Corsa B Automatic cutting out when it rains

[Daston]

Hey guys a bit of an odd one. My mother in law has a 1996 corsa B auto. Its a petrol engine but not sure on size.

She has an issue with it cutting out when it rains or has rained. She describes itbas loosing power as if its in too high a gear and then stalls. It will then just click the starter and not fire again until the next day.

Any ideas? I've ensured the HT leads and plugs are clean could it be the distributor getting wet?

[Penelope Stopit]

When you say click the starter, do you possibly mean turns the engine over nice and fast but doesn't fire?

[Daston]

Penelope Stopit said:

When you say click the starter, do you possibly mean turns the engine over nice and fast but doesn't fire?

Yes that's it turns the engine over, nearly catches but dosnt fire.

[Penelope Stopit]

OK, so the battery doesn't go flat
Sorry I can't be of any help, I could have helped if the battery was going flat, I could guess (HT Leads Rotor Arm etc) but that's not real help
Keep checking back here as there will soon be some good help posted by someone with better knowledge than me

[Daston]

Right,

Mother in law is over tonight so managed to have a look at the car. It is an L plate 1994 model with carburetor.

HT Leads do look worse for ware but no reason why they shouldn't work. I took all the leads off gave them a squirt of WD40.

My main concern is with the carbs now these are alien to me (too young I guess) they look like they are leaking fuel, she said when going up hill the car will struggle to maintain RPM and will "run out of puff" so I am wondering if the carb could be blocked and it's not getting enough fuel.

This is a crap photo of how it looks.

[imagineifyeswill]

Firstly that is not a carburettor but a throttle body possibly single point injection cant rightly remember what was on that year of Corsa but looks fairly normal to me.

The cutting out when raining suggests water is getting into something electrical, if I remember correctly the ECU on these is on the rear of the engine block and thats where I would start looking, check the rubber gaiter and the seals on the ECU Multi Plugs and also pay attention to the earth lead if it has an external earth.

[Daston]

imagineifyeswill said:

Firstly that is not a carburettor but a throttle body possibly single point injection cant rightly remember what was on that year of Corsa but looks fairly normal to me.

The cutting out when raining suggests water is getting into something electrical, if I remember correctly the ECU on these is on the rear of the engine block and thats where I would start looking, check the rubber gaiter and the seals on the ECU Multi Plugs and also pay attention to the earth lead if it has an external earth.

Ah thanks chap, learn something new every day! Most of the stuff I have tinkered with has had fuel rails and direct injection. I will have a look into the ECU and earth.

[Sardonicus]

I would be checking the integrity of the wiring and the plug going to the crankshaft sensor ( mounted down low generally) any poor continuity or resistance in this circuit will create havoc, but agree poor earths/returns could be an issue often grouped up and bolted to inner wing metalwork etc and prone to corrosion

[Martin350]

It might be worth checking the output of the alternator - a quick and easy test with a basic multi-meter will do.

If the battery is very healthy but the alternator isn't the battery could be draining as the car is being driven, particularly in the wet with lights, wipers and heater on.

[GreenV8S]

Try running the engine and then go round with a watering can to see whether you can reproduce the problem? That might lead you to the cause.