milking under the cap, would a flushout of coolant from the radiator, replenished with steel seal be worth a try? Or is a temporary fix? Never tried the stuff.

I assume you're talking about a cap on the cooling system. (If you're talking about the 710 filler cap, ignore that.)
If it's an HGF then nothing you do on the cooling side is going to make the slightest difference - it will need the head taking off. But there's quite a lot you'd do to confirm that diagnosis before you commit to that chunk of work.
Stuff you add to the cooling system to cure leaks is IMO always a bad idea and should be considered only as a last resort as a temporary get-you-home bodge, bearing in mind that it will potentially screw up the whole cooling system and be a right pita to get rid of afterwards.

[M32Guy]

Take the plugs out and have a look at them and a look down into the pistons. These engines are famous for letting cylinder 4 run too lean which causes it to overheat. Can give head gasket like failure symptoms. Eventually the piston cracks. A compression test wouldn't go amiss either

[JDR33]

Well, the thing is ive only had the car 4 months now from a forecourt dealership. I phoned up the other day to get them to check it out as i know legally it has 6 months warranty under the which consumer act 2015 (not that i told them this). They tried to palm me off saying my 3 months warranty is up and their "service engineers" were at the time in a meeting and will call me back in the afternoon, which typically they didnt.

Going to try again monday as i am not letting the charges fall on me, i wouldnt of caused these initial problems they were sold to me like it.

[GreenV8S]

JDR33 said:

Well, the thing is ive only had the car 4 months now from a forecourt dealership.

That's important information. If these problems are the result of a defect in the vehicle when you bought it, it's the dealer's problem, not yours. In that case, don't phone the dealer. Phoning leaves no record and the dealer can simply fob you off until the warranty expires. Write to them, inform them of the symptoms, tell them you believe the problem is covered by the warranty, tell them that you require them to either fix the problem or take the vehicle back, and ask them to contact you to tell you how they plan to resolve the problem.