Technical Let's hope it's the coil packs!

[neilcmusic]

I've sold a perfectly good car to free up a bit of money and bought a punto 2 which is pretty good (bought a new exhaust , not put it on yet !, I just know manifold bolts are going to snap off ) I've got a question ,I've got rough idle and fluttering on acceleration , looking at other forums the suggestion seems to be that this is the coil packs , any other ideas that I can try that are cheaper before I buy them? , leads and plugs are ok , idle almost feels like someone is lightly rocking the car , nothing serious at moment , also was waiting until I changed exhaust before ordering coil to see if it made a difference , any help would be appreciated thanks , I've just sold a Corsa and rough idling usually meant cracked hose and therefore air getting in somewhere

 

[jackwhoo]

Drive it until you really know if you have a problem before buying parts.

Get multiecuscan free download and a cheap cable so you can connect to cars ECU.
Check for fault codes.

 

[jackwhoo]

Oh and post what year and engine it is

 

[neilcmusic]

2003 , 1.2 8v , petrol , my brother has a code reader , where is the connection ? , Under dash I'm assuming? Thanks for advice

 

[jackwhoo]

On right of steering wheel below air vent there is a panel , remove 2 screws , remove panel, see fuses, at bottom of fuses is obd port.

 

[jackwhoo]

Spark plugs are a cheaper first change than coils , if you must change something.
If you don't know when oil and filter last changed just change it.

 

[Brendan W]

+1 to getting MES.
Our car is about to turn 130 k miles and still has original coil packs and leads and ticks over like a sewing machine.

 

[neilcmusic]

Just noticed something else with this car , the petrol cap doesn't fit , in fact I think it's for another car altogether , I'm assuming this wouldn't help !, I'll try and block it off with something just to see if this helps , do you think this could be the answer?

 

[Ziggy122]

+1 to getting MES.
Our car is about to turn 130 k miles and still has original coil packs and leads and ticks over like a sewing machine.

Where as i lost a coil pack at 70k...
Which aint bad but 130k is good going! But id be expecting them to fail at some point....

Spark plugs are a cheaper first change than coils , if you must change something.
If you don't know when oil and filter last changed just change it.

If the car isnt running great
Get the plug and hts done
Get the throttle body cleaned too

A basic service wouldnt go a miss

Ziggy

 

[jackwhoo]

Just noticed something else with this car , the petrol cap doesn't fit , in fact I think it's for another car altogether , I'm assuming this wouldn't help !, I'll try and block it off with something just to see if this helps , do you think this could be the answer?

Wrong fuel tank cap can certainly cause problems , get the correct cap for your make , model and year.

 

[Ziggy122]

Wrong fuel tank cap can certainly cause problems , get the correct cap for your make , model and year.

Only thing you might get is EVAP codes tbh....
Which the ECU will detect and then stop using....

You can get locking fuel caps off ebay for little money - Due to the fact Panda's didnt come with em!

Ziggy

 

[jackwhoo]

Only thing you might get is EVAP codes tbh....
Which the ECU will detect and then stop using....

You can get locking fuel caps off ebay for little money - Due to the fact Panda's didnt come with em!

Ziggy

Incorrect cap also may allow fuel tank to become contaminated with water, dirt, dust , insects , sheep(if they are tiny), tribbles(remember they nearly destroyed USS enterprise)

 

[Ziggy122]

Incorrect cap also may allow fuel tank to become contaminated with water, dirt, dust , insects , sheep(if they are tiny), tribbles(remember they nearly destroyed USS enterprise)

Dirt - Dust - Larger Amounts of Space ship destorying creatures should be picked up by the fuel filter

Water tho - wont and that WILL cause issues

Ziggy

 

[jackwhoo]

Dirt - Dust - Larger Amounts of Space ship destorying creatures should be picked up by the fuel filter

Water tho - wont and that WILL cause issues

Ziggy

Thank you so much for post - I'm crying with laughter which Very unexpected after weeks of terrible news on TV etc, thank you,?

 

[neilcmusic]

Id Prefer troubles with tribbles than Head Gasket issues ,
got plugs and leads today , ill let you know

 

[neilcmusic]

I tried leads and plugs , couldn't get one plug out but changed all others that seemed ok , I'm now thinking it's idling rough because exhaust has hole on , I have noticed something that may be related , underneath the centre of the engine there is a rubber hose hanging down , should it be attached to something or is it some sort of overflow?

 

[jackwhoo]

I tried leads and plugs , couldn't get one plug out but changed all others that seemed ok , I'm now thinking it's idling rough because exhaust has hole on , I have noticed something that may be related , underneath the centre of the engine there is a rubber hose hanging down , should it be attached to something or is it some sort of overflow?

Where in the exhaust system is the extra hole?

 

[jackwhoo]

Put penetrating oil on stuck spark plug.
Try removing stuck plug when engine warmed up.

 

[conors891]

Hole in exhaust should just make it sound loud. It might effect the lambda sensor but that should just make the engine run rich rather than idle poorly.



My engine was running poorly before. Fixed it by changing the throttle body.

Before changing it I tried an ecu reset trick. It involves disconnecting the battery and shorting the leads for a few seconds. Then reconnect. Then turn on the ignition for 30 sec, then off for 30 sec, then on for 30 sec, then start car, wait for engine to heat up, when fan comes on for 2nd time turn off the engine. Then start again and drive. This is just from memory so perhaps someone here will correct me if I've missed something. Its worth a shot.

 

[neilcmusic]

Hole in exhaust should just make it sound loud. It might effect the lambda sensor but that should just make the engine run rich rather than idle poorly.



My engine was running poorly before. Fixed it by changing the throttle body.

Before changing it I tried an ecu reset trick. It involves disconnecting the battery and shorting the leads for a few seconds. Then reconnect. Then turn on the ignition for 30 sec, then off for 30 sec, then on for 30 sec, then start car, wait for engine to heat up, when fan comes on for 2nd time turn off the engine. Then start again and drive. This is just from memory so perhaps someone here will correct me if I've missed something. Its worth a shot.

Thought about this , however don't have radio code and am assuming this will disconnect radio ? Any ideas