Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hey, have recently joined to ask if anyone has any advice regarding the Cavalier I currently have which has been SORN for around 5 years now. It's a 1993 1.8 8V hatchback.

So here is the dilemma: This cavalier used to be used as a taxi for many years, until it was taken of and replaced in 2010. Since then, it has been sat in the drive. The problem that always caused it to fail the taxi MOT was high emissions. In it's running days, it had a new catalytic converter fitted each year as well as some other mods/replacements to lower the emissions.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to lower the emissions to today's standards?

Thanks for any help given.

Nick

Hello.

How strange, I've never seen that one around here, I've had 3 Cavaliers and been driving 8 years all in the local area!

Emissions wise, there isn't much to go wrong on the 8 valvers, I've had 2, they are as basic as engines get, have you tried giving her a good thorough service, take all the breather hoses off, EGR valve, give it all a good clean out, does the engine management light come on at all?

Could just need a good clean out if it's been SORN that long, if you're in Bournemouth, I might be able to have a look at it for you if that helps? Let me know.

Regards.

Andrei.

I am sure Paul (PlanetC) once said that the injector becomes worn or sticks, causing over fuelling.

So maybe a good injector clean, or refurbished injector may help.
Not much chance of getting a new one, as the newest C18NZ is 20 years old.

It is only one centrally mounted injector so not too expensive to get done.

I know that the emissions went quite high on my C18NZ (same as you have) in it's latter years... but it had easily done over 200,000 miles by then.
I converted it to C20NE in 2011.
25 more ponies for no apparent change in mpg.
Smiles all round.

First thing you want to do is replace the O2 sensor.

If you had to replace the catalytic converter every year then that is a symptom of a wider problem.

As has be suggested above, it is probably over fuelling.
When it is over fueling you get unburnt petrol going through the exhaust, this will quickly destroy the Catalytic converter.

The most common cause of over fueling is a worn out O2 sensor.

I'd thoroughly recommend replacing that first especially if you can't remember doing it before.

For your 1.8 engine you will need Bosch part number LS50311
Here is one on eBay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/F00HL00311-BO ... 234f7bb32a

Never seen one that colour before
Did you say ' a new catalytic converter every year'??? Outside of you somehow sourcing leaded fuel from somewhere (for whatever reason), how on earth did you achieve a strike rate like that?

Worn injector? Possibly, it's certainly one cause of overfuelling. Sticking injector? Unlikely, unless you are reporting a corresponding misfire as well. Possibly even a stall?

It's been suggested to change the lambda sensor which is a nice, cheap (potential) solution along with a new CTS.

If this car has been SORN for 5 years, I'd get it running regularly before I made any pronouncements over engine health, after an all-points major service.

Brand fuel, if you're not already, I only use Shell.

Yeah, pretty much a new one every year due to the emissions standards changing.

I shall check everything that is mentioned above as well as possibly getting a new O2 Sensor.

It has done around 206,000 miles if that helps anything.

Btw, what is the engine management light? And where abouts are you in Bournemouth?

nickoliver95 wrote:Yeah, pretty much a new one every year due to the emissions standards changing.

I shall check everything that is mentioned above as well as possibly getting a new O2 Sensor.

It has done around 206,000 miles if that helps anything.

Btw, what is the engine management light? And where abouts are you in Bournemouth?

Emission standards changing shouldn't matter. There is a set standard for your car in mot, relating to age and emissions at the time of manufacture.A new cat every year points to a problem.
The engine management light is the one on the dash that looks like an engine block with a lightning bolt inside it. Turn the ignition on before starting. If the eml light is off (iirc middle of the bottom left 3 ) then either the bulb has blown or it's been removed, this can mask faults.
Search the forum and do the paperclip test, that would be my starting point

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=630

I spoke to my dad about it and he believes that it never had a new O2 Sensor. He had a EGR Valve replaced. I'm going to go check the Engine management light now and will let you know if it shows up.

