mk1 LC serviced myself - now it's running bad :(

[omara04]

Help!

I'm a bit fed up - just spent all day servicing my beloved 02 cupra 180, and now she's not happy at all.

Here's what I did:

Oil + Filter
Fuel Filter
Air Filter
Pollen Filter

In addition I sprayed carb cleaner down the MAF, and put injector cleaner in the fuel, and found a breather pipe that had snapped and put a piece of garden hosepipe to bridge the gap.

BUT NOW THE PROBLEMS: It starts and runs fine, drives nice under part throttle and no load, idles perfectly (where it didn't before) and sounds perfect. But when you give it full throttle, and the turbo begins to come on boost, it coughs, splutters, hesitates and feels like it's misfiring. It then stops when you get past 4500rpm or so when it's not boosting.

Now the only things I can put it down to are:
*Spark plugs were bosch ones with 4 anodes - person in halfords said they would fit the leon OK - they fit fine, but does these fancy 4 anodes cause a running problem?
*Injector cleaner I chucked in with the petrol - mixed it a bit strong (1 bottle to half a tank instead of full) i've since filled the tank up with v power, but it's still playing up
*Fixing that hose has somehow caused the problem. Is the diameter too small or something?
*Still excess carb cleaner on the MAF which is causing running problems ( I did spray an awful lot)

ANyway I've got the engine light flashing like crazy, and stays on all the time after it's warmed up.

Can anyone help, or is it a trip to Mr. Seat for a diagnostic and megabig ££££????

From sad little Steve,

 

[Danny_FR]

Did you spray the carb cleaner directly on to the MAF and not after it? If so, that's likely to be your problem. Take it out and leave it to dry overnight and hope it's not buggered...

 

[benjiwales]

try using a hair dryer on cold or low heat on the maf

The injector cleaner should have nothing to do with it

You say you haven't changed the spark plugs so I don't see how they would now be a problem

Find someone with vag com before you go to the stealers

 

[omara04]

Ah right

I think I must have. I took out the air filter and sprayed it all up inside past the grating thing. It was pukka wynn's stuff, and I've sprayed MAFs on other cars in the past so I didn't think it would be a problem. Darn. That'll teach me for following the instructions on the can...

Steve

 

[omara04]

try using a hair dryer on cold or low heat on the maf

The injector cleaner should have nothing to do with it

You say you haven't changed the spark plugs so I don't see how they would now be a problem

Find someone with vag com before you go to the stealers

Sorry I wrote that wrong. I DID replace the spark plugs. The old ones were NGK single anodes. New ones Super 4 Bosch with 4 anodes.

 

[m0rk]

did you remove the MAF from the car before spraying carb cleaner at it?

if not - is it all poured into the turbo?

 

[omara04]

Thanks for all the advice guys

Mork - I seriously hope I didn't because that sounds serious!! I sprayed about 5 seconds worth in, hopefully only enough to coat the MAF and not start swashing around in the turbo.

I've taken the MAF out (just) and put it on the radiator on a low heat to dry out. Hopefully that will do it some good.Darn these technical vehicles! Give me the old land rover to work on

So are they very sensitive to being drenched in carb cleaner? I know when they get dirty then can cause problems running.

Steve

 

[m0rk]

Isopropanol would have been better to lightly wash it in....

 

[DPJ]

Flashing CEL light's pointing to coilpacks though..... are you sure your coilpacks are pushed down properly?

 

[omara04]

Flashing CEL light's pointing to coilpacks though..... are you sure your coilpacks are pushed down properly?

Yeah I pushed em home good and proper. It runs fine at idle and part throttle - My guess is that if it was missing (e.g. electrical conductivity problem) it would be consistent over the whole rev range?

Steve

 

[m0rk]

higher load misfires normally suggests spark related.... DPJ is likely onto a solution

 

[omara04]

higher load misfires normally suggests spark related.... DPJ is likely onto a solution

Yep. fair enough - OK i'll try pushing the coilpacks home again tomorrow and refit my newly dryed-out MAF and let you know!

 

[DPJ]

Perhaps try your old plugs back in to see if the problem goes away. Otherwise, you really need diagnostics / VagCom to see which coilpack(s) it is....

 

[omara04]

Perhaps try your old plugs back in to see if the problem goes away. Otherwise, you really need diagnostics / VagCom to see which coilpack(s) it is....

What actually are they? I saw them when I changed the plugs, but not seen anything like that before. What do they do? how do you know when they've gone wrong? Are they expensive to replace?

A friend of mine has got a mk2 TT and he's just bought some diagnostic software. Maybe i'll go see him

 

[DPJ]

Single coils transforming 12v to 000's of volts to power the plugs. They're about £23 each.

 

[omara04]

CLOSURE! It's all fixed now.

I dried out the MAF and put it back on, still had the problem.

So, I went round to a friend and he VAG'd it. Came up with 3 faults, 1 relating to a pressure drop between turbo and dump valve (leaky hose) we fiddled about with that, and the end it cleared when we reinstated the leak. Weird. Instead of garden hosepipe i'll buy the proper part as I think the garden hose was kinking and causing a blockage.

But the main faults were relating to the spark. (Cylinder 1 misfire, and assorted misfires on all cylinders) I put the old spark plugs back in, and hey presto. All fixed. drives beautiful and no engine light. Moral of the story, bosch super 4's are no good for Leon Cupras (despite what halfrauds tell you) take their "advice" with a pinch of salt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for everyon'es input.

 

[The MoffMeister]

yeah dont use halfrauds there used to clapped out corsa'a and chavs with spots speak to pros about it or ask advice on here about stuff

 

[lil3520]

CLOSURE! It's all fixed now.

I dried out the MAF and put it back on, still had the problem.

So, I went round to a friend and he VAG'd it. Came up with 3 faults, 1 relating to a pressure drop between turbo and dump valve (leaky hose) we fiddled about with that, and the end it cleared when we reinstated the leak. Weird. Instead of garden hosepipe i'll buy the proper part as I think the garden hose was kinking and causing a blockage.

But the main faults were relating to the spark. (Cylinder 1 misfire, and assorted misfires on all cylinders) I put the old spark plugs back in, and hey presto. All fixed. drives beautiful and no engine light. Moral of the story, bosch super 4's are no good for Leon Cupras (despite what halfrauds tell you) take their "advice" with a pinch of salt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for everyon'es input.

glad your motor is fixed now.

 

[Fenix]

Or try NGK Sparks?