CountKyle Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) Hi all, My check engine light has now flashed up on two separate occasions. On Friday I was driving across town and it came up - the engine was really lumpy and sounded like it was a cylinder down - like it was misfiring. So I pulled over, idled for a bit before turning the engine off. After 5 minutes I started her back up again and she was back to normal - no check engine light or lumpy idles. I forgot about it until today when it happened again. This time after turning her off and on again the CEL was still present. I visited a friend to borrow his ODB scanner and expertise and we got the following code: P0300 - random misfire. We then visually inspected the car and noticed a few things: "mayo" in the oil cap. A small amount, but enough for concern. water/oil mix near spark plug/coil pack seals for cylinders 2, 4 and 6 (NS - the other side was bone dry) It is also worth noting that: We've had a LOT of rain up here recently and I've driven every day. I changed my belts last week. I also had my NS compression arm replaced last week (not cheap ). I don't have an engine under tray. I bought it like this and I have been intending to buy one, but we're in the middle of selling and buying a house... My friend suggested it's possible that it's an o2 sensor, or that water/oil has worked its way into a coil/spark plug. Could it be the bad weather, condensation etc, or does it sound more like a failed gasket? If anybody had any experience with this or could point me in the right direction it'd be much appreciated. Cheers, Kyle Edited February 16, 2016 by CountKyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis_UK Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I've this scenario twice now. Both was misfire. (If I'm not mistaken CEL flashing means misfire) If the CEL Stayed solid after flashing would be easy to track. Scenario one: NO CEL, this is because i felt the misfire straight away, i knew exactly what it was so poodled home. Come next day pulled all Coil packs and spark plugs, All dry apart from Cylinder #5 which the well was covered in oil. After I swapped all spark plugs (they where really fouled anyway) can ran fine no misfire. Scenario two: Actually came week later after scenario one, After about 30-40min drive CEL started flashing, but did not stay on. as soon as i saw i dropped to the neutral, (was on motorway at the time) let it roll to next junction and could thankfully pull over. Now funnierly enough, because of previous incident i actually took out tools and spare coil packs i don't know why, but i did. Instantly checked Coil pack #5, was extremely hot, so let it cool. After letting cool and inspecting looks like the coil pack had melted somewhat, intermittently failing. (Probably didn't clean it up properly). Changed it over continued on my journey, can run perfectly fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMANALEX Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I've this scenario twice now. Both was misfire. (If I'm not mistaken CEL flashing means misfire) If the CEL Stayed solid after flashing would be easy to track. Scenario one: NO CEL, this is because i felt the misfire straight away, i knew exactly what it was so poodled home. Come next day pulled all Coil packs and spark plugs, All dry apart from Cylinder #5 which the well was covered in oil. After I swapped all spark plugs (they where really fouled anyway) can ran fine no misfire. Scenario two: Actually came week later after scenario one, After about 30-40min drive CEL started flashing, but did not stay on. as soon as i saw i dropped to the neutral, (was on motorway at the time) let it roll to next junction and could thankfully pull over. Now funnierly enough, because of previous incident i actually took out tools and spare coil packs i don't know why, but i did. Instantly checked Coil pack #5, was extremely hot, so let it cool. After letting cool and inspecting looks like the coil pack had melted somewhat, intermittently failing. (Probably didn't clean it up properly). Changed it over continued on my journey, can run perfectly fine. Glad to hear that you are all sorted Lewis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMANALEX Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Kyle, Could be numerous issues, however I would be having a closer look at the plugs and coil packs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis_UK Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Glad to hear that you are all sorted Lewis. Thanks to you Alex, although temporary, still need to get cam covers sorted at some point PS, Alex is the man, hence the ZMAN, seeing as you live in Scotland aswell, this pays massive dividends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountKyle Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) Kyle, Could be numerous issues, however I would be having a closer look at the plugs and coil packs. I think you're right. It's unlikely I'll get the chance until the weekend so I might be wise to take the bike to work for the next few days... Will keep you posted. Edited February 16, 2016 by CountKyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountKyle Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 To add to my woes... My battery died! Managed to bump start it... Man, it's a heavy car. Got a new Bosch battery and it started after a few attempts - definitely looks like bad spark. I'll hopefully get the chance to look at the plugs and coils tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis_UK Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 (edited) Whats current mileage on the car btw? Maybe in need of spark plug change anyway. When I got around to inspecting spark plug they where completely fouled. Upon inspection the previous owner had fitted VKH20 Denso Iridium (1Step Colder) not sure why, it only has CAI, Plenum Spacer and Slienced Decats. Have since switched to PLFR5A-11 (NGK 6240) NGK Laser Platinum, and I must say, the thing runs soooo smooth now. Might be worth also checking. Regards. Edited February 21, 2016 by Lewis_UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountKyle Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 It has 113k miles. Today I got at the coils and plugs. They've got life left in them yet and there's no damp at all. I also noticed that the oil cap comes loose again once it's tightened too much so I changed it over. The problem is very intermittent... I took 4 journeys today (30 miles total) and it only happened on one. Is it possible that it's a MAF or o2 sensor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsexr Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 if you dont know when the plugs were changed then you have to do them first to eliminate them. Then if the problem occurs and you dont know where the miss is then change one coil pack. If the problem comes back swap it for the next one and so on unless you want to spend the money and do them all. At 113k it could easily be a coll pack breaking down when its hot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountKyle Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 (edited) Righto. I have a friend who has a spare MAF, so we can swap that out and see if that's the problem. If not, then that's that ruled out! What I'm gonna try next is disconnect each coil pack one by one whilst the engine is running and see if there is any difference or not... Surely if there is a significant difference then the coil is good? The only problem doing this is that my problem is intermittent, so I could start the car right now and it'd be fine. :| I'm also perplexed by the fact that I don't get a specific cylinder error, which I'd expect to see if a coil pack had failed. All of this wouldn't be such an issue if my MOT hadn't just run out, and it'll fail if I have any errors on the dash Edited February 22, 2016 by CountKyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis_UK Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Basically Kyle on these cars as you have found out the CEL will only generate on an ACTUAL current fault. So if it coil pack/spark plug past service life, they could be at the stage of breakdown, so yes, car starting up from cold is fine no problems, but once everything is warm is like a whole different ball game. As for the coil packs your are right, should you disconnect one and there IS a change, the coils are good, should you disconnect one and nothing changes, thats your man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountKyle Posted February 23, 2016 Author Share Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) I have a friend with a Z who had a spare MAF, so we swapped them over. It's also just been through and passed its MOT, which is a huge relief! I haven't had a misfire since I swapped the MAF, but I don't think I've run it for long enough. I think I'm going to pick up a coil pack so that I have one ready when/if it goes again! Would any of you recommend a particular make of coil pack, are Hanshin any good? They seem awfully cheap compared to the OEM ones. Edited February 23, 2016 by CountKyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Personally, I'd stick with OEM coil packs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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