2002 Vauxhall Astra no start

The P0340 is a cam sensor issue. That can cause a no start.

The P0460 is a fuel level sensor and wouldn't cause the problem.

The P1230 is where I feel the issue lies. This code indicates an open circuit to the fuel pump. Are you sure the pump is working? Will the engine start for a couple seconds using starting fluid? Have you checked to confirm the fuel pressure to the engine is within the manufacturer's specs?

The P0300 is a random misfire at the cylinders.

The first thing we need to check is if there is actually fuel pressure getting to the engine. Do that and let me know what you find.

HI thanks for your reply! Well I tested the fuel pump on a battery and it was working, when I depressurised fuel system before removing pump there was no pressure or fuel squirting out at the rail. However since I put new pump in there is pressure and fuel there. When I tested old pump on battery it did not work so I thought I was home and dry! I cranked car it started ran for 2-3 seconds then stopped. Now it just cranks over and wont fire? Originally it was firing with easy start before I replaced pump but that was more like a misfire it blew my air intake pipe apart at the flexi joint! Perhaps this was the cause of the random misfire code? Thing is I don't know how old these codes are as I recently had the car given to me by my nephew he told me it was fine before he parked it up, just that it sat for about 12 months I have changed Fob Battery reset key but no luck yet. I have been told that crank sensor sometimes brings up same code as cam sensor but I am really out of my depth trying to Fathom these things out! any help or ideas what basic tests I might do to determine where the fault is before I buy tons of new parts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Jim. :o)

Jim:

Do me a favor... See if the engine will start for a couple seconds using starting fluid. Let me know what results.

Hello again :o) I squirted the starting fluid into the carb and it fired up for 1 second then cut out. Got that noise like a misfire too? I was thinking of changing out the spark plugs, but does this test indicate that I am getting a spark? My very limited understanding would suggest that if I have fuel at the rail , my pump and relays must be ok? And if it fires up even for a second with starting fluid I must be getting a spark? The codes I got in the order they come up (if that makes any difference) are: 0340, Camshaft ? position sensor incorrect or no signal? Then I get 0230 Twice? Fuel pump secondary circuit high c-07? And/or Fuel pump relay open circuit c-07? Then after the level sensor code I get the 1230 twice? Main relay voltage high c-03? And /or Main relay open circuit c-03? At least this is the info I have looked up on internet but you probably know this already! Sorry if I am going on a bit just wanted to be sure I have given you all the info I have to date! Very much appreciate all your time and effort trying to help me! Anything else you need me to check just ask. Thanks again Jim. :o)

Yes, if it starts with starting fluid (even only for a couple seconds) you have spark. Now, with all the new codes you gave me, I have to start over. Hang in there... lol

First, since you have spark, I HAVE TO know if the fuel pressure at the fuel rail is within the manufacturer's specs. Are you certain the regulator is working properly and not allowing too much or too little pressure to build?

Next, if the pressure is correct and all is working properly, we need to check the injectors to see if they are getting an electrical pulse to inject fuel.

If that is good, remove the plugs (don't mix up the wires) and inspect. Are they wet? Are they black or fouled?

Let me know. Sorry for all the steps...

Hmm could be a bit of a problem that, I don't have the gauge needed to check pressure. and don't know how to check the regulator, whatever that is? Lool As a Layman maybe if I tell you that when I depressurised the fuel system prior to removing old pump there was no pressure or fuel as I think I said earlier? However I tried this again after I fitted new pump by pushing in the small valve on the rail and the fuel squirted out with a lot of pressure. Therefore I think the only thing we can deduce from this is that there is not too little pressure? My next problem is I am afraid I do not know how to check the injectors? ( Let me take a moment to apologise for any headaches I might be causing you Lol ) And Ahem at the moment I cannot find my darn sparkplug spanner! I have been looking for it last couple of days but I will go buy a new one and check the plugs ASAP doh! Just to make it worse I have to go into hospital for a small operation on my hand Thursday so I have few things to do and may be a bit delayed making checks? I will keep checking back here though in case you have any suggestions how I might go about doing the other tests you have mentioned. All I can say for now is I might be thick but I am willing to learn! Lol Thanks again Jim. :o)

Jim:
Checking the injectors is easy. It does, however, require a noid light, which you can rent at a parts store. All you have to do is disconnect one injector at a time and plug the light into the supply side. Have someone crank the engine. When cranking, the light should flash or pulse on and off.

