You need to visit a garage and get them to plug it into tech2 to diagnose the exact faults stored. It could be any number of sensors causing the problem.

As above you need to get it on the diagnostics machine to be sure. EGR valve would be my guess as it's about the most common thing these engines seem to do but it could be as simple as a sensor or as bad as a turbo.

EGR valve - get one on ebay and fit it yourself - 4 bolts piece of piss.

All in < £100

Does the MIL / Check Engine lamp come on ? What does the "Limp Home" feel like - limited to idle, or reduced torque ?

If you are only suffering engine speed limitation and the Check Engine light is not lit, it could be as simple as a dodgy clutch pedal switch.

The engine light comes on and it feels like it's lost most of it's power I.e. Going 70mph on the motor way to struggling to keep at 40/50mph. As soon as the engine is turned off and re started (without stopping sometimes) it's back and working perfectly.

Only reason I want to get it sorted is I don't want it to happen to the GF on the motorway. Otherwise I'd live with it as it's so intermittent.

EGR valve - get one on ebay and fit it yourself - 4 bolts piece of piss.
All in < £100

I thought about doing that. I couldn't locate where the EGR valve was though (I was going to clean int/disconnect it to see if I could fault find)

No matter how many Internet searches I couldn't work out where it is!!

Agree with everyone else - worth the money to get the faults codes read out - local garage should do it for 40 quid or less, but at least you'll get a good pointer on the problem.

Not sure on EGR failure - it's mainly an emissions component, so should light the MIL, but not cause engine torque limitation. Torque limitation would normally be for a failure that could lead to engine damage (head temp, oil temp, turbo related - MAF, MAP), or safety (pedal position).

My egr valve did this on a 1.9cdti - spanner light on and it goes into limp mode... no torgue as if you can barely get over 30mph.

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=169119

I'v got a 1.7 ctdi honda civic, common rail engine went into limp home mode when you went for more revs' overtaking puling away from junctions. Eventually i found it was fuel starvation to the common rail resulting in reduced power to get you home and then to the engine being cut out.
I replaced the fuel filter and everything since then has been great, apart from the honda and the civic bit obviously. Cheap fix though.

i had an Astra 888 which had the 1.9cdti engine. had many occurances of the problem you have described and, as many other have said, it was egr valve each time....apart from the last time I had the problem which turned out to be the inlet manifold.....this was last straw so sold it!

Might be worth having a look on [url= http://www.astraownersnetwork.co.uk ]Astra Owners Network Forum[/url] to see if there is anyone around you with tech2 system that can plug the car in and confirm that it is egr valve.

Hope you get it sorted!

If you've got breakdown cover then call them out just after it happens and see if they can read the code. I did this when my Passat kept going into limp mode and they (local garage via green flag) managed to retrieve the code and diagnose. Might be worth a shot as won't cost you anything.

I know it's not the same car but our old Corsa would go into 'safe mode' for no reason at random times. A bit of googling revealed a dodgy cam shaft sensor relay. Instructed garagey to replace it and hey pesto, back to normal.

forget egr fault if fault clears after restart.egr valve is mechanical and causes problems when it is stuck open when it shouldnt be.switching ignition off and on will have no effect on this!..what light comes on is it engine management or spanner light?

A friends BMW had these kind of issues - turbo problems.

Its worth taking it to a main dealer for diagnostic. Their can be fault codes present that are brought on buy other faults.
In short, the computer might say EGR valve fault but it could be a faulty sensor or a split vaccum pipe.

You could go down the bolt it on and see route, you could get lucky. Can get expensive if you get it wrong.

Main dealrs can be expensive but usualy they'll get it right.

Normaly you'd get charged 1hr labour for diagnostic, You dont have to get them to rectify it.

I believe EGR valve and cam pos sensors are favourites on these engines. Disconnecting the EGR valve should put it into limp home mode full time, as will cam position sensor. If you can locate the EGR valve, best off try that first, cleaning it up with some brake cleaner or similar and refitting. They get gummed up for a past time on lots of cars.

possible turbo waste gate stuck ? we do lots of these(I work at a vauxhall dealership). Egr valves aint nice to do either.

Knottie8, on the whole, are these engines reliable? (i know you can get good and bad in anything) Its just Mrs skips new car has one of these (if she does buy) so is it going to cause loads of problems or be ok?

You might be able to find out what the fault is without paying the garage for diagnostics - [url= http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/showthread.php?202018-vauxhall-fault-codes ]see the third post here for details[/url]. There's also a list of common fault codes on that page.

The light I see is the spanner light.

I think I'll be getting it booked in with main dealer.

spanner light and loss of power is quite often throttle potentiometer(if fitted to this model)which it should be.it is part of the throttle pedal.it is worth disconecting multiplug and reconnecting.

if spanner light is on it is not an emissions related fault as this should put on engine management light.

You might be able to find out what the fault is without paying the garage for diagnostics - see the third post here for details. There's also a list of common fault codes on that page

That list is a list of codes for slightly older cars, such as the old vectra. You could simply short out a couple of connections on the diagnostics port with eachother using a paperclip and using the ecu light on the dash, discover the code and find the fault from that list. The newer engines with the canbus electronics arent so susceptible to the same sort of diagnosis. You can only discover the codes if you know someone with access to op-com or tech2 software on a laptop or just go and buy it yourself..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Latest-v1-39-OP-COM-OPCOM-Diagnostic-Interface-/160458727883#ht_913wt_1137

It works absolutely fine so long as you have a laptop 😀

to be fair these engine dont give a lot of problems.

Oxnopp what would you say your driving style is ?
I've had similar problems on various Vws in th past and there's an easy fix.

got one in today and its waste gate is siezed shut causing over boost. Then the ecu kicks in and stops the power being produced. Fairly easy to check for under the front of the car using a small lever bar or a pressure pump. If you take the car to a garage suggest they check this first. It comes as part of the turbo but turbo prices are very cheap for this engine . I wouldnt even try to free it off unless it was my own car.

Oxnopp what would you say your driving style is ?
I've had similar problems on various Vws in th past and there's an easy fix.

Depends, it a second vehicle only used for MTB duties. SO it can be used 3 or 4 times in a week or not at all.

Both the GF & myself drive it, so mixed driving style. I have a new Golf GTI which I tend to drive in a spirited fashion so the van gets an easy life!

It comes as part of the turbo but turbo prices are very cheap for this engine

As part only what is reasonable for a turbo replacement on this vehicle?