hi guys

 

hope everyone had a god christmas and new year  

 

last night i left my car on idle then all of a sudden the engine started stuttering/shaking and engine light/key started flashing so i switched engine off then started it again and it was fine after that.

 

was wondering if anyone could tell me what that means please?

 

many thanks guys  

You should have a fault code stored, unfortunately despite closing my eyes and concentrating really hard I can't read it from here.

ok il check code later, thank you

oh the rpm was affected too, it was hovering over 400 and 500.

Probably spark plug and/or ignition coil pack issue.

 

Error code will usually point to the offending cylinder.

 

Edited 27 January, 20224 yr by xman

my first thought was teh spark plugs too as i havent changed them in over 2 years. i have been driving alot for a past year or so. i think i have done about 10k in about 4 months.

More likely the coil is breaking down, the car detected too many misfires and turned off the fuel injector to the offending cylinder fuel and put on the the engine check light. Reset on restart when the misfire was ok.

 

Check the spark plugs and if they don't look too bad I'd recommend you buy a new coil pack as the original parts are known to fail over time, sometimes intermittent misfires but then followed by total failure.

 

Third party replacements are cheap and usually as good if not better than OE. Always recommended to carry a spare as failures are common

 

But first check the error codes in case its something else. Check the state of your brake vacuum hose from Servo to inlet manifold, they split at the ends and at the non return valve in the middle causing running issues as well as reduced brake assistance (hard brake pedal)

8 minutes ago, xman said:

More likely the coil is breaking down, the car detected too many misfires and turned off the fuel injector to the offending cylinder fuel and put on the the engine check light. Reset on restart when the misfire was ok.

 

Check the spark plugs and if they don't look too bad I'd recommend you buy a new coil pack as the original parts are known to fail over time, sometimes intermittent misfires but then followed by total failure.

 

Third party replacements are cheap and usually as good if not better than OE. Always recommended to carry a spare as failures are common

 

But first check the error codes in case its something else. Check the state of your brake vacuum hose from Servo to inlet manifold, they split at the ends and at the non return valve in the middle causing running issues as well as reduced brake assistance (hard brake pedal)

just had a look at coil packs, they are between 60 pound to 120 pounds. is that right?

17 minutes ago, froggy8 said:

just had a look at coil packs, they are between 60 pound to 120 pounds. is that right?

 

No idea, it's been a good few years since I had to buy one but I suggest you check the fault codes before throwing money at it and replace those spark plugs.

Sounds very expensive. £20-30 ish I would've thought.

3 minutes ago, Wino said:

Sounds very expensive. £20-30 ish I would've thought.

apologies, that was priced at 3 pieces.

got some new spark plugs in car so will change them over after my lunch.

Post some pics of the old plugs for interest, please.

 

Just now, Wino said:

Post some pics of the old plugs for interest, please.

 

not a problem, i will post some pictures of the old plug  

Only need to change the one pack. Around £20 - £30, I bought Bougicord ones a few years ago at £19 ea and the car felt and runs better than it ever did on the OE coils.

3 minutes ago, xman said:

Only need to change the one pack. Around £20 - £30, I bought Bougicord ones a few years ago at £19 ea and the car felt and runs better than it ever did on the OE coils.

the ones ive just seen is around 19 ea on ebay but i need 3 so around 60 on ebay but on google, i have seen some at around 120 for 3.

Why do you need 3?

 

Buy from Eurocarparts, Carparts4less, GSF cheap and less chance of fakes/warranty issues, probably one local to you

 

Highly recommend you invest iinor borrow an OBD code reader to take the guesswork out of it.

 

Edited 27 January, 20224 yr by xman

4 minutes ago, xman said:

Why do you need 3?

 

Buy from Eurocarparts, Carparts4less, GSF cheap and less chance of fakes/warranty issues, probably one local to you

 

Highly recommend you invest iinor borrow an OBD code reader to take the guesswork out of it.

 

i have 3 coil pack.

 

i am going to use my obdeleven to check t see if any codes have popped up.

1 hour ago, xman said:

Probably spark plug and/or ignition coil pack issue.

