1.4 Engine Misfire - Coil Pack?

[Wheelspin]

My 2007 Ibiza Sport managed about 100 metres this morning before the whole car started shaking and the engine warning light came on, it also had barely enough power to get up the hill I was on at the time. I plugged in my code reader and it said:

P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected

I cleared the code and then swapped the spark plugs between cylinders 3 and 4. The misfire is still apparently on cylinder 4.

So if it's not the spark plug what could it be? Coil pack?

Thanks in advance!

 

[britishsligean]

Most likely would be a coil pack, switch the coil pack with another to check

 

[cheshire cat]

coil pack I assume is one coil therefore try swapping 2 leads that reach and see if it moves cylinders

 

[Wheelspin]

Thanks, I've just swapped coils 3 & 4 and the misfire moved as well.

Would I be best off replacing all 4? Do they all tend to fail around the same age/mileage or can I get away with just replacing one?

 

[Wheelspin]

coil pack I assume is one coil therefore try swapping 2 leads that reach and see if it moves cylinders

Thanks, there's one coil pack on each plug though, so no HT leads.

 

[cheshire cat]

Thanks, there's one coil pack on each plug though, so no HT leads.

ahh so light bulbs come to mind I would get two --the other one to ward off evil spirits and to save a trip to the spares shop/easy diagnosis/not getting stuck next time, if you use that then buy 2 more

 

[Wheelspin]

I'm on quite a tight budget at the moment (especially as it needs new tyres soon ) so I've ordered one for now. If another one dies in the near future then I'll replace all of them.

Cheers!

 

[RUM4MO]

My wife's previous 2003MY Polo 1.4 75PS went through 2 coils over the period of 13 years/105K miles. I tried and succeeded to stay one step ahead by buying NOS Eldor coils from ebay, once needed to settle for a Beru/Bremi (which?) which only lasted a month, so in total that car used 3 coils but only 2 of the original ones failed. Currently the last spare bought in is in the boot of daughter's 2010MY Ibiza 1.4 85PS waiting to be called for!

So yes, try to get yourself a spare to carry in the car ASAP, but I would not go as far as to replace all the coils - who knows how crap the new ones will be!

 

[ah1414]

Hi mate, yeah probably wouldn't go as far as replacing all the coils either! see how it goes replacing one...

I know you ordered one already, but just in case you find this useful, i use these guys

d2pautoparts.com/all-car-parts/engine-parts/ignition-coils-and-modules

often as the mechanic recommends them for some parts they have. Have saved a lot of money and the quality is good too!

Check it out if you need mate!

 

[RUM4MO]

I did not get very far on that D2P website, but one thing that I would suggest is, the design and manufacture of one of these COP coils is quite demanding and they operate in a nasty environment, so, in my experience, I'd stick with the ones that VAG use or from the same manufacturer, anyone can make "lookie-likie" coils, but when they fail leaving you stuck, then really what have you saved?

The COP coils fitted to my S4 and wife's new Polo, while not being the same, are huge compared with what the early designs were, and probably for a good reason - ie just too many early life failures.

 

[Wheelspin]

Thanks for the input everyone, new coil arrived today (genuine VW part) and the car's running perfectly now. I'm going to hope this was a one-off but if another one does fail, then I'll definitely be buying some spares!

 

[RUM4MO]

If you have recorded the part numbers and manufacturers of both these coils old/new, maybe start searching for a spare on ebay. yes I know that you said that the new one was a VAG genuine one, but usually there is a maker name on them, like Eldor or Beru.