JamesT5
Saturday 9th June 2012, 20:32
Hi everyone
Well I've been playing around under the bonnet of the T5 today and I've changed all of my spark plugs for brand new genuine Volvo ones. My old spark plugs were looking pretty old and pretty 'rusty' (see pictures)...
13527
13528
Now, with my lovely new spark plugs in I crank the engine over and a lovely smooth sound came from the engine bay, meaning my new spark plugs were correctly installed and were pre-gapped correctly. So, on went the cover and then to my horror the car started to mis-fire again.
I then hooked up the DTC reader and got P1356 'Ignition Coil 4 Primary' warning. This is the same message I was getting prior to changing the plugs so I knew it wasn't down to my amateur mechanical skills installing the spark plugs. What it did give me was a big clue and that the problem is probably related to the wiring loom going to ignition coil 4. Why? Because no matter what coil I put on the end of the loom, the same P1356 error code kept cropping up.
I did know that there was some exposed wire on the loom to coil 4 slot so I 'vibrated' my way to Homebase and picked up some fire retardant insulation tape (heat resistant by nature), and then got home and took the cover off to inspect the wiring loom. What did I see? Some damaged wires on the loom to coil pack 4 plug, much worse than I thought.....
13529
With this I reinsulated the wires with the £1.99 tape and plugged the loom back in to the ignition coil, bolted it down with the 10mm nut and then started the engine again, only to find the problem was still there.
Ok, what next? I thought. I swapped the coil pack on cylinder 3 with the one on cylinder 4 to absolutely rule out the coil packs, seeing as though I'd just reinsulated the damaged section of wires. After swapping the packs around, I started the engine and the misfire had gone. Whoopee I thought, until I attempted to put the cover back on the engine....
So I took a reading on the DTC reader and this is what I got.....
13531
This is a new code I thought but was definatley telling me it was wiring related, as I suspected. So I got the plastic cover (non conductive material), and gently prodded the loom to coil 4 with the engine running. I found that the misfire would start up as I moved the loom but would stop misfiring when I let go..... Interesting!
I realised everytime I put the cover back on, it moved the wires going to coil 4, pushing them downwards in the same fashion as when I prodded them, making the car misfire on cylinder 4. That means either there is a loose connection where the wiring has been damaged, and/or there is a loose connection to the plug that connects to the coil pack.
13530
So, now I know the problem I have left the main plastic cover off the engine to avoid pushing the wires down and causing the misfire, until I can get the wiring loom repaired.
The intermittent misfire, I guess, is intermittent because if the vibration moves the wires slightly then the car misfires or stops misfiring depending on the way the wires are positioned.
I'm thinking, should I get a crimping kit and cut/crimp the wires myself or go to an auto electrician to get the job done professionally? I'm just thinking, will the heat in that area of the engine cause the crimps to expand and come apart or will they be ok? I have a wire crimping kit I used to install some L.E.D lights on a previous car I had. I wonder if they would do the job?
Anyway, I'm interested to get feedback on this one in particular.
As for my battery issue, I called the RAC out today and he is 95% it's down to a bad battery, so I've ordered a new one from ATS Euromaster that will arrive on Monday. One thing that the RAC man did pick up on was that there is a 0.1 Amp drain on the battery which is higher than it should be, and he said this is enough to flatten a good battery in about 5 days, but certainly not 5 minutes. He quoted me £106.99 for a new battery which he had on the van, but I politely declined his offer and managed to bag one from ATS for £77.99 including the chancellors holiday money. :wave23d:
Regards
James
Well I've been playing around under the bonnet of the T5 today and I've changed all of my spark plugs for brand new genuine Volvo ones. My old spark plugs were looking pretty old and pretty 'rusty' (see pictures)...
13527
13528
Now, with my lovely new spark plugs in I crank the engine over and a lovely smooth sound came from the engine bay, meaning my new spark plugs were correctly installed and were pre-gapped correctly. So, on went the cover and then to my horror the car started to mis-fire again.
I then hooked up the DTC reader and got P1356 'Ignition Coil 4 Primary' warning. This is the same message I was getting prior to changing the plugs so I knew it wasn't down to my amateur mechanical skills installing the spark plugs. What it did give me was a big clue and that the problem is probably related to the wiring loom going to ignition coil 4. Why? Because no matter what coil I put on the end of the loom, the same P1356 error code kept cropping up.
I did know that there was some exposed wire on the loom to coil 4 slot so I 'vibrated' my way to Homebase and picked up some fire retardant insulation tape (heat resistant by nature), and then got home and took the cover off to inspect the wiring loom. What did I see? Some damaged wires on the loom to coil pack 4 plug, much worse than I thought.....
13529
With this I reinsulated the wires with the £1.99 tape and plugged the loom back in to the ignition coil, bolted it down with the 10mm nut and then started the engine again, only to find the problem was still there.
Ok, what next? I thought. I swapped the coil pack on cylinder 3 with the one on cylinder 4 to absolutely rule out the coil packs, seeing as though I'd just reinsulated the damaged section of wires. After swapping the packs around, I started the engine and the misfire had gone. Whoopee I thought, until I attempted to put the cover back on the engine....
So I took a reading on the DTC reader and this is what I got.....
13531
This is a new code I thought but was definatley telling me it was wiring related, as I suspected. So I got the plastic cover (non conductive material), and gently prodded the loom to coil 4 with the engine running. I found that the misfire would start up as I moved the loom but would stop misfiring when I let go..... Interesting!
I realised everytime I put the cover back on, it moved the wires going to coil 4, pushing them downwards in the same fashion as when I prodded them, making the car misfire on cylinder 4. That means either there is a loose connection where the wiring has been damaged, and/or there is a loose connection to the plug that connects to the coil pack.
13530
So, now I know the problem I have left the main plastic cover off the engine to avoid pushing the wires down and causing the misfire, until I can get the wiring loom repaired.
The intermittent misfire, I guess, is intermittent because if the vibration moves the wires slightly then the car misfires or stops misfiring depending on the way the wires are positioned.
I'm thinking, should I get a crimping kit and cut/crimp the wires myself or go to an auto electrician to get the job done professionally? I'm just thinking, will the heat in that area of the engine cause the crimps to expand and come apart or will they be ok? I have a wire crimping kit I used to install some L.E.D lights on a previous car I had. I wonder if they would do the job?
Anyway, I'm interested to get feedback on this one in particular.
As for my battery issue, I called the RAC out today and he is 95% it's down to a bad battery, so I've ordered a new one from ATS Euromaster that will arrive on Monday. One thing that the RAC man did pick up on was that there is a 0.1 Amp drain on the battery which is higher than it should be, and he said this is enough to flatten a good battery in about 5 days, but certainly not 5 minutes. He quoted me £106.99 for a new battery which he had on the van, but I politely declined his offer and managed to bag one from ATS for £77.99 including the chancellors holiday money. :wave23d:
Regards
James