[ivesy]

The problem I have been having has been getting steadily worse over the last month or so.

When I'm driving at 30mph in 4th gear the car seems to need an extra touch on the accelerator or it starts to go a bit jerky/juddery. It does the same in 5th when I'm doing about 50mph (or less).

When I turn the air con on it seems to happen even more at different speeds and gears. At first I thought it maybe the clutch but I've had a clutch go on me before and you tend to have to put your foot on the floor to get the car moving!

The weird thing is first thing in the morning when I go to work it drives fine. It's only later on it happens?

The car was serviced in September and has 30,000 miles. It's a 56 Lacetti CDX Saloon.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

[yzfrichie]

i had similar problem with my 08 lacetti .all i did was take the slack out of the accelerator cable at the throttle body end , it seemed to work for mine.

 

[ivesy]

I'm taking it to the garage this week so I'll mention that. Thanks very much for the help

 

[ivesy]

The garage said it's the EGR valve as when they blocked it off the car didn't seem so bumby when driving.

£210 later the new EGR valve has made no difference! It's particularly noticeable when the weather ia warm and the car is in 4th or 2nd gear.

I'm taking it back on Monday I haven't paid them for it! I've asked if they'll put the old one back as I'm unwilling to pay £210 when it doesn't fix the problem!

As I say they want it back on monday to see what else it could be.

Anyone on here any ideas?

They did say I mayhave to take the car to a Chevrolet dealership and get them to align the EGR valve with the engine with a computer?

 

[yzfrichie]

did they check the acc cable like i mentioned. before i adjusted mine it was jerky in 4th and 5th when you had very light pressure on pedal, there was about 1/2 an inch movement on the pedal before it did anything. it drives fine now even doing 30 in 5th.

 

[ivesy]

Hi thanks for the reply.

To cut a long story short the garage have admitted the new EGR valve made no diference.

Even replacing the plugs and cables hasn't done anything.

So the original EGR valve has been put back in the engine.

The mechanic did notice one thing though (and I'm still wondering why it wasn't noticed 2 weeks ago!)

With the engine cover removed looking at it from the front of the car at the top left corner is the throttle cable.

When he applied some pressure it revved but when he left it for a few seconds the revs dipped.

He said the same as me when driving at a fixed speed say 30mph in 4th the accelerator would need pressing as the car would suddenly start to jerk a bit.

He said I should take it to a Chevrolet dealer (will ring tomorrow) as they have the correct software on their engine diagnostic computer.

But this does sound very much like your problem, though if it's as easy to correct as you seem to say I'm surprised they didn't just do what you have done.

Or did they just want rid of me?

 

[ivesy]

Right here we go!

Chevrolet dealer have said it is the valves and they are sticking.

The reason for this the car had done low mileage....

I bought the car 26 months ago and it had 9000 miles on it in 2009 which menat it did 3k a year until I got it. It now does about 10k a year.

I mentioned the dashboard light had never been on but the reply was it was in it's early stages of going wrong.

I was quoted £906 for the work which absolutely gutted me!

I won't take credit for this but the wife rang and we have agreed to pay £590 instead.

I'm still not happy that this has happened with a car that has only done just under 31K. This new part will mean this will never happen again....

We suggested an engine flush but this may only clear it up for a few weeks.

The car is booked in agin in a fortnight but in the meantime I'll be contacting Chevrolet customer services (already sent an email) to see what they have to say. I have to admit they were excellent in paying for the respray of my flakey door handles earlier in the year even though the car is well out of warranty.

 

[ivesy]

Here's something I've been wondering since I was quoted £906 then down to £590 for the work to be carried out.



Having checked with VOSA there was never a recall for this sticking valve problem on Lacetti/Nubiras.



Yet when we questioned the price we were told to hang on then they'd get back in touch.



I think (and the guy at our local garage thinks) a call went to Chevrolet along
the lines of we've got another car in with sticking valves. Too which
the answer would have been ok let them pay for the part and we'll pay
for the fitting. Or vice versa.



As the guy at our local garage said why would they knock so much money off and
also why have theychanged this part if so few people had a problem?



