Shuts off while driving and revs high

CAROLINE DONALDSON

MEMBER
1998 OPEL CORSA
200,000 MILES

My car has 1.3L engine.

it started shutting off while driving and you have to wait a few minutes, start again and drive until it does it again. We changed the coil pack as instructed by our spare shop, but still no luck, we than changed the PTS sensor and the idle sensor, still no luck. We also got a brand new battery because after all this it would not start it was all dead.
Now, the engine light keeps popping up and off after awhile and sometimes it doesn't go off at all, now it also started revving while driving very high even if we idle?

I am lost and need any advice please, neither me or my husband are mechanics and I do not have the cash to pay someone right now, so trying to solve this ourselves.

Thank you,
Caroline Donaldson

1 Reply

HARRY P

MECHANIC
2,292 POSTS

Hello and thanks for using 2CarPros. While this isn't a US market car, it appears to be similar to the Geo Metro, which is a US market car, so I can give you some help based on the Metro.

The first thing I'd say is that you need to have the trouble code(s) pulled to see exactly what the computer thinks is going on. Here in the US, we can stop at any of the major chain auto parts stores and they'll scan it for free, or we can go to just about any mechanic and pay a small fee to have it done. So the next time that the service engine/check engine light comes on, stop somewhere and have it scanned. It would be best if you could do so without shutting off the car.

Without the trouble code(s), we're basically guessing. You can try poking around under the hood to look for leaking vacuum lines (small rubber hoses that hold a certain amount of air pressure). A leaking vacuum line can cause a lot of weird things to happen. Here's our general how-to guide on that: https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-an-engine-vacuum-gauge

And here's our YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN5pcM-5bso

Also, it would be helpful if you could figure out which engine you have, as your car has a few different options. If nothing else, you could get me the VIN number and then I should be able to look it up myself.