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

Hi,

Car is a 94 corsa GLS 5 door.

Been having a few problems lately so i will recap what has happened so far. after driving to my partners place a the other week (only about 2 miles) i thought i could smell burning, and felt pretty dizzy for a while afterwards, and had a strage taste in my mouth.
Took it to kwik-fit and they reckoned i had an oil leak, but told me i needed to get the engine steam cleaned and take it back to them so they could identify where it was coming from.
I got it steam cleaned and took it back, and they told me they couldnt see a leak anymore. they also said they checked the exhaust and it looked ok, and replaced the pollen filter.
After taking the car home, i did a few short journeys with a carbon monoxide alarm in the car, and everything seemed to be ok for a couple of days, but then out of nowhere the carbon monoxide alarm started regestering CO in the air, very little, and in healthly limits, but still seemed strange that it happened out of nowhere.
I then went shopping in it and it was fine on the way, then came out of the supermarket to drive home, and when driving felt like i couldnt breathe and started getting dizzy, and had a weird taste in my mouth, but nothing regestering on the carbon monoxide alarm.

you can smell buring quite strongly when stood next to the car idling on the driver side, and you can also smell petrol towards the back end.
My partner also said she could smell petrol, and i hadnt told her what she was smelling for, so its not just me being crazy!

Had a look at the exhaust but couldnt see any obvious signs that its blowing. the cat is rattling, but i have been told by a mechanic friend that its just the honeycombe thing inside come loose, and it didnt need replacing and would still be doing its job of filtering the gasses.

I was told by someone to check the manifold by holding tissue near it to see if anything was escaping, i did that and the only place it looked like there might be anything coming out was the back of the part i have circled in the picture.



And here is a closer view of it.




Im guessing thats where the exhaust pipe conects to the manifold?
I was also told to spray the exhaust with soapy water to check for bubbling, which im going do tomorrow, but i was wondering if it would be safe to spray around the circled area too?

Also, can anyone tell me what the silver pipe in front of the manifold is? the one that runs into my amazing freehand circle. it seems there is a hole in it, but i have no idea what the pipe is for.

Thanks for any help offered, and apologies for not really knowing the first thing about cars!

hi mate has your corsa got air conditioning?

that pipe is the power steering pump pipe, check your fluid level to see if its low as you might have a slight leak on your rack or something thats then dripping down onto your exhaust, but that bit there where you hi lighted shouldn't be a problem,

scott tollan wrote:hi mate has your corsa got air conditioning?

Air conditioning being different to the basic hot/cold air heater thing?
Dont think it has.

PRICER wrote:that pipe is the power steering pump pipe, check your fluid level to see if its low as you might have a slight leak on your rack or something thats then dripping down onto your exhaust, but that bit there where you hi lighted shouldn't be a problem,

Ok thanks, will check the power steering fluid tomorrow. would the fluid leave a puddle/mark on the ground if it was leaking? the hole is pretty big. imagine

nahh it wouldnt have to be that bit, even just a drip on the exhaust would give a smell.

Ok, i had a friend cover the end of the exhaust while the car was idling and couldnt hear any change in sounds, so im guessing its not an exhaust leak.
Should i still do the soapy water test or is that pretty conclusive?

I topped up the coolant the other day as it was really low, only driven it a small amount and the level seems to have dropped a lot. i also took my oil cap thingy off and found this.



picture was taken a few minutes after driving round the block.
Is this a sign that the coolant is getting into the oil? also the exhaust fumes coming out the back of the car seem to be a bit thicker then usual, still white though.

Usually that gunk is from the engine not warming up and the build up of condensation building up go take it for a good run, also with the feeling dizzy etc if you cover your exhaust (in theory the car should stall) but check your egr valve see if that is ok.

that gunk is usually a sign of the cylinder head gasket going, but clean it, and take it for a good trip for half an hour or so on a bypass or motorway or something, then check it again, if its the same its the head gasket, but if its gone back to all black then it'l be fine.

yeah pricer you are right at that but he said it apears after short journeys and if it isnt sorted after a good run then yes could be hg

CorsaEdi wrote:yeah pricer you are right at that but he said it apears after short journeys and if it isnt sorted after a good run then yes could be hg

Yep I'd agree.

Thanks for all the advice, but i have got shot of the car now.
The fumes in the cabin were getting unbearable and the engine started sounding seriously unhealthy, so i scrapped it. only got £20 less then i paid for the car in the first place so not too bad.

I was sad to see him go, but had to be done. And replaced him with a sweet mercedes e class!