Corsa-B.uk - Vauxhall, Opel and Holden Corsa B Owners Club

Hello all. My car failed today on high CO.
Lamda okay
HC okay
New cat and exhaust last year alothough its only done 500 miles between MOT's (learner).
Is it possible that the car is just needing a good run to clear the cat? Or could somthing else be causing it to be running rich?
Also Air bag light on the dash won't go off. Anyone got a cure for this? (The drivers seat belt aint working right. Is it possible that the air bag light and the buckle are connected?

If you need to know the model its a 1l corsa b GLS.

Thanks all, Karl.

What is the actual reading for the C0? Yes the seatbelt could be affecting the air bag light if its the pre tensior style. Try disconnecting the battery for around 10 mins as that may clear the code, if thats no good then you'll need to plug into tech 2 or omnitec to check then erase faults.

Right lets give this a go....

fast idle 1.32%

Second fast Idle 1.19%

Natural Idle 1.59%

A bitty high

Telling me!! Right in my honest opinion, its running like a car with out a cat on, but as you say the cat was replaced last year. Know its gonna sound stupid but was it a cheap cat? Ive seen loads of them at our place fook up within a year and when i come to test them, a year on, they fail. Basicly the monolythim inside the cat breaks down. Are you having to pay a partial retest fee??

If i can get the car back there in 10 working days then I dont have to. I just bought the car last year and the boy said he fitted a new one for the MOT and there wasnt a problem there. But he also told us he was using it to go to work and back, the car hadnt been taxed since 2004! Maybe he was lying. I'll see about the cat though. I'll get my dad to have a look How much would a new cat cost?
Cheers karl.

Yeah normal 10 day then. Trouble is if you, say take it for a good thrash to clear it out and then take it back there and it fails again, by rights they should fail it again (so theres your partial retest gone outta the window) and then next time they will have to do a full test @ full fee again, which aint good news. Yes that does seem like a bit of a FIBBER! As for prices just had a look thro me Unipart catolouge and for a ceramic (cheap one) roughly £51/65 and for a prop (metal) £137/155. Obviously prices may vary in different areas. Would visually look at it 1st to see if it does look newish. God im knackered now.............

I noticed you hvae done lots of posting. Say the new one had been fitted. Would 500 miles well.....f**k it?

Erm if not being taken upto working tempreture all the time then yes. A cat will only start working over 300-400 degrees C, so if it being driven slowly and not up to tempreture all the time it will cause premeture failure.

So my temprature thing in the car that lets the fuel in (the automatic choak?) maybe failing?

No, if your not going on a long journey and getting the engine really hot. If you potter around when your learing lets say for 5-10 miles the cat really aint gonna get that hot and work properly. The auto choke is controled by the ECU temp switch which YES will cause high C0 but the Hc's (unburnt fuel) and Lambda will also be miles high as its throwing way too much fuel through the engine but as you say there fine.......

Oh thanks I'll have a look tomorrow, I'll keep you posted

This may sound daft but it works half the time, give it a good service and then a blast on the motorway, then straight to the MOT station, but make sure ur cat is checked first.

Right, The cat is new and there is nothing wrong with the thermostat (sp) and the sensor. We have tried everything. So maybe we will have to try the service and then a blast. Thanks.

Any good mate??

Well we took it for a blast. For a good old italian clean out it was smokie for a while and when the gears got changed a puff of smoke came out but about 5 miles down the road that had stoped. I have my MOT booked for sat so I'll let you know how it goes

Sadly Wednesday my MOT runs out sowe can't take it for a drive to keep it running after tomorrow. I guess one last run would help

Oh I seemed to pretty far under with the oil. Is it possible that could make it run rich?