Been playing 'Musical Coil Packs'

[JamesT5]

Ok, I thought that title might amuse you but what I'm getting at is moving all the coil packs around so not one of them is in the original position before the misfiring problem.

Now, interestingly, for those of you who have been reading and helping me on my engine misfire problem, you'll notice that before I touched the coil packs I was getting DTC's.....

P0300 - Random Cyliner Misfire

P0301 - Misfire Cylinder 1

P0302 - Misfire Cylinder 2

P0304 - Misfire Cylinder 4

I then swapped coil packs 1 and 3 around and 2 and 5 around. Since doing that I haven't had a misfire detected on coils 1 and 2 but I got a new DTC..

P1356 - Ignition Coil 4 (Primary).

along with, but not all the time P0304. What the hell happened with 1 and 2!!

How odd! And to add to the mystery, since messing around with the coil packs, the car only seems to misfire at the start of the day but the problem goes away after a a couple of miles once the engine has warmed up.

So today I decided to take Coil Pack 4 from it's slot and put it in the end slot furthest away from the cambelt (number 5 slot effectively).

When I took number 4 out of it's original position, I could smell a noticeable unburnt Petrol smell in the rubber insulator over the coil but this wasn't present in the other coil packs as far as I could tell.

Now I'm getting somewhere! The net is closing in on my problem and what I am going to do now, is drive around and see if I get 'P0305' code come up as plug 5 now has coil pack 4 (the 'faulty one') on it. If I still get a 'P1356 Coil 4 Primary' error I'll know it's the spark plug or wiring or both.

I'll post the results on here when I get them, maybe other people with this problem will find my 'research' useful.

Any comments? Peronally I think the problem is very inconsistent and the car is just playing games with me.

Regards

James

[shaun850]

Just buy 5 coils and have done with it

[JamesT5]

Just buy 5 coils and have done with it

Yes but what about the problem isn't with the coils and it's something else.... I'll have wasted money on parts I don't need.

[shaun850]

It does sound like it though. If one is on its way the others are on the same miles and won't be far behind.

And I have enjoyed reading about this, you are very methodical

[Dangerous Dave]

Could be disturbing the connectors on 1 and 2 have made them work properly (for now).

Hopefully its just the one coil pack and you'll be sorted.

[JamesT5]

It does sound like it though. If one is on its way the others are on the same miles and won't be far behind.

And I have enjoyed reading about this, you are very methodical

I'm glad you like my "methodical" approach. I've enjoyed having one over on the main stealer, at least for now, by doing a lot of troubleshooting myself with a little from fellow drivers on here.

I'm going to take the car for a short run today to see if I get the expected results or whether the car takes me by surprise.

Oh, that reminds me, I might get some gloss black paint today and have a go at respraying my headlight wiper arms.

Regards

James

[JamesT5]

Could be disturbing the connectors on 1 and 2 have made them work properly (for now).

Hopefully its just the one coil pack and you'll be sorted.

I did think the "unplug, plug back in" process may have given them a proverbial splash of cold water and reset them. It'll be interesting to see whether number 4 reacts the same way.

Could be a victory for anyone with coil pack issues as all they have to do is swap them around and then Robert's your Fathers Brother!

Regards

James

[M-R-P]

When I blew a coil, it blew and that was that, it showed an open circuit across all contacts
50 quid!

Hopefully, you'll have more luck.

[JamesT5]

When I blew a coil, it blew and that was that, it showed an open circuit across all contacts
50 quid!

Hopefully, you'll have more luck.

Well the only problem I had today was the flat battery issue again (3rd time in 5 days), and ended up with a failed bump start half a mile down the road, having spent 15 minutes looking like a prized prat pushing the car down the road.

As for the misfire issue, it didn't happen today but I won't count my chickens yet, I want to see the problem had consistently stayed away for several days before I declare victory over the coils.

I invested in a spark plug tool today, (I know I should have had one anyway but I've driven diesels for the past few years). When we get some drier weather again (?), I'll get out and have a look at my sparkies as well to see what state they're in.

Anyway, I'm now going to trouble shoot my battery issue, firstly by taking out the glove box bulb and seeing if that's the problem. If the switch that turns the light on and off is stuck or faulty, then in theory my glove box light may be on when the box is closed and I won't know it.

If this doesn't solve the problem, I'll just work my way around the car until the issue is found. Also, I'll get the alternator checked and not rule out an immobliser fault!