As far as checking the pressure and regulator, here is a video to watch.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/fuel-pump-pressure-and-regulator-test-video-all-cars

The test is straight forward.

Let me know what you find, and I wish you well with the operation. Keep in touch and let me know how things are going.

Joe

By the way, I did find this too. It will help when you check the injectors.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-a-fuel-injector

Thanks Joe! Very interesting video and info. I will look into renting the tools I need over the next week or so. I need to get this surgery on myself sorted 1st (Carpel tunnel surgery Ouch!) But as soon as I can I will get stuck into it! I will keep you informed of any progress and hope to talk to you again soon. Thanks for your regards and help greatly appreciated, talk soon take care. Jim :o)

Hello again Joe. If possible could you take a look at the following Ebay links and advise me if these tools are the correct ones for testing fuel pressure and injectors?



Thanks! :o)

I'm not sure of either. The noid like says it's for injection checking, but I I don't know what system you have on your car or if this covers it. Contact the seller before making the purchase. As far as the pressure tester, it looks like a compression gauge only. I don't see where it would tie into the fuel rail schrader. Take a look at this one, for example.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/actron-fuel-pressure-tester-kit-cp7818/9030328-P?cm_mmc=ACQ-_-Google-_-Enhanced-_-Dynamic&jadid=61601342245&jap=1t2&jkId=gpt:pt_134962&js=1&jsid=34339&jt=1&jr=http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/actron-fuel-pressure-tester-kit-cp7818/9030328-P%3Fcm_mmc%3DACQ-_-Google-_-Enhanced-_-Dynamic#

Hmm I have a mk4 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 sxi 16v. Seems that all the noid lights say for testing injectors, looks similar to one used on the video? Although I am not even sure how to access the injectors yet I think they are under a long plastic box next to the fuel rail? But I have not as yet worked out how to remove it! I will contact seller and ask him meantime like you say. Do you think either of the following 2 items will do the fuel pressure, The 1st says fuel injection tester and the 2nd fuel pump pressure tester? I am close to buying a bicycle! Lol Thanks Jim. :o)

It looks like either one will work. As far as the injectors, yes, they will be between the fuel rail and the cylinder head. There are small O-rings that seal them.

Ok Joe thanks a mil ! Take some well deserved time off while I get myself sorted out! Lol Will get back to you in a week or so with any progress? Thanks again for all your help talk soon take care. Jim :o)

Jim:

Not a problem. I'm glad to help. I'll watch for your reply. You know, I just had another thought. Since the vehicle sat for a year, I wonder if the fuel is still good. I'm not sure, but based on the vehicle, I believe you are in the UK. In the US, a year can cause fuel to begin breaking down. Longer than that, it will hardly run the vehicle. It's just a thought. And by the way, if you are in the UK, I have to tell you, my two sons and I have a favorite show. It's Top Gear. I realize that most likely means nothing to you, but I just had to say it. We get a kick out of those three guys. However, we are really upset that Jeremy Clarkson may not be with the show much longer. They need to keep him!!!

Take care,
Joe

Oh very interesting point that Joe, when I replaced the pump I did notice that the fuel inside the tank was very grubby! I did replace fuel filter, old one was in bad shape, but never considered age of fuel. Think I will make that my first job drain the old fuel and see how it goes! Not sure how long hand will be out of use though just yet having the operation tomorrow so hopefully wont be too long before I can do that? And yes! Liverpool UK here! Top gear is a very popular show here too! Its been said in the news today that his contract wont be renewed! Oh well Jeremy if all else fails perhaps I can give him a job as a star in a reasonably broken down car! Lol Take care Joe talk soon! :o)

Jim:

I had a feeling that is where you were. I have always wanted to visit your country. Someday, maybe I'll get the chance. Regardless, that upsets me that they won't renew his contract. He played a good part on the show, but...

