An Update, today we had a go at sorting the problem as it has got rather damp in the last few days.

1st we took off the dizzy cap cover to reveal a puddle of water, and then opened the dizzy cap and there was also water in there. cleaned off all the carbon on the connectors. Used an airline and blew all the moisture out. sprayed all with duck oil and replaced it all again except the dizzy cap cover as this was trapping the water that got in there.

fired up and was perfect. After doing some other bits and pieces we drove home. after about 6-7 miles it started missing again! :(
Plug leads look fine, Could it be the plugs? What plugs do you guys and girls recomend?
 
Hi there,

Me and jaketalbot have problems with our mk2 8v's - loses power/cuts out every so often, it's all very random. I changed my lambda sensor which helped as we both found our cars idled at very low rpm's. Unfortunately the problem still persists, I have a crank position sensor I need to fit still, but it could be the airflow sensor.
 
its all a bit weird, i've had my coil pack changed just before the winter and it hasn't helped, throttle body cleaned out on both mine and fenix's but were still not running well at all, my car is fine once warmed up but its rubbish in the morning, and when cold. i have to keep the accelarator pushed down to keep it going untill it starst to cope on its own. i've changed plugs, leads are ok, but its never ending! i suppose at the end of the day there all getting old now, and like old people, they don't cope with the cold as well as they used too!
 
:wtf:
the problems persist :cry: , we have actually had a dry but cold day yesterday and a dry evening last night so was thinking that the problem would be sorted as it aint going to get damp....... but oh no, the missfiring is back again.

im getting some new plugs to change, could it be them? leads look fine and we cleaned and dryed the dizzy on saturday. What else could it be? :confused:

Anybody got a guide on cleaning the throttle body, and engine sensor please? will it be in the haynes bible? mines an abf model? :think:
 
:wtf:
the problems persist :cry: , we have actually had a dry but cold day yesterday and a dry evening last night so was thinking that the problem would be sorted as it aint going to get damp....... but oh no, the missfiring is back again.

im getting some new plugs to change, could it be them? leads look fine and we cleaned and dryed the dizzy on saturday. What else could it be? :confused:

Anybody got a guide on cleaning the throttle body, and engine sensor please? will it be in the haynes bible? mines an abf model? :think:

It would be worth changing the leads as well just to make sure. When my car was misfiring the garage thought it was only the plugs as the leads looked fine. So they changed the plugs and got the car back and it was still doing it. I put the car back in and they changed the leads. Got the car back and hey presto, it stopped misfiring. So honestly consider changing the leads.
 
ive got some new plugs on the way, going to order new dizzy cap, rotor arm, leads, but from where? what sort of price? cheers
 
hi again, coming to work this morning the car was the same missfiring but when it got above 4000rpm it wouldnt miss at all? any more ideas what this could be? :blink:
 
another thing ive noticed now, i can hear it ticking, its not oil because ive checked that and only changed the oil a couple weeks back, can anybody help? its really pi$$ing me off now. sounds like a traction engine
 
What sort of ticking and where from mate?

Rev/speed related?


Gettin mine towed back to cardiff so my mate dave can hit it with a spanner :D
 
i cant really determin where its from, i can hear it when in the car whilst its idoling and driving, i can hear it whilst outside with the bonnet down. the raspy engine is too load to hear when onnets open....lol..... what i can make out its coming from the centre of the bonnet at the back ie wiper arms! its annoying, sounds like im really low on oil but im not!
 
Coils are expensive new, the previous owner of my car had one fitted just before he sold it and he said it was £80, will try to dig out the receipt when i get home for the exact figure.

Mine was doing the symptoms you describe above and it was the head gasket, coolant was getting into a cylinder and causing it to miss.

Unfortunately owning an ageing car is all about having it fixed regularly it seems, just be thankful its not a fiesta or escort thats rusted to f**k and churning out oil filled smoke.
 
im hoping mine aint the same a yours, its only been like this since its been really wet.... found a replacement coil for £30+vat.......... better than £80
 
Do you know somebody with the same car where you could borrow their coil to check it out? Saves wasting the money if it is not the part at fault. Also worth going over your earthing points to make sure it's nothing as simple as a bad earth.
 
im affraid there is no one in the area with the same car not even a golf.... mine stands out from the crowd! shame the reason is because it sounds ill and not because its the daddy! lol
 
A coil pack is always useful to have as a spare anyway tbh, they aren't the most relaible part in the world.

As said go over all your earthing points to make sure it's nothing that simple - the fact it's so intermittent means it could well be something like this. Have you had your car on diagnostics to see if it's throwing any fault codes up?