All seems VERY underhand to me, obviously Chevrolet won't admit there IS
a problem as it will cost them money. So reducing the price like they
have for me doesn't wash I'm afraid. You get knowt for knowt!



Does anyone else out there have this problem and how much did they pay to get it fixed?



Does anyone have any views on this?



This isn't the last of it as far as I'm concerened I was initially
grateful they knocked the price down but why should I pay £590 because
they used a dodgy valve in my car?



Is it worth starting another post headed something like "the great sticking valves cover up"

 

[yzfrichie]

what i find wrong is do they expect all buyers to do 10000 miles plus per year just so the valves dont stick. i bought my 08 lacetti with 19000 miles on at one year old, its only on 27000 miles now at nearly 3 yrs old. should i be expecting the valves to stick with it doing only 8000 miles in 2 years. they should be doing it for free as they are the ones who fitted valves that can stick. i wouldnt be too pleased to be paying for this work if id bought the car new.

 

[TeeJay]

Post the question on honest john's website - he has brilliant inside info and may be able to assist you if there is an unofficial problem which Daewoo / chevrolet wont admit to it may become obvious after posting the question on his website. I find his info invaluable.

<cite>www.[B]honestjohn[/B].co.uk</cite>

 

[ivesy]

For the rest of sunday if anything it was worse than ever.

Then on Monday the car started driving normally again! It has all week.

On Friday I filled up and used the remainder of the bottle. On tuesday morning I cancelled my garage appointment andmade it for a couple of weeks time just in case.

To think my car was with my local garage on and off for nearly 2 weeks and they were going to charge £250 for the EGR valve. Then Chevrolet had it all day and went from £906 to £590 to charge me for the valve problem. Then I find using a bottle of £4.99 Redex has (so far) cured it!

I'm not counting my chickens yet but other people with this problem might want to give it a go.

 

[Rick-Manta]

I've heard a lot about sticking valves on the Lacetti. Mines a T18SED and I'm getting a few mis-fire, pinking, flat spot type of issues and given that they're intermittant, sticking valves are certainly a possibility.. When they say 'sticking', are they referring to somekind of sediment build up in the can followers or the valve stems, like near the oil seals perhaps?
Really for the sort of money they're quoting, I'd expect a full head recon, but the possibility of reoccurance is high! I'd recommend if you don't fancy doing it youself, getting a back street car clinic type of garage to drainall the oil with an hydraulic lifter cleaner or valve treatment, rather than a boggo engine flush. Then before refilling and doing up the sump plug, take off the cam cover and really give the inside of the head a good spraying with degreaser or thinners and get a brush in there, as well as turn the crank with a socket to open and close each valve so to clean then well.. If it runs inside the block, it'll all come out the open sump. Before refitting the cam cover and refilling, it's importnat to coat the camshafts and followers with fresh oil, else they'd wear on startup because of this decoke. It's a good opportunity to change plugs as well as the oil too.

I've binned the engine cover and the entire air intake has been replaced with silicone ducting, so I could get a piccy of where you need to be looking for those that fancy some DIY. My 36k engine has literally been 'thrashed' but like many engines that are suseptable to carbon build-up, high rev driving is more advantageous than most guys who are concerned over their Lacetti doing 26mpg and driving at very low revs.

 

[Rick-Manta]

...btw sorry to bring up an old post but thought these are going to be problems for folk at any time.

 

[mikes]

Check for corrosion of the three earth wires bolted to the inner wing below the battery.Strip back wires and fit new crimps. (Disconnect battery first)

 

[mikes]

I have had various jerky episodes stalling, sitting at about 2000rpm when warm eventually drops to normal tickover. Also warning lights glowing dimly with ignition of and a buzzing noise under the bonnetOnce the engine waring light came on but went off again. The abs warning light also had a mind of its own.
The problem seems to be with the 3 earth wires bolted to the inner wing just below the batterygetting corroded. suspect spilling washer fluid when refilling the washer bottle has not helped here.
Disconnect the battery negative first cut the three wired and strip back to clean wire fit new crimp lugs and reconnect. then reconnect the battery.