I wish you luck tomorrow. I'm sure everything will go fine. Take care and let me know when you want to get back to the car.

Take care,
Joe

Hello again Joe. I survived! Although the bandage on my hand is bigger than my head! Lol 2 weeks before I get stitches out but in the meantime I will siphon tank in the next few days and put some fresh fuel in see how that goes? Take my advice if you do ever come to UK try and come in the summer. Although I don't know what DAY summer will be this year? Lol Take care Joe talk soon. :o) Jim.

Jim:
Summer sounds good. We just went through a winter that made it to 20 degrees F below 0. I am sick of the cold weather.

Although I feel putting new fuel in the tank is a good idea no matter what, see if it will start when using starting fluid. If it does, then we do have a fuel issue.

Keep the hand clean and dry, and I hope all is well.

Take care,
Joe

Wow 20 below! Don't think I could handle that! Never mind hopefully the good weather is near by for both of us now? Going to get back to car in a few days darn hands been aching like hell! But will get back to you in few days maybe with a update, Take care Joe talk with you soon. Jim :o)

Hello again Joe! How have you been? Had a couple of days tinkering with car but seem to be going round in circles. I drained old fuel (it looked really bad) and replaced it with some fresh fuel and a bit of Redex for good measure. Sill no start and now I don't have fuel at the rail again! I ran a feed from the battery direct to the pump and the pump is working, that put fuel back at the rail but still no start! I am inclined to think the no start is down to the cam or crank shaft sensors coupled with the problems on the fuel circuit? (assuming of course the ECU is not toast!) Been trying to teach myself how to check the fuel relay circuit with the use of the internet. I don't know if any of the following will make sense but here goes... Pin 30 + 87 are the load side of my relay ? Whilst pin 85 + 86 are the control side? Using only a test light (sorry that's all I have) with key on I should have power on pin 87 but I have not? and pin 85 should flash when cranking or give a few second prime when key on, but it does not? All I do get is constant power on pins 85 and pin 30 with key either on or off? Originally I did have some power at the pump when I tested the plug (unplugged) but now I don't even have that! I have tried a jumper wire between pins 30 + 87 to no avail Seems to me the fault codes 0230 x2 and 1230 x2 are trying to tell me what is wrong but I carnt seem to grasp what I must do to solve them problems? except perhaps try and get an apprenticeship with a auto electrician! Lol Very close to admitting defeat here unless you have any ideas? Don't worry if not at least it has been fun (albeit sadistic fun) trying to work it out. Lol Thanks again for your help. Jim :o)

Welcome back. I hope all is well with your hand. I see you are back at the car again. You know, both codes are for the fuel pump primary circuit malfunction. Also, you shouldn't be getting power at the relay with the key off. There should be 12v when the key is in the run position only. That leads me to believe there is a short to ground. What does the wiring harness look like going to the relay box? Is there anything that is bare, damaged...?

One other thought, and I may have asked you already, but will the car start with starting fluid?

Hello Joe good to hear from you again! Hand is still a bit tender but healing fine thanks. Yes I have been trying again with car but it is fighting me all the way! Lol The wiring to the relay box looks ok, no obvious damage. But I am not too sure about the wiring to the plug at the pump? I can tell this pump has been replaced before because someone in the cars past has cut off the quick release connectors and replaced them with hose clamps! Not an idea I like myself but I have been told that its common for this to be done? At the moment though its this plug I am not sure about, problem is I cannot get much access to it from inside the car so I intend to see what I can do from underneath. Just hope I don't need to drop the tank to get to it! As for the 2 fault codes that repeat twice I have deduced that the 0230 code is Fuel pump secondary circuit high C-07? And, Fuel Pump Relay Open Circuit C-07? and the 1230 code is Main Relay Circuit Voltage High C-03? And, Main Relay Open Circuit C-03? Hope this means more to you than it does to me? Lol With reference to the starting fluid. Yes it does start only for half a second with the fluid, and I don't know if its relevant but when I crank the car without using the starting fluid, although it wont fire, I get the same smell as when I do use the starting fluid? Another problem I have encountered (as if I did not have enough!) is the spark plugs seem to be seized! They are located in deep recesses in the engine and I have bent a couple of tommy bars trying to undo them! with my hand the way it is at the moment I cannot do too much more of that, but I think we did say that if the car fires only for half a second with fluid we do have spark? At least the weather here has improved for the time being so I will be able to tinker around more each day, so look forward to any suggestions you might have? Take care Joe, hope to talk soon. Thanks Jim. :o)

