Car engine is missing, is spark plug fouled?
NEVER use dry gas!!! It is methanol, usually. Methanol can eat through major rubber components, like fuel pressure regulator diaphragms! If your check engine light is on, (and it should be). try Auto Zone first for a free OBD II test. It might be coil pak. Clean your IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE with spray Gum-out. Do this yearly. While you are at it, clean your throttle body and plate to showroom clean, as well. REMEMBER that you can ONLY use oil in this car that meets VW/Audi specification 502/505. THere are only about 3-4 oils that can do this. Mobil One, Amzoil, and my favorite, ELF oil. THese have special ingredients that keep them from coking out on the hot turbo bearings. Also, try power washing your entire engine bay. A car like this should always have a clean engine, anyway. Good luck!! VW's have %26quot;dumb%26quot; computers that must be told when engine sensors (including coil paks) are changed. In other words, you will have to have a VW master computer reprogram your CPU. Only do this AFTER you are certain everything else is OK. Also, be sure to change your timing belt ON TIME, according to your manual. These engines WILL self-destruct (and cost BIG $$$$) if the timing belt breaks. GET WISE!!! Do preventative maintenance!
Car engine is missing, is spark plug fouled?
Iwould like to thank all of you who came to my aid. Including the guy who said file a police report. This is the best forum that I've ever joined. My car is really not that bad, and the miss is no longer constant my car runs smooth but every now and then I get a miss. May be bad gas. Thanks again
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This particular VW 4 cylinder engine is known for bad ignition coil on plug.
Click on the link below to see what ignition coil on plug looks like.
I know you did mention the problem gets little better after you add dry gas, any chemical added inside gas tank does change volatility of gasoline and then it changes engine performance.
You can spend tons of money on chemical stuff but it doesn't work well all the time.
Here's what you should do.
If you have scanner or you know good technician.
Scan for codes or look for misfire graph on scanner.
Let鈥檚 say cylinder #3 is misfiring, you should have code p0303 or the graph for #3 cylinder reads off the scale.
Swap ignition coil on plug between cylinder #3 and #2.
Rerun the test again on scanner. If the misfire code is now p0302 or misfire graph for cylinder #2 is off the scale then you found the problem.
Replace the ignition coil on plug.
If the problem didn't change, then you can do the same thing by swapping the spark plug.
If swapping the spark plug didn't do anything for you then only two thing left....faulty injector or engine mechanical.
Good Luck
You need to find out exactly which 'cell' (the term is cylinder) it is, then check the new plug to see if it is still fouling. More than likely it is, so then you need to determine why. Do the checks you are capable of and then take it to a mechanic if necessary.
clean the mass air sensor,new plug wires and put some sea foam in the gas and put 93 octane in when you put the sea foam in.sea foam is a very good cleaner it will clean the injectors,the valves and the piston and rings.give it a shot.
Let the mechanic take another look it might be something simple like a bad plug wire
If the car engine is missing, perhaps someone stole it!
You should file a police report...
It could be a list of things causing this. Is it a true miss (where one of the cylinders is misfiring), or is this just a rough idle? There is a big difference, and will help you diagnose it. A miss can only be so many things. A rough idle can be many more things.
If it's a miss, which is usually recognized by a consistent misfiring which happens over and over again. It can run smooth for x # of nanoseconds, then %26quot;dip%26quot;, it misfires. You can have a full misfire where there is nothing at all happening in the cylinder, and then you can have a partial misfire, where something is happening, but not at full strength. Full misfires are caused by no spark (check spark in every cylinder to make sure). Full misfires can also be caused by a bad injector that has died or fully plugged. Using a stethoscope, you can listen to the injectors to see if they are all ticking, which means it's working from an electrical standpoint (but still could be clogged). Partial misfires can be caused by a partly clogged or leaking injector or weak spark.
-- Now for a rough idle --
I would check and clean your IAC (idle air control) valve first. A lean air/fuel mixture can cause a miss, and that would certainly do it, and is known to do it.
I would also suspect a clogged fuel filter. Those are also common on the checklist.
Being a turbo, there could be an issue where it's pushing in too much or too little air, throwing your air/fuel mixture off. There is a control valve in your turbo unit that could be checked to make sure it's properly controlling the air pressure.
It could also be a vacuum leak. Check all hoses, especially your elbows and hoses to the PCV valve. Check PCV valve, if it rattles, then it's good. I know one guy who had a hard time keeping his car running, only to find out that there was a vacuum leak with the hose going to his PCV valve.
Clean MAF with special cleaner. Do NOT touch the little wires in the sensor, just spray them down good from all angles.
Fuel pressure regulator might be to blame as well, if it's causing too low fuel pressure, that can throw off your air/fuel mixture as well. Testing your fuel pressure is a good way to check your fuel filter, fuel pump, and regulator all at the same time.
Oh, and if you have 50,000 miles on your car, check with a manual or parts store to see how often you should be changing your oxygen sensor. Often it's 50,000 miles, sometimes it's 100,000 miles. That can also throw off your air/fuel mixture.
Wow, I said a lot! I hope this helps though.
A computer code check should be performed, even if the check engine light is not on, and any codes stored checked out, and then cleared.
A valuable tool, that is now digital and computerized, is an engine analyzer. I personally liked the analog type with real time output for reading firing times(the scope).
The firing time on a vehicle is a measurement of the time that a spark takes to travel from the coil and cross the electrode on the plug. This is measured in milliseconds and each cylinder can be compared for a problem.
Another very valuable tool is a vacuum gage. So many mechanics and technicians fail to use this and I do not know why. A vacuum leak can cause several problems. 1)- a lean miss fire. Depending on the location of the leak a cylinder could draw in too much oxygen which will adversely affect stociometrics( the ideal air/fuel ratio of 14.7 to 1) causing incomplete combustion.
2)- a map/baro. sensor false reading thus an erroneous code. This can cause a mechanic to replace a good part and a false explanation why you are paying for it and still have a problem.
3)- A false(lean) oxygen sensor code. A good salesman/mechinic might seccessively explain that this part has an expected replacement mileage, thus needing replacement. At this point in life I am sure that preventive maintenance, although important, is of less concern than solving a problem, and not spending a few hundred extra dollars for the fun of it.
4)- A very pronounced idle miss.
5)- an engine idle r.p.m. to be erratic or even higher than normal.
After this is a wet and dry compression test. This test the rings, valves(valve seals), and head gasket or even a crack in a cylinder.
With the use of these tools, and a technician able to trouble shoot, guess work is cut out, a vehicle can be repaired, and wasted spent money saved.
Whew! I used to be better when I was active so pardon any incompleteness or vagueness.
Good luck with your search for a good technician.
