please help! car juddering

[22ssingh]

This morning on the way to work, I drove out of town OK, then I was stopped at the last set of traffic lights before I hit the dual carriageway and my car started to shake bad, if I pushed the accelerator it would be ok for about 2 secs, but then shake again, so then I set of after the lights changed to green and my car would sort of judder and felt less powered in every gear, if I put my foot down the car would just judder and shake and then be OK once I reached a certain amount of rpm, I thought about pulling over but then as soon as I hit the motorway and drove faster, it was OK, I could feel a slight judder when I pushed the accelerator, but it wasn't as bad, then when I reached work it was OK, and my car has been in the car park since morning and its nearly time to go home, does anyone have any ideas what it could be please? I have RAC so if it happens on the way home I will be fine, but I want to know why that happened

 

[GainfulShrimp]

Sorry, remind us what model/engine yours is again please?

I don't have a diesel Leon (yet), but do you have a diesel model with a DPF fitted? I'm sure I've read about similar symptoms: strange idling, a feeling of reduced power but it driving OK when given the beans... being a result of the automatic passive regeneration of the DPF.
If you have a DPF equipped car and there are no warning lights or other symptoms, I wouldn't worry too much.

My TFSI used to 'quiver' occasionally during idling but it's not often noticeable - I wouldn't describe it as a judder really - and it hasn't done it much since I switched to using V-Power petrol exclusively.

 

[LeonFR07DSG]

if this is a tfsi like my fr i had this happen to me.. it was a coil pack... god damn awful shuddering and smell...

 

[Slimy]

Yep, if it's a petrol car it's a coil pack, no doubt about it. Give it a bit longer and your engine management light will come on.

 

[crigisback]

coil pack no doubt

 

[22ssingh]

Sorry mine is indeed a petrol, I drove home and it felt kinda bad, but nothing like it felt in the morning, is it 100% coil pack? if so what is it and how do I fix it? lol sorry if its a dumb question, but I only just turned 19, and I repair mobile phones not cars lol

 

[Slimy]

What I'd suggest is to put a request in the VAGCOM section, for someone to check your fault codes for the price of a couple of beers. That will tell you which one to replace. The coil pack itself sits on top of the engine, numbered 1 to 4 from left to right. You just pull the old one out, and put the new one in. Once you buy the replacement, you'll understand what you're looking for and how it fits.

It's a really good idea to do this yourself, because coil packs are one of the most common faults and they are so easy to swap.

It's not unexpected that it felt 'better', it can go up and down while it's being intermittent. It can almost feel drivable at some points, then it'll stop the car at others. But eventually the coil pack will fail to a point where the car runs bad all the time, and that's when the engine management light comes on.

 

[22ssingh]

What I'd suggest is to put a request in the VAGCOM section, for someone to check your fault codes for the price of a couple of beers. That will tell you which one to replace. The coil pack itself sits on top of the engine, numbered 1 to 4 from left to right. You just pull the old one out, and put the new one in. Once you buy the replacement, you'll understand what you're looking for and how it fits.

It's a really good idea to do this yourself, because coil packs are one of the most common faults and they are so easy to swap.

It's not unexpected that it felt 'better', it can go up and down while it's being intermittent. It can almost feel drivable at some points, then it'll stop the car at others. But eventually the coil pack will fail to a point where the car runs bad all the time, and that's when the engine management light comes on.

Thanks, wouldn't it be easier to just change all 4? because I don't really know where to take my car to have i plugged into a VAG COM to be honest, unless you know anyone in Kent?

 

[DanGB]

i'll give it a diagnostic check for a few beer tokens, located in DA16.

 

[22ssingh]

i'll give it a diagnostic check for a few beer tokens, located in DA16.

I'll try to see if I can find a specialist with a vag com. Would it definately be just one of the coil packs though, or is that what I need to check by the vag com? also does anyone know where I can get coil packs for a mk2 1.6 leon stylance? eBay don't seem to have them

 

[DanGB]

I dont think many commercial places ahve vag-com, apart from the VAG tuners?

Possibly a ignition coil, but im not too familair with issues on the 1.6 8v

It probably ignition or fueling related, so thats spark plugs or injectors too. If it is a igintion coil, it is possble to isolate the fault by moving the coil to different cylinders and following the fault. Same with spark plugs. VAG-com will monitor the misfires for each cylinder. Let me know if you need a hand, I can also turn on/off other features as per my vag-com guide.

The cheapest place to get a new coil would be Dave @ SEREmotors.

 

[strensall]

could this happen on 1.4 mk 3 ibiza sounds like the problems our Owen is having with his car

 

[22ssingh]

I dont think many commercial places ahve vag-com, apart from the VAG tuners?

Possibly a ignition coil, but im not too familair with issues on the 1.6 8v

It probably ignition or fueling related, so thats spark plugs or injectors too. If it is a igintion coil, it is possble to isolate the fault by moving the coil to different cylinders and following the fault. Same with spark plugs. VAG-com will monitor the misfires for each cylinder. Let me know if you need a hand, I can also turn on/off other features as per my vag-com guide.

The cheapest place to get a new coil would be Dave @ SEREmotors.

Do you think I should buy a vag com? or whats the best thing to do?

 

[cheungy]

take it do your local dealer or a VAG specialist garage and let them diagnose the problem or visit Dan and let him scan your car with vagcom would not suggest coil packs until its been fully checked (it could be many things atm but best to have it checked first).

 

[22ssingh]

Does anyone know of any VAG specialists in Kent? preferbly near Rochester

 

[Slimy]

I would say don't replace all 4, as they are usually around £30 each and the other three will probably be fine. Getting the fault codes read will ensure the fault is definitely there.

It might be worth buying an Ebay version with the shareware software, it doesn't cost much and it is extremely useful. I would not take it to the garage to get them checked, they'll charge you a fortune for the same information.

For getting the coil packs, Sere Motors would be ideal if you can wait for them to be delivered (although they are quite quick I believe). Alternatively GSF and Eurocarparts stock them. Be careful though, GSF sometimes stock two types, a 'generic' version and a good version. I recommend you buy the good one, otherwise you'll be back in the same position after a few thousand miles.

Strensall, coilpacks are a common failure across the range, so yes it could explain your issue as well. But I don't know whether the smaller engines actually use coilpacks?

 

[DanGB]

I think the term is used wrongly, A ignition coil is for example the for seperate items in each cylinder like the 1.8T/2.0T engines, where as a coil pack is a single items that feeds the HT leads. I think thats right?

 

[DanGB]

Does anyone know of any VAG specialists in Kent? preferbly near Rochester

There's AMD technik in Lakeside thurrock, but theyre quite expensive.

 

[22ssingh]

I'm just going to show it to someone tomorrow, I work everyday except Sundays, so I don't really get a lot of time and I really don't want it to get worse, I have booked it in with Formula 1 auto centers for tomorrow. Thanks EVERYONE for their input

 

[Slimy]

I think the term is used wrongly, A ignition coil is for example the for seperate items in each cylinder like the 1.8T/2.0T engines, where as a coil pack is a single items that feeds the HT leads. I think thats right?

if anything I'd say they were the other way round? The way I see it is that an ignition coil is basically a transformer, 12v one side, kilovolts the other. This feeds HT leads, on to spark plugs, and creates the spark.

A coil pack is an all-in-one solution, hence the word 'pack'. So you've got the ignition coil and HT lead all in one unit.

So this is an ignition coil;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390208353357

And this is a coil pack;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170495903422

(I used ebay as examples because the pictures are easier to see)

But you're right, the terms are interchanged as required.