Ibiza Starting and misfire problem

[A5HL3Y]

Hi guys I got myself a Ibiza cupra gti 2.0 8v for a little bit of fun and to use to take some milage of our leon. Ive had the car about 3 weeks and the car has been fine not one problem and then on sunday it was the first time i drove it in 4 days and when i started it, it had a slight misfire when the car was revd but would go if kept on constant rev of about 3500rpm. I then got down the road and it was still doing it so pulled over revd it and it cut out. I was then sat there for about 20mins trying to get it to go. I checked all the leads to see if they were on i dryed the ends of the leads going from the coil to the dizzy. After a couple of flicks on the key she fired so i drove it straight home and parked it on the drive. I turned it off and on again and it started fine but still with the misfire only when revd, then the following day there was nothing and i still cnt get it to start now Iv dried the ends of all the leads and sprayed wd40 on them for the damp but still nothing

any ideas? or any1 no whats rong with it? I would be highly grateful if some1 can shed some light on to the matter

cheers ashley

 

[robreidmotors]

My first guess would be the carbon rod has broken or cracked on the inside of the dizzy cap.

Does this happen all the time or only when damp/wet?

check that the dizzy cap is not cracked, carbon rod is ok, cap points are clean.
check coil is not cracked, scored.

good idea to start the car when dark, look inside the engine bay around the electrics checking for arcing, anywhere its arcing from replace eg leads, dizzy cap, coil.

check spark plugs.

also, when you have found the problem, seems a pain but reclean plugs, dizzy cap etc.

 

[A5HL3Y]

Im nt too sure as i have only had the car 3 weeks and it was being driven every day and never had a problem with it then it was parked up 4 a couple of days and then it startd playing up and the annoying thing is i cnt drive it anywhere to get it because it wont start so il have try and sort it myself with help off here

 

[Kai_1600]

if it was going alright then just conked out it sounds coil related as they can just go, i'd second the go out there when its dark though, you can get a crack in the coil housing and leak spark from there leading to misfires and cutting out.

Other than that have a search on here, there are so many starting problem threads at this time of year its got to be one of them.

Favourite ones are to listen for the fuel pump priming (under the back seat) when you turn the key to the first click. If thats not working check the fuel pump/fuel pump relay.
The dizzy + coil problems mentioned above. Temp sensors can play up as well but that wont normally kill it dead like yours.

It's too early for me to think of any more but yeah, have a search, there's plenty.

 

[A5HL3Y]

right went out last night with the mrs while she was turning it over i could see it sparking on all the points on the dizy cap what does this mean as im not the best with engines but know a little. this is really doing my head in as i dnt want to replace things that aint broke because things are tight at this time of the year.

 

[robreidmotors]

The sparking is voltage escaping.

When you say 'the points' do you mean where the HT leads go into the distributor cap?

I dont think it is the leads, but all leads are is metal wire with insulating rubber around it, so to check the leads the metal connectors at each end need to be clean, and more importantly the insulating rubber around it intact. To be honest leads dont often go, but they can.

I think its probably your distributor cap, and heres what you need to check;

1.Use a flat screwdriver to pop off the clips that hold it down.

2. look inside, the four metal points need to be clean.

3. squeeze the cap gently and look for any cracks/breaks in the casing, this can cause running issues.

4. I suspect this is the fault, check the carbon rod. On the inside in the roof of the cap you are looking for a black bit of carbon (looks plasticky) that should be smooth and roughly the shape and size of a rubber on a pencil. If that is broken you will get terrible running.

 

[A5HL3Y]

i cleaned all the ends of the leads individually, I took the coil off and dried it with the mrs hairdryer to see if that would help and i also took the dizzy cap off and that rod bit ur on about in the centre when i touched it, it was as if it would sink in and pop back out when i released my finger off it, i cleaned all the conections inside the cap scraping anything off them but still no fire could it be something to do with the rod if its moving?

 

[robreidmotors]

Thats exactly what the rod should do so that is fine.

 

[robreidmotors]

If there is sparking that suggests the coil is doing its job, just check the coil hasnt got any cracks, scores on it.

Where did you see sparks? from the top of the dizzy cap where the HT leads slot in?

 

[robreidmotors]

I think you should check the plugs ie take them out, see what condition they are in and clean them.

 

[Brummy]

I had a similar issue recently, with sparks escaping from one of my leads at the head of the dizzy, new set of leads fitted and it starts on the turn of a key now .

 

[robreidmotors]

Id agree with brummy!

new set of plugs only about 12-15 quids so if you are flush and in the xmas spirit treat yourself to some new ngks or bosch also.

And maybe on the new leads, remove the metal casing on the spark plug side if they have it on them, seems to be asking for trouble in my view.

 

[A5HL3Y]

yeah the sparking is coming from the ht leads slot. thats the only thing i havnt checked is the plugs. plugs were 14.40, coil was 27 quid and they cudnt qoute me on the dizzy cap as there is 3 different variants. so if im getting spark in the dizzy then the coil is working?

 

[robreidmotors]

The coils only job is to generate a big voltage. If youre getting sparks then chances are it is working.

Its a bit like asking if a tap is working, if water isnt coming out of the end of the hose but is spewing out somewhere inbetween chances are the tap is ok.

Id replace the leads as mentioned, sounds like the insulation may have deteriorated, sometimes you cant even see it, only the spark from them.

 

[A5HL3Y]

I dnt think its the casing of the lead as they look fairly new. the sparking is coming from the end of the lead in the dizzy on all of them. i think il change the lot to be on the safe side.

 

[A5HL3Y]

problem sorted all it needed was a set of plugs they were completly black

 

[robreidmotors]

Nice one. The black is either unburnt or excessive fuel so its a good time to do a throttle body clean and also run some good fuel cleaner through to clean everything up. Also air filter change/clean if it hasnt been done in a while.