Vectra occasionally need a little throttle to start

B@Th*nG · 2 Jun 2008 at 22:23

Hi guys,

I'm new to my S reg 1.8 SRI Vectra, and new to owning/servicing a car to be honest.

I've only owned the car a couple of months and it has seemed fine until now but occasionally (probably 1 start in 4) the car won't start with just the key turning and i have to give it a little throttle for it to turn over. Once it starts the revs drop to about 500 rpm and then the engine compensates and revs itself (or i just blip the throttle out of intinct to stop it stalling) and settles at 800rpm. After this it runs fine. Do you guys know what this could be?

The oil in it has been replaced recently and isn't a nasty colour or anything so the engine shouldn't be "sticking" or anything. The battery has recently been replaced so i don't think it's that - although i do tend to do a few short journey's every day. Shall i take a look at the air filter or something? Is that even relevant? do you think the starter motor's failing?

Any help would be much appreciated!

B@Th*nG

Skeeter · 2 Jun 2008 at 22:26

Im me experiance, a started motor either works or it doesnt. Ive never really had any middle ground.

Id check the air filter yes, shouldnt be a difficult job, just removeing a cover or soemthing (not familiar with Vectras)

And you say your new here. with 2,500 posts you have obviosly been hiding in some other forum for a long time. Welcome to Motors!

Behemoth · 2 Jun 2008 at 22:27

Can't give you any advice mate, Vectra owner myself, but would be quite interested to to see the resolve for this is going to be incase I ever get these symptoms with mine (X reg 1.8 LS version with 60,000 on the clock)

TaKeN · 2 Jun 2008 at 22:30

Doesn't sound like your starter, it either works or it doesn't.. sometimes it will just click though

I'd take a stab in the dark and guess that its something to do with the choke on the car,

Giving it a little bit of throttle to get it going is no biggie IMO, your just letting that extra bit of fuel into the engine so it will fire up

I'd be tempted to try some sort of fuel additive to clean the carb out.. not sure if there is such a product for a petrol engine though ! Being a tractor loving person

EDIT - Does it even have a carb / throttle body

( I'm such a petrol engine noob )

Defcon5 · 2 Jun 2008 at 22:31

Do the throttle body with carb cleaner, a dose of redex probably wont hurt either

DB_SamX · 2 Jun 2008 at 22:31

You sure this doesn't coincide with when your tank is almost out of petrol? My Civic always needs a touch on the pedal when fuel is under around 1/8 tank.

kidloco · 2 Jun 2008 at 22:32

my money is on the throttle idle sensor, mines been doing the same for a while (s reg), I gave it a full service and swapped everything else, the sensor can be bought off a vauxal shop off the bay for around £30. A lot cheaper than a garage.

Aprantly is pretty common and easy to replace

B@Th*nG · 2 Jun 2008 at 23:31

TaKeN said:
I'd take a stab in the dark and guess that its something to do with the choke on the car,

I'd be tempted to try some sort of fuel additive to clean the carb out.. not sure if there is such a product for a petrol engine though

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I've not a clue unfortunately. I've heard about those Speed Boost additives, but heard they weren't much cop, is this what you mean?

Defcon5 said:
Do the throttle body with carb cleaner, a dose of redex probably wont hurt either

I assume Redex is the additive Taken is taking about. It's pretty cheap so it can't do any harm, i'll give that a go and see if it makes any different.

The throttle body i assume to be the cable and bits which move when you depress the throttle? yes, i really am that clueless! I'll take a look and give it a good going over - i've heard that's supposed to help with fuel economy as well.

kidloco said:
my money is on the throttle idle sensor, mines been doing the same for a while (s reg), I gave it a full service and swapped everything else, the sensor can be bought off a vauxal shop off the bay for around £30. A lot cheaper than a garage.

Aprantly is pretty common and easy to replace

It seems i may well be suffering the same problem as you :S seeing as yours is the most expensive option i might do the other bits first, especially as they are things which it could probably do with having done anyways.

B@Th*nG

TaKeN · 2 Jun 2008 at 23:36

B@Th*nG said:
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I've not a clue unfortunately. I've heard about those Speed Boost additives, but heard they weren't much cop, is this what you mean?

Sorry fella, I had my mind on something else before !

Yep redex is the stuff that you should try, won't do any harm either

Make sure you don't buy any of the stupid boost additive stuff though

Dogbreath · 3 Jun 2008 at 09:38

Sticking idle valve, it's a very common problem. Clean the black sticky gunk out of it and it'll probably be fine for a while, though the entire induction system will probably be full of it so it'll happen again at some stage.

B@Th*nG · 3 Jun 2008 at 09:57

Dogbreath said:
Sticking idle valve, it's a very common problem. Clean the black sticky gunk out of it and it'll probably be fine for a while, though the entire induction system will probably be full of it so it'll happen again at some stage.

is there anything i can do to clear the rest of it out? or is that a professionals job?

B@Th*nG