(G) mk2 sporting misfire

my girlfriend's year 2000 1.2 16v sporting has developed a severe misfire. the engine management light is flashing.

i assume the flashing light is to warn me that a misfire is occuring.

on inspection the sparkplugs on cylinder 1 and 2 were black, on 3 and 4 they were normal.

i've replaced the plugs and leads and tested both the primary and secondary windings of the coil pack. its still the same. since the problem seems to be on cylinders 1 and 2 i wouldnt think a coil fault is possible because 1 & 2 are not a coiled pair.

i've tried swapping the lambdas round and it made no difference which strongly suggests it isnt a lambda problem. plus the misfire is there from cold start.

i cant do a compression test because my tester cant reach down the narrow holes in the head

are there any other known issues on the 16v that cause a misfire? i know a run on the examiner is called for but i cant get the car to a dealer for a few days and i'd like to try anything i can in the meantime.

thanks in advance

I just exchanged a coilpack on a 1,2 16v mk. II that did the same. The coilpack corroded from underneath but had no real sign of problems. The engine-light also flashed on that car.

managed to make my compression tester fit with a bit of insulating tape and its bad news, very low compresion on cylinder 1 and 2, about 80% down. adding oil made no difference.

head gasket failure was my first thought, but i decided to check all the possibilities. guess what, i fitted the HT leads the wrong way on the coil pack when i serviced the car a few days before the misfire started. possibly the stupidest thing i've ever done in my life.

i even noted down how the leads were fitted to make sure they went back on the right way, but i obviously noted it wrongly because my manual shows them in different positions. the car runs better with them in the correct positions so i'm sure that i've identifed the cause of the problem.

exhaust valves will definately need replacing, and possibly inlet valves too, and probably the cat as well because the car was driven for about 5 miles with the misfire.

even worse i dont have the time to fix it myself and my GF needs the car asap so i'm going to have to pay a garage to fix it. ffs

Bugger mate, if you do take the 16v head off make the tool shown in the haynes manual from bent metal as it saves alot of problems with dropped valves when taking the head off and replacing.

Cat will be ok, we have only changed two punto cats in 5 years, they are pretty bullet-proof.

i was getting quotes of £400-500 at local garages, you'd have to be mad! a garage i've used for years quoted £180 to replace all the valves on cylinders 1 & 2. its amazing what a difference it makes when you build up a long term relationship with a garage you trust.

does anyone know where the obd connector is on the mk2 punto? i was trying to read the codes with my powerscan but i couldnt find the damn connector.

The OBD2 connector is in the internal fusebox, the one at the bottom right of the steering wheel.

Yup and its a tight fit to get the connector on.