Tue 26 Feb 2008 20:22 2002, 1.3 Duratec misfire - martint123

Just had a call from little brother, their shared family runabout is misfiring. 80k on the clock He has changed plugs and leads also in desperation has replaced the coilpack. Still doing it at idle and when driving, although at times it runs OK. Pulling plug leads off, it "seems" worse with one pair than the other (hence the coilpack). I've suggested that he goes round all connectors he can find and pulls them apart and shove them back together with a wiggle. Any other thoughts would be most welcome. Edited by Dynamic Dave on 26/02/2008 at 21:51 Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Feb 2008 20:59 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - Screwloose

If driven with a misfire for any length of time; a high proportion will damage the ECU ignition transistors. Make up three links and swap-over the two outer circuits to the coilpack. If it moves the miss; then get the ECU repaired. Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Feb 2008 21:13 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - Railroad.

Worse than that it can also cause damage to the catalyst and cylinder bores and pistons/piston rings, where the continual fuel that's injected washes the lubricating oil off, and rapid wear then occurs. It might be in your best interest to get your misfire fixed a bit sharp-ish....... Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Feb 2008 23:16 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - DP

I agree and the wear can be very rapid. I saw this happen to a mate's mk2 Cavalier once. It was running beautifully until an HT lead broke up and it went onto three cylinders. He drove it for a week like it, and when he brought it to me to have a look at, I found the fault and popped a new lead on. It went back to running on four cylinders immediately, but blew blue smoke continually and used a litre of oil a week. I did a compression test on it and the affected cylinder was well down. Cheers DP Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 27 Feb 2008 08:37 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - martint123

Thanks for that Screwloose, excellent idea to localise the problem. It isn't being used on the road at the moment, the "whilst driving" in my first post was just to indicate not only at idle when stationary. thanks, I'll pass on the info. Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 27 Feb 2008 12:40 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - Screwloose

martin I should maybe have added "swap the HT cables side-to-side too" just in case that wasn't obvious. [Basically, you're using the opposite coil in the pack.] Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 27 Feb 2008 15:56 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - martint123

I'd guessed what you had meant ;) I'll mention it to him tonight, but I suspect with him having replaced the coilpack the result will be as expected. A bit odd, as there is a nice fat, huge spark when popping the plug caps off each plug in turn. Next step is the expensive one by the looks of it. Maybe a breakers or ebay first. thanks Martin Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 27 Feb 2008 16:15 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - Screwloose

Martin Not an option - security coded ECU. It's odd that there are four sparks though....? Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 27 Feb 2008 18:15 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - martint123

Do you happen to know if the ecu is coded to the car or the keyfob. I know he's looked at (but not bought) ebay - I've emailed him a warning about that potential problem. I'll have time at the weekend to have a wander down his way to give him a hand. Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 27 Feb 2008 18:20 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - Screwloose

Martin It's coded to the PATS immobilizer - don't go there. Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Thu 28 Feb 2008 11:26 2002, 1.3 Duratec missfire - FIXED - martint123

Many thanks again for your help Mr screwloose ;) It looks like original problem was a sparkplug lead but his changing of plugs and leads made no difference. Going back a step and putting the old plugs back in fixed it. One new plug faulty. Grrrrr. thanks again Martin Reply | Report as offensive | Link