 

Error code will usually point to the offending cylinder.

 

 

+1 on this. Mine did the same thing when a coil pack failed. £19.50 from my local motor parts place and it has been running fine since. As @xman says, a code will indicate the coil pack that has crapped itself.

 

If memory serves, your codes would be one of these or similar:

 

P0301 - cylinder one

P0302 - cylinder two

P0303 - cylinder three

P0304 - cylinder four, if your car has one. Edit: just saw OP has 3-cyl HTP engine.

Hope this helps.

Edited 27 January, 20224 yr by AnnoyingPentium
To edit the post?

ok couldnt connect as there was an issue with the internet on my phone. have now changed all spark plugs, started the car up and it seems fine. cylinder 2 spark plug was loose though, that might have something to do with it, god knows how it became loose though.

 

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Post some pics of the old plugs for interest, please.

 

 

here are the pictures:

 

 

 

 

the first 5 picture is cylinder one, the next 3 is cylinder 2 then the last 5 is cylinder 3.

Edited 27 January, 20224 yr by froggy8

Could be the loose plug, they look pretty worn (sparks like nice defined edges on electrodes) and from the overly light colour they appear to be either running very lean, or its ash deposits from oil. The photos are overexposed so difficult to see.

 

If running lean, check the vacuum pipe I mentioned earlier for splits, if you've never changed it, it will almost certainly be split at that mileage, very common. Will cause misfires if running too lean.

 

Can only stress that an OBD reader can pick up misfires before you notice them, if running lean could be other codes pending that will tell.

 

Obd readers start from under £20

Edited 27 January, 20224 yr by xman

The loose plug would have been enough to cause a misfire at idle, 3 cylinder engines shake like a sh!tting dog so plug must have been undertightened to work loose.

3 minutes ago, xman said:

Could be the loose plug, they look pretty worn (sparks like nice defined edges on electrodes) and from the overly light colour they appear to be either running very lean, or its ash deposits from oil. The photos are overexposed so difficult to see.

 

If running lean, check the vacuum pipe I mentioned earlier for splits, of you've never changed it, it will almost certainly be split at that mileage, very common. Could cause misfires if running too lean.

 

Can only stress that an OBD reader can pick up misfires before you notice them, if running lean could be other codes pending that will tell.

 

Obd readers start from under £20

i did some research on obd readers and alot of people recommended the obdeleven, that was the reason i bought it. which one would you recommend?

 

also would you like me to take more pictures as i have them here with me? didnt throw them away just in case.

 

2 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

The loose plug would have been enough to cause a misfire at idle, 3 cylinder engines shake like a sh!tting dog so plug must have been undertightened to work loose.

 

i made sure it was tight though.

Here are photos of my BZG brake servo vacuum pupe at 100,000 miles. Splits at every joint, brake vacuum leaks ensured that I had no brake assistance as soon as the engine was turned off. Also sporadic idle issues.

 

 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, xman said:

Here are photos of my BZG brake servo vacuum pupe at 100,000 miles. Splits at every joint, brake vacuum leaks ensured that I had no brake assistance as soon as the engine was turned off. Also sporadic idle issues.

 

 

 

 

 

my brakes doesnt work whenever i stall the car, i have had the look on the vacuum pipe and they did have splits on them. i have since used electrical tape around teh split.

 

 

2 minutes ago, froggy8 said:

my brakes doesnt work whenever i stall the car, i have had the look on the vacuum pipe and they did have splits on them. i have since used electrical tape around teh split.

 

 

Ahh, now we're getting somewhere.

 

I used self amalgamating tape very tightly wrapped over the splits, it helped a bit, but only a bit, vacuum lost within 5 seconds of switching the engine off, (it should last for hours), with the pipe drawing in external (un- filtered) air, the non return valve was no longer working correctly due to dirt contamination.

 

My independent ordered a new one (comes as a complete assemby) at £42 and fitted it for free took 2 minutes.

 

Car idle is now rock solid steady and as smooth as @sepulchraves bum. 😉

If you have OBD eleven, then use to check for misfires, its a fine tool.