Vauxhall Corsa 05 Engine dies after a couple seconds
Discussion
Hi, my car isn't starting up and am desperately seeking advice that doesn't involve taking it to a garage since I don't have a lot of money.
My car is a vauxhall corsa 05.
It's had a leak since I bought it in October 2017.
I took it to a garage and had this "fixed", though it still leaks.
I'd drive it a few miles once or twice a week, but over christmas I went 3 weeks without driving it.
When I next went to drive it, it wouldn't start up.
I jump started the car, and it started but would die shortly after reaching 2k RPM and could only crawl. Every few seconds the RPM would drop to zero.
I charged the battery with a battery charger over night.
Now when I start the car the engine dies after a couple seconds. The dashboard displays the engine management light and the battery light.
I hope that wasn't too much to read.
Again, any advice outside of taking it to a garage would be greatly appreciated.
I've a friend who fixes cars for a living but don't think he has much to go on, so your suggestions would give me a better idea of what to suggest to him when he next looks under the bonnet.
Thank you!
My car is a vauxhall corsa 05.
It's had a leak since I bought it in October 2017.
I took it to a garage and had this "fixed", though it still leaks.
I'd drive it a few miles once or twice a week, but over christmas I went 3 weeks without driving it.
When I next went to drive it, it wouldn't start up.
I jump started the car, and it started but would die shortly after reaching 2k RPM and could only crawl. Every few seconds the RPM would drop to zero.
I charged the battery with a battery charger over night.
Now when I start the car the engine dies after a couple seconds. The dashboard displays the engine management light and the battery light.
I hope that wasn't too much to read.
Again, any advice outside of taking it to a garage would be greatly appreciated.
I've a friend who fixes cars for a living but don't think he has much to go on, so your suggestions would give me a better idea of what to suggest to him when he next looks under the bonnet.
Thank you!
Davie_GLA said:
Your mate does this for a living but can’t trouble shoot?
What is it leaking? Fuel, oil, water??
EML will need the codes read to give you any sort of accuracy.
Well he only popped by for a few minutes for a quick look, it was raining and -4 Celsius at the time. He checked the water which was fine, and I think he checked the fuel (he didn't insert a rod into the fuel tank, which is how people check the fuel? Not sure, I'm next to useless when it comes to car mechanics)What is it leaking? Fuel, oil, water??
EML will need the codes read to give you any sort of accuracy.
Is the battery holding a charge? You said you charged it but do you know what voltage it's got? If there isn't enough to run the car and the alternator isn't doing a great job then it will die.
What happens if you keep your foot on the throttle to try and stop it stalling? Are there any lights on the dash when it is running (I'd suspect a battery light), worth checking this when it's dark so you can see if the lights are on faintly.
What happens if you keep your foot on the throttle to try and stop it stalling? Are there any lights on the dash when it is running (I'd suspect a battery light), worth checking this when it's dark so you can see if the lights are on faintly.
eybic said:
Is the battery holding a charge? You said you charged it but do you know what voltage it's got? If there isn't enough to run the car and the alternator isn't doing a great job then it will die.
What happens if you keep your foot on the throttle to try and stop it stalling? Are there any lights on the dash when it is running (I'd suspect a battery light), worth checking this when it's dark so you can see if the lights are on faintly.
It doesn't hold a charge very well, I started the engine a couple times just now to see if I could get it to display EML codes, but it's an old car and doesn't show them. When I tried starting the engine up a second time the battery appeared dead again. I charged it at 12 volts for 9 hours.What happens if you keep your foot on the throttle to try and stop it stalling? Are there any lights on the dash when it is running (I'd suspect a battery light), worth checking this when it's dark so you can see if the lights are on faintly.
When I keep my foot on the throttle it dies the same as if my foot weren't on it. The battery light is on and the EML flashes.
Edited by Anthony2112 on Tuesday 5th February 14:46
blade7 said:
On that model Corsa the seal around the fusebox lid can fail, letting rain water into the fusebox from the scuttle area above. Check to see if the carpet is wet in the passenger foot well.
It does get wet, yeah. My first thought was that it might be related to the fusebox but everyone I've mentioned it to has said its nonsense.It's normal for the EML light and battery light to be on if it stalls, are they on when it's running? It sounds like your battery could be knackered along with the alternator. If the battery light is on when the engine runs, it means the alternator isn't charging it so the engine is running everything from the battery which gets depleted quickly (possibly due to a dodgy alternator not charging it properly for a while)
Halfords etc. can test your battery for you, that should highlight whether it's ok or not.
Halfords etc. can test your battery for you, that should highlight whether it's ok or not.
Tony1963 said:
If you can, get someone to jump start the car. At least then you’ll know if it can run for more than a few seconds with enough battery/alternator power. If it keeps running for, say, a minute, disconnect the jump leads and see what happens.
Yep, try this! It does sound like a battery/alternator issue. Batteries certainly tend to die in the cold if a cars left sitting, which yours was for a few weeks.Anthony2112 said:
blade7 said:
On that model Corsa the seal around the fusebox lid can fail, letting rain water into the fusebox from the scuttle area above. Check to see if the carpet is wet in the passenger foot well.
It does get wet, yeah. My first thought was that it might be related to the fusebox but everyone I've mentioned it to has said its nonsense.If it's getting wet in the driver's footwell the leak is from around the brake booster (the big round black thing against the bulkhead under the brake fluid reservoir/master cylinder under the bonnet.
It's a right pain to fix as to do it properly you need to remove the wipers, scuttle trim, etc., to replace the sealant. I tried to bodge it and found out yesterday that I've failed! There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing you how to do it but I really struggled trying to undo the brake booster bolts which you have to access from under the dash.
It's a right pain to fix as to do it properly you need to remove the wipers, scuttle trim, etc., to replace the sealant. I tried to bodge it and found out yesterday that I've failed! There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing you how to do it but I really struggled trying to undo the brake booster bolts which you have to access from under the dash.
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