Technical Jerkiness after trip to Scotland

[AnthonyH]

I have some codes. I cleared them and started the engine and only one came back, the earth to ground problem. The other codes will come back when i drive the car again. I'm scratching my head...

Can't say i'm fussed with the Polish(?). How can i change the program to English?

 

[varesecrazy]

No idea why it's not in English

Did you buy from MES site for 50 Euro..?

 

[AnthonyH]

Yes, i'll reinstall it later, and that'll probably fix it.

About a week ago I bought some carb cleaner with the intention of seeing if i had a vacuum leak. The engine can be noisy when it starts up. A kind of blowing sound, is that going to be anything to do with it? How do i check with carb cleaner?

 

[varesecrazy]

The cyl 4 misfire

Is the 98 pointing to the injector..?

 

[AnthonyH]

Possibly lol. I've been meaning to try to clean injectors for a year or more, but it looks difficult, not sure.

 

[AnthonyH]

Google AI says the following;

The spark plugs are about 20,000 miles old, i could change them easily enough.

I also have a spare coil pack I could put on to test.

Injectors could be clogged, why would that be an intermittent problem though?

Vacuum leaks, i'll have to play around with the carb cleaner, what do i do with it?

 

[varesecrazy]

Google AI says the following;

View attachment 468038

The spark plugs are about 20,000 miles old, i could change them easily enough.

I also have a spare coil pack I could put on to test.

Injectors could be clogged, why would that be an intermittent problem though?

Vacuum leaks, i'll have to play around with the carb cleaner, what do i do with it?

Hopefully you appreciate that

OBD is a worldwide standard

The initial 4 digits point to a GENERAL fault =. Misfire (general or specific cylinder)

The dash and 2 digits point to a likely problem

Lost Earth, poor Signal, low voltage etc

My Google search for your - 98 only found a Alfa forum post.. But at least it's Italian / related

Many descriptions are for Honda / VW actual error may be different for you

MES should give an accurate description

 

[AnthonyH]

When I clicked on the MES description it gave the "98" as a misfire with overheating, no extra information. I've cleared the codes now but I'll be driving it later today and I can check again.

I googled and -98 is the secondary fault overheating, but it would seem to mean fuel not being ignited and then extra fuel exploding more strongly.

I went to check fiat elearn but its unavailable again, sometimes there and sometimes not

I found a website relating to a -98 error on a Fiat 500 that turned out to be a faulty injector, he found the problem with a resistance test, i think he took the injector out and tested the resistance across it.

Case study: Fiat 500 1.2 2011 - Issuu

Case study by Des Davies AAE MIMI, Top Gear Motor Services

issuu.com

 

[varesecrazy]

When I clicked on the MES description it gave the "98" as a misfire with overheating, no extra information. I've cleared the codes now but I'll be driving it later today and I can check again.

I googled and -98 is the secondary fault overheating, but it would seem to mean fuel not being ignited and then extra fuel exploding more strongly.

I went to check fiat elearn but its unavailable again, sometimes there and sometimes not

I found a website relating to a -98 error on a Fiat 500 that turned out to be a faulty injector, he found the problem with a resistance test, i think he took the injector out and tested the resistance across it.

Case study: Fiat 500 1.2 2011 - Issuu

Case study by Des Davies AAE MIMI, Top Gear Motor Services

issuu.com

The Alfa one was similar

 

[Zardo]

A rooten earth cable can do a lot of harm with strange intermittent faults.

I dont think it's the spark plugs. I changed mine after 100 000 miles and they looked ok.

If the timing belt was done, the spark plug in cyl. 1 might be loose if they forgot to tighten it after screwing it back in manually. Happened to me. However, my car didn't misfire and ran with a loosely fitted spark plug (you could unscrew it by hand) for 30 000 miles.

 

[AnthonyH]

I don't think it is the spark plugs either, but i'm going to change them on the basis that I bought the very cheapest set I could find, and if they are the problem it serves me right lol. And i'm also going to replace them because i have some spare at the house. I'll report back later, hopefully there won't be any mishaps

 

[AnthonyH]

One of the electrodes on the spark plugs has broken, see pictures. Is this enough to cause the misfire? I've not driven it yet, so I can't say.