Regards

James

[LeeT5]

Well the only problem I had today was the flat battery issue again (3rd time in 5 days), and ended up with a failed bump start half a mile down the road, having spent 15 minutes looking like a prized prat pushing the car down the road.

As for the misfire issue, it didn't happen today but I won't count my chickens yet, I want to see the problem had consistently stayed away for several days before I declare victory over the coils.

I invested in a spark plug tool today, (I know I should have had one anyway but I've driven diesels for the past few years). When we get some drier weather again (?), I'll get out and have a look at my sparkies as well to see what state they're in.

Anyway, I'm now going to trouble shoot my battery issue, firstly by taking out the glove box bulb and seeing if that's the problem. If the switch that turns the light on and off is stuck or faulty, then in theory my glove box light may be on when the box is closed and I won't know it.

If this doesn't solve the problem, I'll just work my way around the car until the issue is found. Also, I'll get the alternator checked and not rule out an immobliser fault!

Regards

James

How about testing the battery first!?

Regards your coil issue, i would remove the coils, fit brand new spark plugs (whether you think your getting a good spark or not, you can't see what's happening inside the cylinder when your engine is under load and the spark has gotta work extra hard to burn all that fuel). A new set of OE plugs will eliminate the diagnosis and take out the guess work as far as your plugs are concerned.
Regards your coils, at £50 each its damn expensive and a waste of money just to replace all 5. I would get a volt meter and check the resistance readings on the coils. You can check the primary and the secondary windings. Note your readings and they should all be roughly the same.
If you find one with stupidly high readings then theres your culprit.

To check charging you must have the circuit under load. Turn on your lights, fan switch on high (no A/c on), then see what you get at the battery. Should be between 13.5 - 14.5v and stable.

Anything above or below, out your alternator.

[LeeT5]

If this doesn't solve the problem, I'll just work my way around the car until the issue is found. Also, I'll get the alternator checked and not rule out an immobliser fault!


James

You don't need to work your way around the car mate.

Buy an 'amp clamp'. Learn how to use it - very simple.
PLace amp clamp around earth cable to battery. (don't forget to zero before clamping around cable).
Then lock the car. You'll need to make sure you can see the amp clamp display with the back door shut or disable the tailgate light bulb.

Wait at least 10 - 15 minutes to allow ALL ecu's to power down and go into sleep mode. The only ecu remaining live will of course be the Immobilisor ecu.
I would expect to see anything upto and including 0.20 amps draw at this point. Anything more or if you can see a 'spike' on the amp meter ie, it peaks at 2.5amps then drops back down, if it does this repeatedly then you have a parasitic drain.

You can then proceed to pull fuses one by one (replacing each one as you go) and see if your amp draw drops. When it drops, put the fuse back in. If it goes up then youv'e found the circuit but not nessesarily the culprit.

However, my moneys on your battery not holding charge and being faulty.

Good luck mate.

[Harvey]

make sure that is a dc clamp meter.

[JamesT5]

Thanks Harvey, you're obviously very knowledgeable on this sort of stuff and had a lot of experience fixing these issues....

I would like to say I've had the battery tested at National Tyres and Autocare (not ATS as previously stated), and the test showed 80% start up capacity and 12.44V. I think though you did say some batteries need to be tested before they've had a 'run'.

I'll have a look at getting a DC clamp meter, perhaps on ebay or something and do some tests from there.

In the meantime I can avoid the flat battery issue by disconnecting one of the terminals on the battery when parking overnight or parking up for the day. That way there'll be no drain on the battery until I can get the problem diagnosed.

Regards

James

[JamesT5]

Interesting discovery tonight, the car has logged a fault code for cyliner 4 again but coil pack 4 is now on cylinder 5. This means it's less likely coil packs and more likely my spark plugs or some other issue more sinister.

I'm going to order some new sparkies, install them and see if the problem comes back. If it does then I'' double check wiring and then if there is still a problem I'll change the coil packs.

If after that the problem is still there, I may have to consider an ECU issue.

Regards

James

[Dangerous Dave]

Well, at least you're one step closer to finding out whats wrong.

Keep plodding on

[JamesT5]

Well, at least you're one step closer to finding out whats wrong.

Keep plodding on

Yes I'm getting there.... slowly. The best investments I've made are a OBD2 reader and a cheap tool set from Aldi. :-)