[euclid]

I've been reading through old threads a lot to try and self-diagnose my problem, and was hoping to get your feedback before I end up taking my car in for service?

2003 GTI VR6 24v
131K on the clock
Always take it in for scheduled maintenance

Like the thread title says, if I get on the gas too much the car makes the "Subaru WRX" engine sound and at idle the RPM needle fluctuates more than usual. I've individually pulled each ignition coil while the engine was running and EACH one, when pulled, caused the engine to run worse so I don't necessarily think it is a bad coil. My next thought is that it must be a fouled plug but is there a way that I can confirm before I start replacing them? Any other thoughts?

 

[GRN6IX]

Sounds like a coil to me... do you have access to VAG-COM?

 

[euclid]

Sounds like a coil to me... do you have access to VAG-COM?

I do not have access to a VAG-COM - I was just searching around and thought it might be worth my while to pick up a scanner though. Otherwise, I go to the dealership and its $90 bucks or so. If pulling the coils while the engine running doesn't isolate a bad coil, can it still be a coil failure?

 

[euclid]

Okay - I bought a OBDII scan tool and got the following codes, which I just looked up and found the description for, and in this order:

P1142 - Load Calculation Cross Check Lower Limit Exceeded
P0300 - Random Multiple Cyl Misfire
P0305 - Cyl 5 Misfire Detected
P1355 - Cyl 1 Ignition circuit Open Circuit
P1370 - Cyl 6 Ignition circuit Open Circuit
P1367 - Cyl 5 Ignition circuit Open Circuit
P1364 - Cyl 4 Ignition circuit Open Circuit
P1361 - Cyl 3 Ignition circuit Open Circuit
P1358 - Cyl 2 Ignition circuit Open Circuit
P0301 - Cyl 1 Misfire Detected
P0302 - Cyl 2 Misfire Detected

Does this shed any light on the situation? Open Circuit kind of confuses me - is it possible that there may be a bad ground somewhere in the chain?

 

[jettaglis]

the open circuit faults are from unplugging the coils
i would replace all coils, at least cly #1,2 and 3.
change your plugs while in there if they have more then 60,000 miles on them

 

[euclid]

the open circuit faults are from unplugging the coils
i would replace all coils, at least cly #1,2 and 3.
change your plugs while in there if they have more then 60,000 miles on them

You are brilliant. Thanks for this; I just erased the codes, waited for the CEL to return and rescanned the code and now I get "Cylinder 5 Misfire detected" so, should I replace all plugs & coils or just the coil on 5?

Should I try to put the coil from 5 on cylinder 4 and see if the error is replicated so that i have a better idea of whats going on? WIll that screw anything up?

 

[jettaglis]

replace cyl #5 coil :beer:

 

[euclid]

replace cyl #5 coil :beer:

I owe you a big thanks, man. Went and got a coil, popped it in there, took it for a test drive and we are back to firing on all 6 again. Can't thank you enough for taking the time to help.

 

[jettaglis]

If you did not replace with oem expect to happen again soon

 

[odawg753]

hey guys i have a 12v with the same exact problem. only thing is that i did change the wires less then 2 years ago n the coilpack is lesss than a year old, i did both of that because of the problem. the check engine light is not always on comes on sometimes, n flashes sometimes wen it misfires. so the question is the wires were not oem, could they be bad after 2 years? and if i scan my car with no check engine light on would it still throw any codes?

 

[jettaglis]

hey guys i have a 12v with the same exact problem. only thing is that i did change the wires less then 2 years ago n the coilpack is lesss than a year old, i did both of that because of the problem. the check engine light is not always on comes on sometimes, n flashes sometimes wen it misfires. so the question is the wires were not oem, could they be bad after 2 years? and if i scan my car with no check engine light on would it still throw any codes?

yes the plug wires could be bad along with the possibility of the coil. get a water spray bottle and spray everything down while running. that will lead to the cause of the misfires. oh and its probably misfiring more when its raining or high humidity as the spark is arcing out of coil/ wires or both. and there could be misfires stored with no cel

 

[odawg753]

yes the plug wires could be bad along with the possibility of the coil. get a water spray bottle and spray everything down while running. that will lead to the cause of the misfires. oh and its probably misfiring more when its raining or high humidity as the spark is arcing out of coil/ wires or both. and there could be misfires stored with no cel

thank you i tried that n got nothing i ordered new plugs because the ones in there arent the ngk ones. but i also saw somewhere else to disconnect the MAF n see if it still does it. so i disconnected it, and it ran perfect! so im wondering if the maf is bad n if im able to clean it, n if it actually makes a diff when you clean it.

 

[blevs17]

i had the same problem. randomly my car took a dump on me. replaced all spark plugs, cyl 4,5,6 coils, and still a jumpy acceleration, car sounding bad, and flashing CEL. any input?

 

[jettaglis]

i had the same problem. randomly my car took a dump on me. replaced all spark plugs, cyl 4,5,6 coils, and still a jumpy acceleration, car sounding bad, and flashing CEL. any input?

my recommendation is get an obd scan and go from there

 

[blevs17]

my recommendation is get an obd scan and go from there

got it scanned. it read 6 cylinder misfire. i replaced the coilpack and spark plug in that cylinder.

 

[GTIVRon]

Yea flashing CEL = misfire.

You could've gotten a bad unit (either coil or plug), or did not thread the spark plug in all the way/properly, or the connector not making propper contact on the coil.

I'd change the coil pack from 6 to like cyl 1, then replace the spark plug in 6 to like cyl 2. Then see if you still get the misfire, if you do, check to see which cylinder. Then if it's cyl 1, replace that coil, if it's cyl 2, replace that plug.