Intermittent misfire

[pbr67_zed]

I’ve been having a problem with my 23i for the last few days with an intermittent misfire from cold. Starts on the button, and is fine, all OK while I’m getting it out of the garage and sits on the drive idling nicely. As soon as I pull off the drive though, starts misfiring and the engine check light comes on. Carries on missing for about 5 minutes and then both the light and the misfire clear. Will then be fine for the rest of the day, even after 8/9 hours sitting at work, but then get the same problem the following morning.

I’m thinking it may be a coil pack or spark plug, but why wouldn’t this cause a misfire when I first start up? The car is still pretty new to me, and I don’t have a code reader, so I’m thinking I’ll have to take it to my local indie. What else is there that could be causing this?

Thanks in advance for any pointers?

 

[flybobbie]

Coil packs are cheap £20, buy one, just replace each in turn to see if it fixes problem.
My colleagues car had same problem, fixed with new coil.

 

[mcbutler]

Take it to your local indy and get a diag box on it. They will be able to dig down through the fault codes and get a good idea where your going. Should not cost more than £50 to get this done, dont go guessing it and changing random bits, it'll cost you a fortune and you will likely not fix it, saying that though if you buy a coil pack and keep it clean, if it does not work just return it (cheeky).
Have you changed fuel/forecourt recently??

 

[pbr67_zed]

Have you changed fuel/forecourt recently??

Always use the same Esso station. Generally I use normal unleaded, but I did fill up with super last time, and I was getting towards the end of that tank when this first happened.

 

[Nictrix]

I think you are on the right lines with coil packs or plugs.
When were the plugs changed last?

 

[ph001]

Coil.

 

[pbr67_zed]

I think you are on the right lines with coil packs or plugs.
When were the plugs changed last?

According to the service history they’ve not been changed. Car is a 2011 with 65k on the clock. Is there a recommended interval?

Borrowed a generic reader from a mate at work and it’s indicating misfire on cylinder 3. New coil being delivered tomorrow, so hopefully that will sort it.

Cheers

 

[Nictrix]

I think you are on the right lines with coil packs or plugs.
When were the plugs changed last?

According to the service history they’ve not been changed. Car is a 2011 with 65k on the clock. Is there a recommended interval?

Borrowed a generic reader from a mate at work and it’s indicating misfire on cylinder 3. New coil being delivered tomorrow, so hopefully that will sort it.

Cheers

Different people will suggest different things but for me that is maybe a bit too much to ask of the plugs.
Ours were changed at around 40,000 but it wasn't part of the servicing schedule.
I would change the plugs as well or at the very least take them out and check the gaps.

 

[NathanBimmer97]

Hi,

I am having the exact same issue except my issue seems to be on cylinder 1 based on the fault reading.

Did changing the coil pack fix the issue for you?

 

[Smartbear]

Hi,

I am having the exact same issue except my issue seems to be on cylinder 1 based on the fault reading.

Did changing the coil pack fix the issue for you?

Why don’t you swap the coil on cylinder1 with a different cylinder & see if the fault moves with it, that will pretty much confirm it’s the coil
Rob