Hi all,

Let me re-cap all the self maintenance and problems I've had to date. Car has done 178,000 KMs 7000 of that was me.

1.) First bought the car the head lights did not work in normal mode, only in parking lights and high beam. I removed one of the fuse relays in the fuse box. One of the top 3 large black ones, currently only have one in the car. The result of this was this was that all the light settings worked and the air con was colder. Strange I know.

Worked fine for a few months.

2.) Engine warning light started coming on after driving for awhile each time i drove but never lead to anything going wrong for a month. Then i started having trouble starting the car. So I used an petrol additive to clean the fuel system. Just finished a tank with it in it. The engine warning light does not come on any more but now I have a bigger problem.

3.) Now the car stalls sometimes when i first start it. When this happens, it starts (barely) then hovers less than 1000 rpm then then i try to drive (i usually get 2 meters) then it konks out. Then it takes a fair bit of cranking till it finally starts again. Throughout this situation, I notice sometimes a black bunch of smoke out the exhaust when first starting before stalling. There is a strong smell of petrol. One time i opened the bonnet to have a look while the key was in the ignition with the electrics on, i heard a slight electric buzz in the engine.

So! Any ideas what might me wrong with the car? This has happened 3 times this week :tired: Quite embarrassing to have to ask people to help me push the car out of the way in the car park.

Cheers! :happy:

Throttle Position Sensor, Idle Speed Control motor, oxygen sensor (stuck on rich?), coolant temp sensor, leaking injector (filling the cylinder with fuel?)...

None of those sound like easy fixes. Any suggestions on how to go about it/costs involved?

how does it run once it is warmed up?

i would be starting easy, like checking all vac hoses, then changing fuel filter.

what additive did you use?

and finally, check the spark, make sure you have a nice bright blue spark.

other than that it could be a range of problems, but this is a good spot to start

If you are having your check light on, why dont you do a code out and see what the ECU is not happy about, good starting point for sure

I had this exact thing happen to my car. Replaced the battery. Problem fixed.

i'll try out the ECU check, i'll have a look through the manuals to see how to go about it. Runs alright when warm just shudders a little. Afraid it will stall out while driving. One more thing i've noticed it that when i have the head lights on and i open or close the electric windows, the headlight dims slightly. Does that mean anything? How would i check to see if the battery is at fault? don't want to waste money on a new batt if there is no need. i used one bottle of Nulon Petrol Injector Cleaner.