Hi all,

My friend's automatic Jazz has this problem. Sometimes when driving at speed, usually above 30 mph and up to dual carriageway speeds, the gearbox seems to slip down to a lower gear, revving loads and losing power. I believe this is known as "flaring". Often it does it a few times before returning to normal, but sometimes it results in the engine cutting out or losing power completely and she has to pull over on the dual carriageway.

I just tried the EGR valve tonight - fitted a blanking plate but this did not solve the problem. I'll give the valve a clean anyway and take the blanking plate out.

She took it to a garage a few weeks back and they tried flushing the transmission fluid (although I don't know how many times they did this - I read that you often need to do it a few times) and they also tried replacing the range switch (at a cost to my friend of £200) and this did not solve the problem either. So I think the garage decided the starter clutch needed replacing, at a cost of £900, which is half the value of the car.

Any other ideas we could try before she gets rid of it?