spluttering/misfiring like mad - please read :(

[jesus]

okay so it's only just started doing this, started off doing it once every now and again but now it seems to be almost all the time

car is a 2003 1.2 16v, never been serviced AFAIK (i plan on doing this when i get enough money) and it's had a 182 replica exhaust built by charlie at prospeed recently, which could have something to do with it as it's only started popping since i had that

but i'm thinking it could be something else, as it's always juddered and hesitated slightly when putting my foot down (been told it might need new coil pack or spark plugs, i've yet to test for them but i have no idea if this is related to the problem)

it does this mostly when i'm setting off, and in first and second gears, and sometimes does it in all gears whenever i put my foot down

it's really embarrassing so if you have any ideas then please fire away, i really want this sorted as it sounds like it's an old banger or something

all replies/ideas are appreciated, thanks

 

[drhowser]

what is your mpg like?

if it is a lot lower than normal, i'd go for a lambda sensor.

 

[jesus]

yep it is a lot lower than it was, used to be around 39-41 and now it's lucky to get 30. even went down to 21 the other day

are these expensive to replace?

cheers for the reply

 

[drhowser]

about £70/80 i think.

have a look on ebay and call a couple of garages.

i would have the car plugged in before buying anything though.

 

[jesus]

thanks buddy

the exhaust i have was only done about a month ago, so not sure what i'm talking about here but shouldnt the lambda sensors be new?

anyone else have any ideas of what it could be, if not the lambda sensor?

 

[drhowser]

no worries fella,

could be any number of things to be honest, but it does sound like lambda.
i'd be suprised if the exhaust came with new sensors, but it is possible that taking them out of the old exhaust could have caused some damage. they can be a b**ch to get out.

best thing to do is find a garage who can plug it into a fault reader.

 

[jesus]

well i can phone charlie who made it and ask him, it came with a lifetime guarantee so i'm sure he'll sort it no problem

any other possibilities in case i replace the lambda and it's still doing it?

thanks again drhowser

 

[rich-6]

a 2003 car and its never been serviced?

 

[Firas]

lambda is about £70 but i cant see it being the lambda tbh. get it plugged into a diagnostic machine and that will tell you for sure what is wrong with it.

 

[Poopensharten]

It could be the Coil pack like you said, tell me this, is your engine management light flashing? This may indicate a faulty coil pack.

Best way to tell is to pull the HT (high tension) leads from the coil pack and go through the process of elimination that way. It could be a faulty HT lead also. Also check the spark plugs aswell. It could be a faulty injector but it does sound like a coil pack, mines done the same thing around 6 months ago, id highly recommend changing the spark plugs aswell for good measure. However, get your car serviced asap! And avoid driving it as this may damage injectors.

 

[drhowser]

lambda is about £70 but i cant see it being the lambda tbh. get it plugged into a diagnostic machine and that will tell you for sure what is wrong with it.

if there is a lambda fault it will run rich. mine sounded exactly like the video and was a lambda.
there are plenty of things it could be though.

 

[jesus]

a 2003 car and its never been serviced?

i've not had it since 2003, like i said i'm going to do it when i can afford to

It could be the Coil pack like you said, tell me this, is your engine management light flashing? This may indicate a faulty coil pack.

Best way to tell is to pull the HT (high tension) leads from the coil pack and go through the process of elimination that way. It could be a faulty HT lead also. Also check the spark plugs aswell. It could be a faulty injector but it does sound like a coil pack, mines done the same thing around 6 months ago, id highly recommend changing the spark plugs aswell for good measure. However, get your car serviced asap! And avoid driving it as this may damage injectors.

there are no lights lit up matey

thanks for the advice, i'll check all those tomorrow

if there is a lambda fault it will run rich. mine sounded exactly like the video and was a lambda.
there are plenty of things it could be though.

did you change yours yourself? are they the same on all exhausts?

cheers for all replies

 

[jesus]

also where can i get a lambda sensor from? renault?

 

[ForceIndia]

GSF are cheaper I think

 

[drhowser]

they are easy enough to change, but have the car plugged in first!

you could end up spending a load of money you don't need to!

