loss of power in cold temperature OPEL ASTRA

Liam_B

I have a OPEL ASTRA TDI 1.7 and recently in the cold mornings ,its experiencing loss of power in high REV's. This goes on for a couple of minutes in the morning until the temperature rises and its fine.
I've brought the motor to a OpeL Dealer, for a full Service, but got the motor back the same way. On return I was informed it was the Air Flow Meter, which I purchased On-line, and replaced. Disconnected the battery to reset the online computer.
But again , I have the same issue.

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this problem??

niallu

If anything you should have a slight bit more power on a cold morning as the cold air burns the fuel faster resulting in 1/2 hp more.

Is there an engine light on? If the car is pre 2002 you will be able to do the diagnostics yourself quite easily. ( I have a list of all fault codes if you need)

I changed the lambda sensor on my Calibra, which let it run more smoothly as the fuel to air mix is more accurate.
Also if you cant seem to rev very above 4500 or so it could be the cam shaft sensor.

Liam_B

thanks for the advise.
the motor is 01 . I've being looking for a Diagnostics tool on ebay for an opel pre 2002 for a diesel ,but no luck. Know where I can get one?

When the rev's go over mark 2000rpm the car starts to spurt , then after a few minutes(when the temperature rises) it runs perfectly.
No Engine light on.
If you have as list of the fault codes that would be great 01 Diesel TDI 1.7

thanks

niallu

http://www.topbuzz.co.uk/info/fault_codes/fault_codes.htm

Here is a decent site for getting the fault codes. I used it many times on the Calibra, as far as I know it works on cars up to 2002, and then they made it more complex.....and now an opel garage will charge you 150e for it.

Although if the engine light is not on, there might not be a problem with any of the sensors.

reilig

Liam_B wrote: »

I have a OPEL ASTRA TDI 1.7 and recently in the cold mornings ,its experiencing loss of power in high REV's. This goes on for a couple of minutes in the morning until the temperature rises and its fine.
I've brought the motor to a OpeL Dealer, for a full Service, but got the motor back the same way. On return I was informed it was the Air Flow Meter, which I purchased On-line, and replaced. Disconnected the battery to reset the online computer.
But again , I have the same issue.

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this problem??

I have had 3 diesel cars in the last 8 years from a 01 golf to a 08 Toyota Auris that I bought last year. Its a normal thing that any of these cars would experience a loss in power when started on a cold morning. The O8 Auris was like that from day 1. And the 2 cars before that too. Its recommended that on a really frosty morning, you start your car and let it run for at least 10 minutes before you drive in it to let it heat up.

I have quite a steep hill up from my house and on a really frosty morning, the car will conk out half way up the hill in first gear and I have to start it again and clutch it a bit to get up the rest of the way. All diesel engines are the same, they don't have full power until warm.

maidhc

Again I find my 2003 Focus diesel is well down on power until it warms up. Like religs car, it can be an utter dog on cold frosty mornings (although I think the fact the glowplugs have done 100k and not been touched doesn't help).

Even my 7.5L tractor won't pull the skin of a banana until it reaches operating temperature.

Darragh29

If this is purely temperature related, it could just be that the turbo has a bit of resistance in it until the engine oil heats up and thins out a bit. Have you got an ECU fault light on at the dash???

Darragh29

maidhc wrote: »

Again I find my 2003 Focus diesel is well down on power until it warms up. Like religs car, it can be an utter dog on cold frosty mornings (although I think the fact the glowplugs have done 100k and not been touched doesn't help).

Even my 7.5L tractor won't pull the skin of a banana until it reaches operating temperature.

Glow plugs are completely out of the loop once the engine has started. They only heat the chamber up before the engine starts, after that, they just sit there and do nothing...

maidhc

Darragh29 wrote: »

Glow plugs are completely out of the loop once the engine has started. They only heat the chamber up before the engine starts, after that, they just sit there and do nothing...

Again, to quote my tractor it has an "optional" heater. If you don't heat it on the coldest of mornings the engine will run "lumpy" for about 30 seconds.

I think though (and I could be very wrong) that it has a manifold heater, as opposed to glowplugs, so I don't know, not sure if it makes a difference in theory, but it does in practice.

Liam_B

Thanks for the Link for the fault codes. I'll try this method.
Prior the full service - the fault light was on. I've had the motor for over 2.5 years , and I've never had trouble with it starting in cold mornings before. hence the concern. Also the plugs were changed on the service.
cheers