Misbehaving ZX...

Post by **philhoward** » 03 Dec 2006, 21:31

The trusty ZX 1.8i Auto is starting to show its age now - anyone got any pointers?
Firstly, its having a nasty habit of not idling..slight problem when its an auto! Stalling when doing less than 15mph can be dangerous on traffic islands and around town. Have already cleaned out the ISCV - which made it better for about 2 minutes, but it's not a total failure. 1 time out of 10 it will actually hold its idle. My temporary solution is to manually change down to 1st gear around town and "two foot" drive it and keep the revs above 1200rpm at standstill which probably isn't doing the box any more favours...
Secondly, the gearbox is starting to get rather "snatchy" on its changes and also hunts badly between 3rd and 4th at about 50mph when accelerating gently. I've heard that these boxes have a limited lifespan - is it about to die? It's just hit the 128,000 mile mark (virtually 200,000km), but also hear that you lose all forward drive in one hit...

The gearbox faults started before the idling problem, by the way..

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 03 Dec 2006, 22:44

idling fault check all the vacumm hoses for splits or cracks,the snatching try adjusting the clutch
regards malcolm

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 04 Dec 2006, 14:08

Most auto boxes are very sensative to fluid levels, try changing the fluid and keeping the level near the top end.. If cared for, it should manage a lot more than 128K!!
.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 04 Dec 2006, 20:55

sorry i missed the AUTO bit,although if the engine is not runnig quite right it can uppset how the gear box operates
regards malcolm

Post by **philhoward** » 10 Dec 2006, 19:48

The stalling issue was an actual ISCV failure, and also found out that the oil was changed on the box 40,000 miles ago (when i got it). The gear-snatching has improved a little since the new ISCV was fitted, but can still be a bit fierce. I've noticed that it initially revs higher when first started as well (used to get to 1200rpm and that was it, cold - now initially peakes at about 1500, then drops to 1200).

At least it doesn't leave me stranded in the middle of islands any more!