Black Smoke & Power Loss: Vauxhall Adam Crisis

Hey there! I have some experience working on cars, and this sounds familiar. I had a similar issue with my 2017 Vauxhall Corsa last year. My car showed pretty much the same symptoms, black smoke, power loss, and that annoying engine light. Turned out it was just faulty cable connections to the fuel system sensors. My local mechanic sorted it out for about 95 Euro, they cleaned all the connections and replaced a couple of damaged cables. Car's been running perfectly since then. Before jumping to conclusions though, what's your mileage, and have you noticed any particular pattern when these issues occur (like cold starts or after driving for a while)? This info would help narrow things down, as these symptoms could point to different issues depending on the specifics. Quick tip: make sure to get it checked soon, driving with these symptoms could lead to bigger problems down the road. Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more details.

Thanks for sharing your experience! My mileage is at 214,768 KM and I had my last service about 3 months ago. Actually, I've noticed these issues happen mostly during cold starts and seem to get a bit better after the engine warms up, but the problems never fully go away. The black smoke is definitely worse in the morning. I'll take your advice and get it checked out ASAP, don't want to risk making things worse. Did your mechanic mention any other potential causes when they fixed your car? I'm hoping it's just sensor connections like in your case, sounds like a relatively straightforward fix. Thanks for the help!

Hey again! Yeah, I remember when I had those issues with my Corsa. Actually, when I mentioned it to my mechanic back then, he did talk about a few other potential causes. Since your symptoms are getting worse during cold starts, it reminds me even more of what I went through. In my case, while the cable connections were the main issue, my mechanic also found that my fuel injectors were pretty gunked up. He said that could've been contributing to the black smoke and rough running, especially during cold starts. I ended up getting them cleaned as well, added about 150 Euro to the bill, but it made a huge difference. With your mileage being at 214K, it might be worth checking those injectors too. My car had around 180K when I had these problems, so pretty similar situation. The fuel smell and black smoke combo is exactly what I experienced before getting mine fixed. Just a heads up, if it does turn out to be more than just sensor connections, don't let them push you into replacing all the injectors right away. A good cleaning often does the trick, worked for me anyway. My Corsa's been running smooth as butter for the past year. Keep us posted on what you find out! Always happy to share what I learned from my experience.

Thanks so much for all the detailed info! That's really helpful about the injectors, makes a lot of sense given my symptoms and mileage. I've actually just booked the car in for tomorrow morning at my local garage and I'll definitely mention both the sensor connections and injectors to them. It's such a relief to hear your Corsa's running well after similar issues. The cost doesn't sound too bad either, I was worried it might be something way more expensive. Even if it ends up being both problems, that's still manageable. Really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and the heads up about not rushing to replace the injectors. I'll update the thread once I know what's wrong. Fingers crossed it's as straightforward as yours was!