Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle

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Sat 31 Aug 2013 10:22
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - easypeasy

Hi folks. Hope you can maybe offer some advice. My girlfriend has 2001 Beetle 2ltr petrol. For the last year there is some sort of problem resulting in misfiring type thing that means car losing power when pressing accelerator.Car has been in garage for service etc but problem still there. Had a guy look at it last week and he put diagnostic on it. He said it was coming up number 1 cylinder then jumping to 2 then 3 then back to 1and so on! Just wondering if any you guys had any suggestions to what this might be? Cheers

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Sat 31 Aug 2013 11:34
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - perro

I'd be inclined to try a new distributor cap.

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Sat 31 Aug 2013 20:26
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - easypeasy

Not being a mechanic but I would have thought the guys that looked at it would have thought of that already.I'll ask for a check. Cheers

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Sat 31 Aug 2013 21:00
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - elekie&a/c doctor

There is no distributor cap on these,but these do suffer with sparkplug and high tension lead problems and the occasional coil pack.Also does this engine use a lot of oil?Have you checked the level recently?

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Sun 1 Sep 2013 12:55
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - easypeasy

Don't think the engine uses too much oil. Plugs just been changed last week. Levels ok

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Mon 2 Sep 2013 19:52
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - easypeasy

Hi Elikie. Just been told it does use a lot of oil! Would the diagnostic not have shown up the lead faults?

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Mon 2 Sep 2013 22:38
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - elekie&a/c doctor

A diagnostic check can identify a misfire,but it is not able to identify the cause or exact problem,that needs human intervention.These early Golf/beetle engines were prone to heavy oil consumption (burning oil)and fouling the spark plugs,and cause misfiring.What was the condition of the spark plugs that were removed?

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Tue 3 Sep 2013 08:27
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - easypeasy

The mechanic said they were ok. The car had a service not that long ago.

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Tue 3 Sep 2013 20:14
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - sandy56
could be spark plugs, high voltage lead, injectors, bad fuel, ecu fault etc etc.
Only answer is to have someone who knows what they are doing inspect and run the diagnostics and interpret them.
Could be multiple faults.
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Wed 4 Sep 2013 08:48
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - easypeasy

she had it in a garage twice but he couldnt find the fault then I had someone else diagnose it last week and he told me it was misfiring on all cylinders at different times! Changed the plugs but no difference. I appreciate it could be several things but thats what I hoped the garage would tell me. The plugs cost £30 and they never needed changed so she's hoping the guese work can be taken out of it. Cheers

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Wed 4 Sep 2013 09:11
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - elekie&a/c doctor

Faults like these can be very difficult to pinpoint exactly.A diagnostic check will probably not do the job.Find a VW specialist who has dealings with this model.Multiple misfires can be caused by air intake leaks and maf sensor faults.Check the main plastic air intake hose as it it common for these to split/fracture.hth

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Thu 5 Sep 2013 00:37
Volkswagen Beetle - Misfiring on 2001 Beetle - Big John

Change the coil pack - not expensive but a common problem - can take out the cat if left too long (unburnt fuel)

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