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Head Gasket Problems
Vehicle Make	Vauxhall
Vehicle Model	Tigra 1.4
Vehicle Mileage	36000
Vehicle Age	1999
Fuel Type	Petrol
Question:
My car miss-fires on starting but only for a while (just after it has warmed up a little, choke still on) then runs ok. the radiator often needs bleeding to release build up air in the system (a large amount) no visible signs of water in the oil and no real signs of water at the exhaust. Is it possible the head gasket is only slightly damaged, hence a damp plug on start up? Any thoughts, checks that can be done to eliminate this? Thanks for any advise.....!!!!!!!
Mechanical Help:
It's likely the fault has been diagnosed correctly already. All the symptoms point to a small head gasket failure. A regular customer of mine had a Peugeot 306 diesel with exactly the same symptoms without showing oil in the water or water from the exhaust. The car ran for over two years like this and never failed. The problem with miss fires and chugging when starting the car was over come by releasing the pressure from the radiator after every journey so the pressurised system did not force water into the cylinders!! The simplest way to test the head gasket is to do a 'sniff' test. This is a check for exhaust gasses in the coolant. Water from the radiator is mixed with a chemical and if exhaust gasses are present the chemical changes colour. This is a pretty cheap test that can be done at all good garages.

Starting Car After Running Out Of Fuel
Vehicle Make	Vauxhall
Vehicle Model	Astra Tdi
Vehicle Mileage	54000
Vehicle Age	2000
Fuel Type	Diesel
Question:
After running out of fuel. I have since put fuel in and my car will not start ,after reading the manual I am supposed to try starting for ten second intervals to bleed the fuel but it still will not start any tips would be gratefully accepted.
Mechanical Help:
You need to bleed the system to get the air out as you already know and it can be a real pain and messy. The fuel pump may need bleeding, the injection lines, fuel filter etc. The easiest and quickest way to get round this is to get a tow off and jump start the car. It will most likely need quite a long tow of chugging to get going but it does the job. However if this is not possible (no one to tow you) you need to locate your bleed valves (see operators manual) throughout the fuel system and one by one open them up and use the primer pump to squeeze out the air. When all the air is out tighten the bleed valve and move on to the next one. After each bleed try the engine again if it doesn't start bleed the next item. To bleed the injector lines you will need to loosen them off at the injectors. The engine may start but run lumpy but if you can keep it going it will eventually settle when all the excess air is pushed out.

What's Causing My Car To Misfire?
Vehicle Make	Vauxhall
Vehicle Model	Calibra 2.0 16 valve X20XEV
Vehicle Mileage	110000
Vehicle Age	1995
Fuel Type	Petrol
Question:
To try and find out what is causing my car to misfire I have changed the crank sensor, O2 sensor, coil pack, spark plugs and leads as the spark plugs were black. I have also had it compression tested with the results reading correct. Please can you advise, all who have looked at this car tell me it is an electrical problem?
Mechanical Help:
Its likely the black plugs are the give away here however black plugs can be caused by many different conditions. Carbon deposits build up when the plug fails to fire correctly and burn them off. Air/fuel mixture could be too rich, choke could be stuck on, electrical problem, extended periods of low speed driving, plug heat range too cold. Obviously from our stand point its difficult to gauge what the cause could be but would advise to investigate all the above.

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