Corsa Energy 1.2 Petrol Problem

poppyred

Hi i'm hoping someone can help, my 2011 Corsa Spanner Light came on yesterday so i took it to the local garage, they changed me £30 to plug it into a machine only to find no error codes ?

I've only done 22k miles and it's been serviced 3 times. This morning when i got in the car i had no warm air coming out of my blowers just cold air, i'm also not sure if it's leaking oil although the garage yesterday said there was no oil leak, so could be the neighbours oil patch.

Any help would be great, hubby working away and want to make sure i'm safe to drive to work and back.

OddballJamie

Service vehicle soon
The car with a spanner dashboard warning light informs the driver that they need to service / have their vehicle checked soon. If the light illuminate whilst the engine is running, there may be a fault with the engine or transmission
electronics. Electronics will run in emergency mode. fuel consumption may increase and vehicle handling may be impaired. If the light flashes with the ignition switched on, it signifies a fault with the Corsa immobiliser system.

Could be running in emergency mode if the heating isn't working.

Are you the first owner and is it still under warranty?

poppyred

Thanks, No, second owner :-), no longer under warrenty

bigjl

Check the coolant level as a matter of urgency.

One common symptom of low coolant is lack of warm air through the heater.

As the matrix is usually higher than the rest of the cooling system there may still be enough in the system to prevent any problems.

But Vauxhalls are also well known for having engine management light issues when therenis nothing wrong with the car.

Have seen Vauxhalls that have been stalled a few times throwing up a code.

There is also the outside possibility that the diagnostics used by the Garage where not that good though that would usually inly be an issue with things like Renaults that need specific diagnostics such as CanClip.

poppyred

Thanks, will pop out now and check it

Strider590

What was the warning light?

Spanner usually just indicates it's due for a service. Mine has engine with spanner and oil can with spanner, the later indicates service is due.


No heating is probably either no/low coolant (check this!!!) or the thermostat is jammed open, meaning the coolant is constantly flowing into the radiator and overcooling the engine.
If it gets warm when left idling for 5mins, then it's defo the thermostat.

poppyred

Thanks i've just been to check and it's got about a 3mm of coolant left, please could i ask what is coolant?, sorry to sound dumb, is it water, or is a special mixture ?

AdrianC

poppyred wrote: »

Thanks i've just been to check and it's got about a 3mm of coolant left, please could i ask what is coolant?, sorry to sound dumb, is it water, or is a special mixture ?

The bottom of the tank is just damp, basically? OK, you have got a problem. It's leaking from somewhere, and it's basically emptied the engine.

Coolant is what people used to call "anti-freeze". It stops the cooling system - which is also the interior heater - freezing on cold nights, but it also helps to prevent internal corrosion, and it helps to transfer heat away from the engine and raises the boiling point. You CAN put plain water in, but it's not advised.

You want to buy either pre-mix or concentrated coolant (Halfords, any motor factor, most DIY stores). If you get pre-mix, just pour it in as-is. If you get concentrate, 2/3 water to 1/3 coolant. If you live in a hard water area, don't use tap water. Ideally, get hold of distilled water.

You may have introduced an airlock in the cooling system, which will require tools to bleed. You will certainly have to find WHY the coolant's leaked out and fix whatever it is.

Let's hope that running the car out of coolant hasn't damaged anything.

poppyred

do kwik fit sell coolant, there's on my way home, should i put a bit of water in straight away to get me there, it's less than a mile away ? or there's a Tesco Petrol garage nearer ?

colino

Put water in it for now at the very least to make sure you can check for a leak (hopefully) or HGF. If no access to water or coolant, don't drive it at all.

poppyred

Thanks, i have a small bottle of water which should get me to the garage, i think i'd best book it in to find the leak, thanks for all your help today x