 

[AnthonyH]

The engine is now purring! Happy days lol.

I really mustn't buy such cheap spark plugs in the future.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I continue to use an older version which doesn’t require a subscription, back when you could pay once and use forever.

So do I. I didn't know it's now a subscription?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The engine is now purring! Happy days lol.

I really mustn't buy such cheap spark plugs in the future.

Happy days! So what make were your "cheap" plugs. If they are the simple "copper core" type they look to be then the 20,000 miles you mention they've done is pretty good going.

 

[AnthonyH]

Happy days! So what make were your "cheap" plugs. If they are the simple "copper core" type they look to be then the 20,000 miles you mention they've done is pretty good going.

I didn't know that. I thought they all lasted about the same as each other, 50,000 miles. I only changed out the plugs for position 1 and 4, because the codes indicated they might be an issue, i wish i'd also done 2 and 3 now. Anyway, the MOT is next week, this may throw up bigger issues i'll have to address.

They were Denso copper core spark plugs.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I didn't know that. I thought they all lasted about the same as each other, 50,000 miles. I only changed out the plugs for position 1 and 4, because the codes indicated they might be an issue, i wish i'd also done 2 and 3 now. Anyway, the MOT is next week, this may throw up bigger issues i'll have to address.

They were Denso copper core spark plugs.

Good enough quality Denso is. It's only stuff like iridium and platinum tipped which will go to "starship" mileages. When I started out in the motor trade a "big" engine service, often yearly or around 10,000 miles (but with an oil change at maybe 5,000 miles) would include an oil filter and engine oil, air filter, set of spark plugs, a rocker cover gasket because the valve clearances needed to be checked and, often, adjusted. Then there was the distributor points and often a condenser too. Now a days you can pretty much take spark plugs out their boxes and fit them to the engine because the manufacturers pre gap them for you. Back then you wouldn't have even thought of doing that without checking them with your feeler gauges. The points had to be set up too, quite a skilled job, and, if you were being diligent about it, the timing should really be checked after new points were fitted. And that was just a simple engine service! Brakes would need to be manually adjusted on every wheel and there were other tasks too. There's much less to do now a days but the manufacturers have often made access to components a lot more difficult.

Edit. Copper core plugs? actually pretty much all plugs have "copper cores" but it's the metal used at the tips which make the difference. But it's become a convention to refer to basic (ie non iridium/platinum) plugs as "copper core". Basic plugs are absolutely fine but if I use them I pull them at every service, check the condition of their electrode ends and regap them if I think I can use them for a bit longer. I would not fit basic plugs to a modern wee turbo engine but I'm happy running the likes of our Becky (1.2 Panda) or the Jazz my daughter in law had, on them. My local factor sells them really cheap.

 

[AnthonyH]

I can remember the days of fitting spark plugs and having to gap them. And i can remember a service having a change of plugs as standard rather than just an oil and filter change. Times are so different. This is progress in many ways, but not all.

I recently bought a Fiat 500X, its just one generation on from a Grande Punto, and while the 500X isn't on the road yet, it already feels like a leap ahead in technology, not a mere 10 years.

 

[AnthonyH]

Edit. Copper core plugs? actually pretty much all plugs have "copper cores" but it's the metal used at the tips which make the difference. But it's become a convention to refer to basic (ie non iridium/platinum) plugs as "copper core". Basic plugs are absolutely fine but if I use them I pull them at every service, check the condition of their electrode ends and regap them if I think I can use them for a bit longer. I would not fit basic plugs to a modern wee turbo engine but I'm happy running the likes of our Becky (1.2 Panda) or the Jazz my daughter in law had, on them. My local factor sells them really cheap.

I paid £2.84 each for 8 of these Denso plugs a couple of years ago, it felt like a bargain at the time. I fitted 4 to my EVO and intended on fitting the other 4 to my GP. I decided not to fit them to my GP because the spark seemed fine and it felt like i could potentially give myself a problem where there wasn't one. Two of the spares have just gone on the EVO. Its quite possible that if i'd not changed them 20,000 miles ago the old ones would still be working! Anyway, i do a lot of miles so I'm going to fit Iridium tipped plugs whenever possible in the future.