Thank you for the advice and help!

nickoliver95 wrote:Yeah, pretty much a new one every year due to the emissions standards changing.

I shall check everything that is mentioned above as well as possibly getting a new O2 Sensor.

It has done around 206,000 miles if that helps anything.

Btw, what is the engine management light? And where abouts are you in Bournemouth?

Branksome.

200000 miles isn't a massive amount for an ex-taxi vehicle, the 8 valvers can easily double that with regular maintenance. As said above, emissions changes don't affect older vehicles, if it passes one year, it should pass the next year. I've certainly never had a Cavalier fail on emissions on any MOT, and I'm not aware of any apparent changes on the data sheets. There's CO2 content, idle speed, lambda number, and something else, if the engine sensors are healthy all round, and it doesn't smoke, it should always pass.

Ok, the engine light doesn't appear to show up. It managed to go through the last taxi-MOT when the EGR Valve and Catalytic converter were replaced before my dad took it off the road 5 years ago.

Oh right, I'm in the North of Bournemouth, in the Kinson area.

When you say it doesn't show up, do you mean at all? It should illuminate when the ignition is switched on until the engine is started. If it doesn't show up at all, the bulb may have gone.

Ok, I'm not the brightest 20 year old here. I opened the bonnet to find the battery wasn't even connected (even though it isn't able to start with this battery) and the lights came up showing the EML...



My parents tell me that the EML is supposed to show up and will still be able to start up?

Yes, absolutely, we were all new to Cavaliers at some point so you don't need to be ashamed, I learned how to work on cars through my first 8 valve Cavaliers, so you'll get the hang of it soon enough.

The light is there to show up if there is an electronic fault when driving, it should go off after the engine is started, and any faults can be shown up with a paper-clip test as mentioned in an earlier post. Simple enough to do, if you have a day free, I'll be happy to show you, I've only got a push bike at the moment though so distance dependent as Kinson is a few miles from me.

nickoliver95 wrote:...when the EGR Valve...

OK
never owned one, but 93 8v - with an EGR valve?

Hmm still can't edit my own posts

Yep, EGR valve - just googled it

C18NZ, which would probably be his engine as it's facelift. They have the EGR located on the inlet manifold.

I took a couple of pictures of the engine which I will attach to this post.




I will need to get a new battery for it so I can start it up to check the EML so will update when I manage to do that.

Looks fairly clean to me, your bog standard C18NZ. Other than what looks like an alarm wire from the battery terminal it's all original, even the heat induction hose going to the airbox from the manifold.

Cavalier342 wrote:Looks fairly clean to me, your bog standard C18NZ. Other than what looks like an alarm wire from the battery terminal it's all original, even the heat induction hose going to the airbox from the manifold.

The car doesn't actually have an alarm on it. I believe that wire probably has something to do with the meter that is still inside under the radio

Meter? You mean the taxi meter? If that's fitted, you've got one hell of a rare example!

Cavalier342 wrote:Meter? You mean the taxi meter? If that's fitted, you've got one hell of a rare example!

The taxi meter:


Along with the printer still on the dashboard:



Followed by the old taxi sign:




This one was actually the last Cavalier on as a taxi before it was taken off

So is a 'TAXI' mot stricter on emissions, Than a normal mot ? Thats maybe why it keeps failing then..

Super89 wrote:So is a 'TAXI' mot stricter on emissions, Than a normal mot ? Thats maybe why it keeps failing then..

I was thinking that could possibly be something, but was told the regulations have changed since, so was since skeptical.

When I manage to get a working battery to check the EML and try out the paperclip trick - I shall update on what comes up

Hey guys... a year on and not a lot has really happened. We cleaned all the interior been while trying to keep the rest of it clean but that is about it. Rust started building up in the wheel arches again and under the right side back door. The central locking is still playing up and we want to get it back up and running so we can start using it.

Is there anyone that lives locally (North Bournemouth-SE Dorset) that would be willing to help or know anyone that could help with anything to get it on the road?

Thanks