What the hell just happened to my car?!? - now running on 3 Cylinders!!

[chughes163]

Hi Guys

Just driving onto the A34 slip road and decided to give the car a bit of welly.....and the engine warning light came on and went into limp home mode.

Thinking it was the inlet pipe for the turbo again (popped off once), i rev'd it lightly to see if it was making the 'wooshing' noise it had done in the past...and nothing!

Anyway....limped it home....and it sounds like a tractor and it struggles to get any power. I noticed boost was still there, but its running on 3 cylinders and theres a bit of a clunking noise too.

Any suggestions appreciated! Ive tried to get Seat to look at it but they cant till wednesday...useless!

 

[Leigh15]

Coilpack failure perhaps?

 

[chughes163]

do you think it could be? how do i check?

 

[tedvagas]

unplug them 1 by 1 when its running if it sounds the same after unplugging one , you will have found the faulty coil

 

[kilobrown]

yes definetly sounds like a coilpack..... had it happen too me a few months ago, sound like a subaru and ran like a bucket of s**t. changed coil pack and evertyhing back too normal!!

 

[chughes163]

yes thanks a lot guys! I rang a friend who works for VW and gave him part number for the coilpack i got from seat (who couldnt get them in till tuesday!) - sorted me out a new set which were in stock with a discount just fitted them and its back to its old self.....i went and saw a mechanic friend today who listened to it - didnt look under the bonnet in any great detail - but said it could be anything....i.e. piston getting stuck - and could be terminal! lol scared the crap out of me!

 

[STEVEO@CYMRU]

keep that one special coil pack in the boot for next time . and there will be a next time

 

[Neil_Ireland]

keep that one special coil pack in the boot for next time . and there will be a next time

Yeah, I had a coil pack die so I replaced all 4....have a spare in the boot now just in case!!

Neil.

 

[rikwheeler]

Know this may sound stupid but where are coil packs located?
Having the same problem and sounds like I just need to find out which one(s) is faulty and replace it

 

[kilobrown]

if u remove the plastic engine cover you will see them, theres four of them in a row. prize them out gentley one by one and swap them for a good one until the cars running smoothly..... or easier way put it on vag com and that will tell you exactly which one is at fault

 

[Neil_Ireland]

They are the square things in this pic, 4 of them, they sit down onto each spark plug.

Neil.

 

[PlatinumR]

IIRC coil packs still have a 5 year warranty too.

 

[rikwheeler]

Just spoke to my local Seat garage and they are refusing to replace the coilpack under warranty even though I've explained that the coilpacks are under a 5 year warranty (my car's an 03 reg). Is there anything I can do or do I have to just give in and pay their ridiculous price?

 

[cupra@180]

Contact seat hq if you do a search for the info on here they will contact the garage for you. Best of luck with your problem.