Jim:

Sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I had a hell of a weekend. I was at the shop till 4:30 AM on Friday. I have an old Jeep that I can't part with. Well, it needed new backing plates for the rear brakes due to rust. I had everything I thought I could need and all was going well until I tried to bleed the R rear wheel cylinder and the bleeder broke. Ugh!!! I was there till late trying to make old ones work. To get the plates off, the differential had to come apart and the axles removed. That was the easy part. lol Well, I had to be back at work at 8 so I got no sleep. Now, I feel like I was drinking all weekend.

Okay, back to your vehicle. Listen, since we now know that someone has played with the pump before, I hate to say it, but we really need to check the wiring there. If they clamped the hoses back on, chances are they played around with other things. That could be where the open circuit is located. Do you have an access port you can get to without removing the tank? Are you able to see the wiring? If you can, disconnect it from the pump and pull it through the port. Using a test light, see if there is power to it.

BTW, I hope I didn't already suggest this. I am too tired to read through all the posts at this point. If I did, you can call me a jerk and we'll move on. lol I will be back tomorrow for sure.

Joe

Hey no worries Joe! I appreciate all the help and suggestions you can and have given me to date! I understand you got your own things to see to, so don't ever worry if you cannot get back to me straight away. This project for me is more of a learning curve or a hobby and is in no way urgent at this time. Anyway I spoke too soon about British weather, last couple of days have been wet and cold! Lol tomorrow is good forecast (fingers crossed) so I will get underneath car and see if I can get better access to this cable? From the access port under rear seat I can only reach a couple of inches of this cable so I am hoping I can pull it through from underneath without dropping the tank, was thinking maybe I could put some string on it from inside to pull it back into position? Only time will tell Lol I will give it a try tomorrow and let you know how I got on. I am happy to hear you can do wheel cylinders too because when we get my car running I want to replace the rear cylinders and brake shoes so the fun should continue! Lool Take it easy Joe talk soon. Cheers Jim :o)

Jim:

I like reading your posts. Your accent reminds me of top gear. lol Anyway, I am presently at work and will be her till 3. Then I go to the shop till 8 and then I tutor a student till 9. Ugh!!!

As far as the wheel cylinders, they are simple and you shouldn't have any trouble. The biggest problem is corroded steel brake hoses that break when removed or bleeders that break when you try to remove them. However, the bleeder isn't a concern if you are replacing the wheel cylinder. Whenever you're ready, let me know.

Joe

Ha ha Joe I don't think anything will ever be simple on my car! Did you ever see a movie about a certain Plymouth Fury named Christine? Well I think my car is Christine's daughter! And sure enough she's almost a teenager which explains why she will not fix herself! Lool Let you know how I get on today talk when you can Joe no problem. Cheers Jim :o)

Hello again Joe. I made a bit of progress today I think? Managed to get at more of the wiring from inside the car and found the live had a break in it! I repaired that and it restored the fuel to the rail. I gave it a few squirts of starting fluid and it fired up and ran or about 10 seconds! I was almost packing my picnic basket when it shuddered back to a stop! Lol But now it is trying to start every time I crank it so I am trying to think where to go next?
Do you think the prime suspect might be the camshaft position sensor now with it having the 0340 fault code? Or perhaps a blockage somewhere? Geez I don't know! I have put the battery on charge and will try it again tomorrow maybe? One thing I want to check is if the other codes have cleared as I believe removing the battery for a few hours will do this if indeed those problems are now resolved? Look forward to any suggestions when you have the time Joe, I am going to go and mow the lawn now before the trouble and strife puts me in the dog house! Lool Talk soon Jim :o)

