Anybody here a good car mechanic? Help!

[orange71]

yes some of those symptoms sound very similar. Clean throttle body could be an option. Clean air filter.

Why do garages go straight to the diagnostics before checking the basics??? :evil:

 

[moffyr72]

Laziness and a quick buck.

Diagnostics and clean hands = 40 quid, plus all the other work it may throw up.

Quarter of an hour under the bonnet = 20 quid and simply clipping a sensor on or something easy and no 'computer says..' work to follow up with.

 

[orange71]

So , to summarise:

1 - clean MAF
2 - clean/replace air filter (link)
3 - check O2 sensor(s)
4 - clean throttle body with brake cleaner (link)
5 - check cam sensor (link)
6 - EGR valve (link)
7 - HT leads
8 - spark plugs
9 - coilpack (resistance specs for this will need to be found and break out the multimeter)

 

[moffyr72]

Sounds a plan.

Be careful cleaning the MAF. They're easy to damage. (talking in general not Suzook specific)

 

[orange71]

:shock: cheers - was going to buy this to do it? Anything better?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... ink:top:en

 

[moffyr72]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CRC-Air-Senso ... 852wt_1139

I'd err on the side of caution and use one that says its designed for that use. I dont know the one you linked so can't say what it's like to use

 

[orange71]

I like yours - does what it says on the tin

 

[lewis1641]

Sounds like a maf to me too. They sit in the pipework between air filter and throttle body. They are very delicate and to be fair, you could damage it further by trying to clean it. They are not expensive to replace though. Given the age it might be running db air flow meter which isn't so delicate but less likely to be affected by dirt.

I have dome experience with remapping and sadly some ecus simply won't comminicate through the diagnostic port. In those situations you need to remove the ecu and use a more invasive software with a cable that plugs directly into the ecu. If that doesn't work you need to go old school and remove and replace the chip . None of that will help to retrieve fault codes.

If the lambda sensor was playing up on your old car and giving similar issues then that would be a good place to start.

 

[legrandefromage]

does your model have an exhaust gas return valve too? Our petrol vectra had the same symptoms and it was the EGR and the Bosch mass air flow sensor.

My VW ate MAFs...

 

[orange71]

cheers guys

LGF - no idea I'm fick wiv cars.