Accelerator or battery??

  • Lullabell88's Avatar
    My partner drove our car home from work this morning with no problems at 8 am (after being left 12 hours overnight, about a 15 mile drive home) I went to go out at 9.30 and the car will not accelerate properly I floored it out of gear and nothing, it jumps itself to 10 but no higher on its own. Also, its juddering like it wants to cut out and the battery light is flashing while juddering.
    We have had problems with the service light coming on and my car feels like it wants to stall, this happens while pulling away and at high speeds (70mph) on bypass. It only lasts until the car is turned off then its fine again.
    The car is a Vaxhall Astra 09 diesel if this helps. Not sure if this is connected but thought I'd mention it.
    Need sorted ASAP as I could go into labor at anytime!!!
    I have just checked under the bonnet and the coolant has gone down by half since last Monday. It was full now its just under half! Could it have leaked and caused a problem???
  • 4 Replies

  • wagolynn's Avatar
    Guest
    The service light is telling you that something is not working as it should, in general the cheapest route is to have the car properly diagnosed. (Bosch garages come highly recommended).

    The sudden loss of coolant, with no visible leaks, suggests the head gasket has blown, driving it in this condition can only add to the repair costs.
  • Santa's Avatar
    It's obviously a bad time for this to happen, but I am amazed at how many people complain of problems and then say that the engine management light has been on for some time.

    You really need to get this car to a mechanic without delay, and I suspect that the repairs may well be several hundred pounds.
  • Smurfy100's Avatar
    Sounds like it could be your DPF blocked, could be worth taking it for a run at speed keeping the revs high and see if that clears the fault.
  • Beelzebub's Avatar
    Sounds like it could be your DPF blocked, could be worth taking it for a run at speed keeping the revs high and see if that clears the fault.

    That would be very bad advice, but fortunately the problem has already been solved in the eight months since the last post.