Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hi all,

Well i finally found a real gem of a cavalier recently and have it back and all to NI here from England. The car had the same owner for 17 or so years and its really original. However i am for doing a full service as many things as i can think of fluid wise as the car was parked up in a garage for roughly 4 years now.

Parts ive gathered so far include Timing belt kit, water pump, drive belt tensioner, drive belt, spark plugs, oil filter, oil and fuel filter..plus a new battery only fitted.

Now ive had it a few days now and have filled her more or less with fresh petrol for a start last night, but when the car is started from cold it will splutter and have real bother keeping a rev.. as in will rev well below 1k.

it will always turn over say 3rd or 4th time with the key. Then after about 4 to 5 minutes of this struggle she will suddenly rise just above 1k and then go to what i guess is the normal rev at just below 1k and then everythings like normal from there on in! I can properly move the car etc in first gear. But if its straight after i start her i can barely get it to reverse even!

Also the water pump has a bearing sound which comes and goes as far as i am aware its ran off the aux belt and it def needs changed ASAP

To me its like she is being starved of fuel for that first 5 minutes or so. Obviously it needs a full service etc after being sat up but was just wondering if anyone can say yes this screams out to me that this sounds like it is __________

Also what colour of Antifreeze/Coolant does the V6 take? Is it green? Silicate stuff..


Thanks for any replies or help!!

Could be any number of things, though I'd like to think that if it's been stood up for a few years, if the garage was damp, chances are moisture has got into various electronic components around the engine bay which won't help at all. As for anti-freeze, I used red color in my old V6, 50/50 mix with water, as per recommendations from people here. Get the plugs changed, check and spray water repellent on as many electric components as you can, check and clean the earth points around the engine bay. It's well worth replacing the fuel filter behind the tank too, as chances are that's nackered after being stood still for all that time. They tend to rust out.

I sort of held off on this one because I do not have a V6, but...

I am sure most cars regardless of engine spec will have a period of unsettled running.

For me this could be old dirty fuel, dirt, condensation or lord knows what in the fuel lines, throttle body etc after being stood for four years.

Only a complete strip and rebuild would ensure that nothing is still lurking in there somewhere.

I second the notion of a liberal dose of moisture repellent spray and a good thorough service.

It is a naff time of year too for starting issues - ambient moisture in the air.
Plays havoc with the HT / Ignition side of things.
A good clean and dry of the distributor, rotor, HT leads etc may impeove things no end.

Other than that, just check all rubber hoses (fuel and vacuum) for cracks and leaks.

Andrei did say that it could be a whole array of things.

With the amount of components all wedged into the engine compartment on the V6 models, it will feel like an eternity trying to get to the bottom of issues, best just to take time and do one thing at a time.

Im starting to think this is more battery related than anything. A new battery was fitted a week ago however one day it went flat on me when i was cleaning in round the doors etc for first time since i bought her. The starter was doing the machine gun sound and i had to charge the battery up a bit to get it going again.

So this past few days i have charged it a few hours when i can. Ideally need to get time to leave it to full charge.

My battery tester shows Full, middle and low options. When i come home from work it shows it on low reading... after leaving it on battery terminals all night. But it will start on 3rd go, theres no sign of lights fading etc. Well for now anyway.

Tester also shows alternator is charging OK with green light and passes this test with wipers, headlights full beam and heater fan up full.

So either something is draining power out of the battery like a bad earth or something like that or the new battery is poo. The battery its tiny when compared to the battery tray i think its 40AH and the V6 came with a 66AH factory if this would make a difference??
Only reason it got this battery was so it could be moved freely on transporter etc till i got it home.

However no point in me buying a fancy bosch s5 or something in the proper size for her until the start of the year when i plan to change all fluids etc and when the car will be out for good weather days and especially if its going to be drained as im sure this will do it no good at all.

I will try find a good battery off someone and see what happens with it this weekend.

Any thoughts?
Thanks.

From what I heard, small batteries won't be any good. Definitely get as large a battery as you can fit in the tray. Can get a good second hand one from a scrapyard if you can't afford brand new, because who can these days?

The cost of the battery is no problem lol. Its just i wont be using the car at all really to March time, so no point in it lying around.

I think the battery is causing me causing this coilpack like behavior.

The symptoms when i first start the car are the odd backfire, struggling to idle, like fuel starved, hints of shaking, a hint of petrol smell from exhaust.. but then once the car has been running for 5 to 10 mins the idle suddenly goes up to 1100 then back to round 850 and then its a totally different car, its revs normal.. no struggling to reverse or move forward in first gear etc.

Its like the alternator power must take over the batterys low power after these 5 or 10 mins and then the coilpack works fine and is then giving the right voltage..

I can't say that a weak battery would cause all those symptoms but it certainly won't help as the starter motor itself of such a large engine would take a good chunk of amps from it every time you try to start it, so the weaker the battery, maybe the more gremlins would show up. Definitely see if you can get a decent size battery first, and if you aren't using the car for a while, just remove it and store it inside.

OK mate. I think ill just get a good battery here first and take it from there, as i have one of those smart trickle chargers anyway.