What do you reckon's wrong with my Holden Astra?

[Chiefasdf]

Sorry, I know this is a commodore forum, but I have a Holden Astra 2003, 1.8Lr manual and I hope this is okay.

So here is the problem, when I start the car, engine revs from back and forth from 800 to 2000 rpm for about 30 seconds, then settles to 1200rpm.

When driving, car has no power, can't go over hills faster than 30-50km/h

I've replaced the fuel filter which didn't make a difference.

I thought It could have been bad fuel, so I've stopped putting E10 in, it's made things a little bit better, still not very drivable.

Could someone please help me diagnose this?

EDIT:
*The "check emissions" light is constantly on.
*The temperature gauge doesn't go above 0 even on long trips.

 

[wamboin23]

sounds like ECU.

they have all sorts of problems with them, one been loosing the throttle assembly earth which runs through the ECU.

if you do a search on opelaus.com, or something like that, there is a wire you can earth at the throttle body (I'm thinking its a yellow wire) for testing purposes, to see if this is the prob.



the best bet is to check for error codes (again check opelaus etc. or get a mechanic/auto elec to check) and see what they say. Might just need a throttle body clean, as this has been known to cause strange problems too.

 

[Astranomical]

I second wamboin23 - sounds like it could be the ECU.

For what its worth, the Z18XE can run E10, in fact the manual for my Astra (Astra H) says so in the manual, and on the interior of the fuel flap...I tried it in mine...however I found that not only did I lose power, but my fuel consumption also went up. Back to BP Ultimate for me.

 

[Chiefasdf]

Thanks guys, I'm hoping it's not the ECU, as they are pretty expensive to replace.
Update:
I found out the error codes after watching this video (How to see error codes on a Vauxhall astra without a diagnostic tool - YouTube)
I got 0170 and 0301

Looking them up now.

 

[ari666]

clean your maf and check your cooling system.

 

[Chiefasdf]

Update time! So I gave up and went to a mechanic. He took one look at it and said, the cam sensor was stuffed. I went home and tested it with a multimeter (there is a youtube tutorial on this). It turns out he was right. I'm going to order one on eBay and install it in the next few days. They are $150 at Repco, and $59 on eBay.

I'll post the results of the new sensor in a few days. YAY!