charlieaf92
Member
Yesterday after backing out of my driveway my car began shuddering and running terribly. The service engine light came on shortly afterwards. I took it to a local autoparts store and they pulled code P1345 (Misfire cylinder 2 with fuel cut-off).
After some quick searching I found some inconsistent solutions/results, but the most promising was replacing the ignition coil. So, after work I stopped by the local BMW dealer and bought a new ignition coil (approximately $80). I did find them online for about $30, but with the holiday coming up rush shipping was going to make it cost just about the same amount.
If you haven't replaced the coils or plugs, it is very easy and convenient. In my case, I wanted to replace the cylinder two coil. It seems that the cylinders are numbered starting from the front of the car moving back (#1 is near the radiator and #6 is near passenger cabin).
Before installing the new part, I wanted to see if I could verify that the old one was bad. One method would be to swap two coils and see if the error switches to a new cylinder - but I didn't have a way to pull the code again. So, I removed the old coil and used a volt meter to check the resistance. Looking at the plug for the coil, there are 3 prongs that are arranged like a triangle (1 at the top and two at the bottom). Testing the resistance between the two lower prongs gave me a reading of about 2. I did the same test on the new part and the reading was over 200. The old part was still hot, since I had just been driving, but the variance was enough to make me think the part was bad.
I installed the new coil, started the car and it ran great. It appears that the problem has been resolved.
I hope this helps someone in the future.
Charlie
After some quick searching I found some inconsistent solutions/results, but the most promising was replacing the ignition coil. So, after work I stopped by the local BMW dealer and bought a new ignition coil (approximately $80). I did find them online for about $30, but with the holiday coming up rush shipping was going to make it cost just about the same amount.
If you haven't replaced the coils or plugs, it is very easy and convenient. In my case, I wanted to replace the cylinder two coil. It seems that the cylinders are numbered starting from the front of the car moving back (#1 is near the radiator and #6 is near passenger cabin).
Before installing the new part, I wanted to see if I could verify that the old one was bad. One method would be to swap two coils and see if the error switches to a new cylinder - but I didn't have a way to pull the code again. So, I removed the old coil and used a volt meter to check the resistance. Looking at the plug for the coil, there are 3 prongs that are arranged like a triangle (1 at the top and two at the bottom). Testing the resistance between the two lower prongs gave me a reading of about 2. I did the same test on the new part and the reading was over 200. The old part was still hot, since I had just been driving, but the variance was enough to make me think the part was bad.
I installed the new coil, started the car and it ran great. It appears that the problem has been resolved.
I hope this helps someone in the future.
Charlie