vRS on kangaroo juice?

[PeteG]

Right. I've been pootling about for the last couple of days, not given the engine anywhere near full throttle simply because I've been bimbling round town. Went to the shops tonight, and then on the way home decided to take the scenic route.

It's down to 0 deg C, so I waited til I had a bit of straight road then gave it some throttle up to the maximum speed the local constabulary prefer. Ish. Went through the next village at 30, up to about 5-ish on the short link to the next village... then back into the 30. Engine management light started flashing, roughly once a second - and car didn't have any power underfoot. Pulled to the side of the road, and first thing was to knock the engine off, keys out, give it a second, then start it up again.

It starts OK, idle is a little lumpy, but as soon as I put any load on the engine (pulling away from a standstill, even), the car judders and the EML starts flashing again. I limped it the half mile home, with next-to-no throttle, and pulled up outside, where it sits now.

Firstly, is there a set amount of time for the ECU to reset itself, to see if it's just a one-off? Is it possible the cold weather has had an effect?

Before I sort out getting the codes read, are the symptoms typical of anything in particular? Coil pack failure perhaps, or am I clutching at straws? It seemed unusual that the EML was flashing under load, and not illuminating permanently, as on the last few cars I've owned/ broken...

Bit of background - it's a 51 plate 1.8T, mapped to 221bhp-ish, I put a tank of Total Excellium 97 in on Sunday, and it's done 100 miles ish without incident - and it was filled from empty then, so I doubt fuel contamination is to blame.

Oh, and I've only had it a week...

[niceyellow vrs]

Sounds like a coil pack has gone, I'd put money on it.

On a side note, I recommend using better fuel as a standard vrs requires minimum 98ron. As it's mapped, you really want to be using 99ron, Shell V power, Tesco 99 etc.

[PeteG]

Sounds like a coil pack has gone, I'd put money on it.

On a side note, I recommend using better fuel as a standard vrs requires minimum 98ron. As it's mapped, you really want to be using 99ron, Shell V power, Tesco 99 etc.

Am I right in thinking it's about 30 quid for a coil pack? I'll have a search for a guide on how to do it.

Ah, the seller said "super". I'll remember that from now on, and I'll top it up with V-power as soon as I get chance.

[vRSLen]

I sounds like a coil pack but I would get the fault codes read before diving in.....

[PeteG]

I sounds like a coil pack but I would get the fault codes read before diving in.....

I'll test them by unplugging one at a time in the morning, if it's not evident then I'll have to sort out some code readage

[Interphase]

Sounds like a coil pack has gone, I'd put money on it.

On a side note, I recommend using better fuel as a standard vrs requires minimum 98ron. As it's mapped, you really want to be using 99ron, Shell V power, Tesco 99 etc.

A standard one will run just fine on 95; many won't show a dramatic difference with 98 but may run a little smoother or return slightly better mileage.

[REH17]

As above: mine is a standard 54plate version, runs ok on 95 petrol but sounds rough as hell and you wont see much better than a hundred miles off 20 quid. . . using better 97 and even some 95 from total or bp (rather than supermarket fuel) will return a better mileage of about 150 ish off 20 quid as a benchmark. using the tesco 99 or total excellium gives better response, engine sounds much quieter and decent fuel return on longer trips.

[PeteG]

Right. Just been out to it there... disconnected one coil plug at a time, and none of the three I could reach made any difference to the running of the engine. I even disconnected 2&3 together, and it still ran the same for the few seconds I tried it. That makes no sense to me... is it powered by voodoo?

Going to have to get the codes read I think.

[PeteG]

Fixed! Got codes read, no.3 coil pack was throwing a hissy fit... new one in and car is fine.

Now to get some spare ones in my boot...