Having major car trouble??

[masonsmum]

I recently bought an X - Reg Vauxhall Corsa from my Uncle and I have had nothing but trouble with it from day one. Firstly I was over £200 to replace front brake disc and pads, repair an oil leak in the sump tank, replace perished back tyres, amongst other things. My uncle told me it had been put through a full MOT (he is a service manager for an Arnold Clark Vauxhall Garage) he is now off long term sick so I cant take it into his garage.

Now when ever my cars revs fall below a certain point the car just dies and all the lights on the dash board come on. Any experts out there that would have a fair idea what is making it do this and if its going to cost me much more money to have it repaired. :confused:

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[WestonDave]

Perished tyres (rather than wearing out) suggests it hasn't done a lot of mileage (recently at least), and its tempting to stereotype from your user name and suggest that maybe its being used now as a short trip run around (sorry if that's wrong just trying to guess in the absence of more details on the car's mileage, engine size and usage!).

I'm certainly no mechanical expert, but if you've checked it has the right type and level of oil and water, and its restarting after stalling (so not a flat battery) and not having the engine warning light (usually an orange engine + fan symbol on a vauxhall) stay on permanently (indicates a fault that the garage needs to look at) then I'd suggest getting the spark plugs cleaned (its not that hard provided you get the right tool - cost about £10 max - and do them one at a time so you don't mix the leads up) and then giving it a good long run on open roads for about an hour.

In my experience although cars like the Corsa are marketed as run arounds, they do begin to choke up if they never get really hot enough to burn off all the muck and carbon. We have a system where I take my wife's car in to work once a week to give it a run which is less wasteful than running it up and down the nearest dual carriageway!

[AdrianHi]

Replacing perished tyres and replacing work out brake discs and pads falls under expected maintenance for an older car in my book.
Leaky oil sump bad luck.
The stalling problem is more of a concern.
Do you have a service history for this car?
Has it had all the required oil and oil filter changes in it's life?
All required air fitler changes?

Needs to go to a garage for proper diagnosis, we can only guess here.

[masonsmum]

Yes the car is only a run around however my workplace is 10 miles away from home and I work 3 days a week, however the rest of the time its only for nipping to mums etc. The mechanic that carried out the recent repairs checked all oil etc.

The engine management light is only coming on then going out again when I restart the car.

[cajef]

Now when ever my cars revs fall below a certain point the car just dies and all the lights on the dash board come on.

Sounds as though it could be fuel starvation, or something simple like the idle speed/tickover needs adjusting.

[Tigert]

On the stalling problem......

I've had 3 vauxhalls and 2 of them did this. In both cases the vauxhall dealer told me the "Idle Control Valve" needed replacing it.

The first car it happened on, I just let them replace it, however the second time, I took it to a local garage and they said it just needed cleaning, which they did. Cost a lot less and solved the problem.

[goldspanners]

could be a coked up throttle body,might just need removing and cleaning,or at worst an idle control valve needing replaced,but these usually make the engine idle high rather than stall.as dave suggested getting the plugs out and giving them a good wire brush and re gap them (or just replace, they are cheap anyway)
they tyres and brakes are expected wear and tear,at least they wont need done for a good few thousand miles again.

[Chippy Minton]

Done up like a kipper by your own uncle.:rolleyes:

No wonder he's off long term sick. All the stress of paying customers baying for blood I bet.:rotfl:

[hewhoisnotintheknow]

so youve actually just had one problem?

Sounds like a sensor needs cleaning

[tomstickland]

Clean out idle control valve with carb cleaner. Costs you about £5 and worked on a friend's 2.0 16v Ecotec.