 

[jesus]

GSF are cheaper I think

do they come as brand new?

they are easy enough to change, but have the car plugged in first!

you could end up spending a load of money you don't need to!

i dont really fancy spending 70 quid to have it plugged in by renault but i'll try and find somewhere else that does it (perhaps a member on here might have one?)

cheers

 

[Firas]

no one on here is likely to have one as they are very expensive. however some garages other than renault do have them. had mines plugged in for £35 which isnt too bad i dont think

 

[jesus]

don't k-tec sell them for about 50 quid? i've made a thread on here anyway and if not i'll try and find a garage cheers

 

[sammyhale22]

spluttering at high rpms can be a valve/compression problem. Get the compression checked out to rule out a cylinder head problem.

 

[jesus]

ok the engine management light is flashing now and it sounds basically like it's about to die, any ideas before i get the breakdown people to tow it home tomorrow?

cheers

 

[john lloyd]

sounds to me more like its only running on 3 cylinders, a dodgy lambda wont make it sound like that mate. it will lead to poor running and low mpg as without the reading the ecu will overfuel for safety reasons.

new set of ht leads are quite cheap you shouldnt need new plugs yet but they are only about £20 a set. other than that sounds like faulty coil pack.

i would have it code read by a garage though in long run it does save money.

 

[john lloyd]

with the engine running unplug a ht lead one at a time and see if it makes any diff to the running.

basically have it idling and unplug the first one, if it cuts out replace it and that one is not at fault. start car again unplug next one if it cuts out put it back in and thats not at fault etc. if you pull one out and it makes no diff thats the faulty area check the ht lead for splits, check the connections give it a clean and dry it off. check the spark plug maybe.

 

[riz]

sounds to me more like its only running on 3 cylinders, a dodgy lambda wont make it sound like that mate. it will lead to poor running and low mpg as without the reading the ecu will overfuel for safety reasons.

new set of ht leads are quite cheap you shouldnt need new plugs yet but they are only about £20 a set. other than that sounds like faulty coil pack.

i would have it code read by a garage though in long run it does save money.

yeah lol sounds like a tractor!!

 

[jesus]

cheers john, are the HT leads easy to find? i'm not sure what they are, but i have a haynes somewhere so could look in that.

thanks for all replies!

 

[jesus]

found it now, just need a bloody screwdriver that fits haha. i'll check the leads asap, thanks again john

 

[jesus]

had a bash at this earlier, pulled what i thought were the HT leads but they wouldn't move at all, so could someone maybe take a picture of what i should be pulling out to test (HT leads) and how to do it please? it would be doing me a massive favour.

many thanks

 

[jesus]

anybody know the above? i need to fix this asap!

 

[john lloyd]

without looking at your engine mate there should be 4 leads in total.

these go from the ignition coil to the spark plugs, all 4 of them will start at the same place and will then run towards centre of your engine and will then split up and one will push onto the top of each spark plug at the top of your cylinder.

 

[mattjk]

Yeah your lambdas probably fine, id go with either leads or coilpack

 

[jesus]

i've ordered a new coil pack as you can't disconnect the leads from 1.2 ones (it's all one piece) so hopefully this will resolve the whole matter

cheers for all help!

 

[jesus]

just got a new coil pack and that has fixed it cheers everyone

on another note - does anyone have any idea why my mpg has gone down my about 10 miles? could this be because of the coilpack going + car spluttering?

 

[Tomc90]

how much did this cost to fix it mate i think i have the same problem, did your car have like a steady idle of did it fluctuate slightly?

 

[Kev_md]

coil packs are about £30-£45 depending on make .easy diy job.

 

[Keano]

just got mine back from the garage today with exact same problem.

Was the coil pack and spark plugs,

The o2 sensor showed up on the diagnostics but i think thats due to the misfiring problem.

All is well £130 on

 

[Keano]

just seen problem is sorted

 

[Andi-B]

on another note - does anyone have any idea why my mpg has gone down my about 10 miles? could this be because of the coilpack going + car spluttering?

It will have been, as it was misfiring it won't have been igniting the fuel properly leading to poor MPG. I had the same problem and replaced the Coil pack. I also replaced the spark plugs at the same time just in case it was them too.

 

[jakm15]

.

 

[jesus]

It's happened again now, probably because I got a 2nd hand coil pack though. I think I'll get some new sparkies and a coil pack and hopefully it'll be sorted again.

 

[yuillr2]

Did you manage to get this fixed again?? I'm having similar problems!

 

[jesus]

Brand new spark plugs (got them from GSF) sorted it matey