Joe additional, additional update... Houston we have lift off !!! There I was cutting the lawn like a good boy when it dawned on me that I had not re-synced the key fob! I put battery back in and done it then hey presto it started up! It spluttered and coughed a lot at 1st but now it starts 1st time and ticks over sweet.
All my engine management lights have gone out now so that's great too. I think for sure your idea about the fuel being degraded was spot on! Before I drained old fuel I had fuel at the rail BUT I drained tank by removing pump again because it was easiest way I could manage to do it. When I replaced pump after draining old fuel the live wire must have broken then causing a lot of head scratching! Soon as I fixed that wire then remembered to re-sync the key Doh! it came back to life!
Joe I want to thank you again for all your help you have been great and I really appreciate everything! As we say here in the UK...The jobs a Gudden! Have a virtual beer on me!
Don't worry its not goodbye just yet. WE still need to sort them brakes out! Lool spend ages trying to get the car to go now we have to work out how to make it stop!! Haha Talk when I can get hold of the parts I need might be a week or 2 ? Until then take care and cheers! Jim. :o)

I'm sitting here with my son watching Top Gear and who do I get an email from? The UK. lol I'm glad you got it going. Car problems can almost always be a headache, but you did it.

As far as the brakes, let me know when you're ready and I'll help guide you. Weird, but I feel like I'm losing a friend. Regardless, I'll always be here if you need anything. By the way, you're welcome to come over and cut my grass. Five freaken acres and half of it is a hill.

See the attached pic? I have no idea if you'll get it, but it is a view from the front of my house. The truck, not from the UK, was ready to be junked. I paid 60 USD for it, got it running again, fixed a minor trans issue, and redid the body (I hate body work). I drove it till it had 250K miles on it and sold it for 2K USD.

Anyway, from the crest of the hill is 700 feet more of driveway, so if you feel like cutting grass, it is now starting to grow here.

Oh darn it pic would not load. But think I will take a rain check on the grass cutting thanks, 5 acres? Don't think mine is 5 sq yards and that takes me long enough! Lol Sounds great though pity the pic would not load. Never mind I am sure I will need some help doing these brakes, first problem I have is removing Vauxhall wheel locking nuts that are seized! Darn security key keep slipping but the thread is not ripped so its a bit baffling/? I have seen a trick on internet where a guy made a tool that clamps the socket and key to the wheel and holds it in place while you connect a breaking bar, so I am going to see if I can make one myself? I want to replace rear drums, shoes and cylinders along with front pads and rotors in a ideal world that is? Just need to gather a few funds first then the fun should begin! Can only imagine the joy I will have trying to get the drums and rotors off! Assuming of course I can get the wheels off 1st! Lol Enjoy the calm before the storm talk soon. cheers Jim :o)

I'm going to try this again, If it doesn't work, the heck with it. I don't know if you caught what I said about price. It was ready for the junk pile and I got it for 40.36 pounds or 60.00 US dollars. lol I drove it for 2 years.

I give up. It's uploading, but won't open. It's a JPEG image. It doesn't make sense.

Oh sorry yes did get what you said but was bit thrown by darn pic not loading! Lol 60 USD and you sold it for 2k after 2 years?? Did you send it to Pimp My Ride?! Lool It wasn't that one where they put a pool table in the back was it? Haha There is hope for me yet, so far my car has cost me 50 GBP as it was given to me by my nephew. Think I am looking at another 200 GBP to get it fully roadworthy with a M.O.T Certificate? (Don't know if you have M.O.T Testing by law over there?) However to get a mark up like the one you got I would need to put a pool table and a swimming pool in mine!! Lool Wonder if the pic would work on your profile? Just a thought talk soon Joe take care! Jim :O)