Car issue.

lemonkettaz

lemonkettaz

lemonkettaz

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Joined
28 Nov 2005
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13,068
Hello,

Just wondering if anyone has any good insight on why my spark plugs and / or coil packs have failed 3 times in a year?

I do a lot of miles however but still is there an underlying issue as to why this may be occuring? Or is this just standard on 57 plate 207 that does 300miles a week?

Thanks.
 
Is it the same coilpack or different ones? If they are different ones then this can be explained by the fact that they are all under the same conditions and are of the same age so when one goes, the rest won't be far behind.

Happily coil packs are cheap as chips and on most cars can be fitted easily yourself.
 
I have changed 3. All different times. All the spark plugs were changed the same time.

I was thinking that because I have changed 1 coil pack at a time it has been pointless.

Would a complete new set of both be the best option? Just checking to make sure it isn't anything else, just to save doing this and then they go pear shaped again...
 
Dealer new??
Aftermarket new??
Second hand??

EDIT*
Oh hang on, individual coil packs on a 207..

So you changed one, then a different one went, then a different one again?
or the same coil pack is failing each time?
 
lemonkettaz said:
I have changed 3. All different times. All the spark plugs were changed the same time.

I was thinking that because I have changed 1 coil pack at a time it has been pointless.

Would a complete new set of both be the best option? Just checking to make sure it isn't anything else, just to save doing this and then they go pear shaped again...
Click to expand...

Sorry, i haven't understood you.

Has it been 1 coil pack failing, then a few months later another one, then a few months later another one? Have you got 3 newish coilpacks in the car at the moment and 1 old one?

If it is as above, buy a new coilpack to replace the one you haven't changed yet because it will give up shortly and you'll be fine. Also, to be extra safe, just keep the coil pack you remove in the car, just in case one goes again in the future, so you won't be totally stranded.

Coil packs wear out over time and often when one has gone, the rest will follow in the weeks and months afterwards.

No point doing a whole new set at the moment as you have 3 in the car which are less than a year old.
 
Yeh cylinder 2 and 3 have been changed within the last 5month sorry.

At seperate times.

Obviously the others have not been changed.

The spark plugs got changed altogether at the same time within the last 6month.
 
Ok so cylinder 2 and 3 have been changed.

Check how much a couple of new coilpacks are from ECP with 30% discount code, buy a couple and replace the ones that haven't gone yet. They should be easy to do and cost something like £15 each.

I would almost put money on the fact you will have another coilpack fail in the near future, so the point of replacement of the two working ones is simply so you don't have to get stuck at the side of the road twice in the next few months when they do give up.
 
Don't waste your money on buying new coil packs until they do go, it won't leave you stranded it'll just start misfiring.
But now it's more clear, yes it's normal for the coil packs to start breaking at similar times. R&D now adays is a much finer art and products do tend to be built for a certain shelf life.
So it is normal for them to start failing one after the other in a short time period, as said, just keep changing them until you have replaced them all, then it should be ok.

It's normal to change all the plugs at the same time, they are service items and do wear out after x amount of miles (usually around 30k if they are iridium type. circa 15k if just normal copper core ones)
 
When coilpacks have failed on my girlfriend's car, both times the car has been undriveable.

Same on my brothers old Audi.

You may be able to drive with a failing coilpack, but a failed one normally happens soon after. There is no point risking it for such a small amount of money on something that it is almost inevitable will fail. And it failing at the side of a motorway in the pouring rain or when you're trying get to work in the morning is a lot less ideal than just paying £30 for 2 new coil packs and fitting them yourself on your driveway when you have time on a pleasant Sunday morning.
 
When the coilpacks died in my MKV GTi, I couldn't drive it because the manual stated that it would damage the catalytic converter. I had to get it towed twice :(
 
Well if it fails completely then yes it would damage the cat if left unattened.
but they usually start misfiring intermittently first from the ones I've seen. That to me would be time to say.. "time to get a new one in there now"
 
They won't instantly damage the cat. Just a byproduct of excess fuel down the exhaust due to the misfire, but AFAIK it takes some time for damage to occur.
They're cheap, get a spare one at least, then you don't have to worry about the above. Look up how to do it yourself also if you don't already know, it's simple and then you can do it at the roadside if required instead of waiting hours for recovery or panicking about the cat.
 
I wouldn't say there is an underlying issue there, just that they're reaching "that age".

Back when I had my S3 it was generally good practice to replace all of them should one go, and then keep the working old ones as spares in case you have another failure. You'd usually find that once one failed the others wouldn't be far behind, and at around £100 for all 4 it was worth it for the piece of mind.

I'd also always recommend buying genuine parts from a dealer to ensure you're getting the latest revision of the part. Not sure about PSA, but VAG released so many different revisions of the coil pack for the 1.8t engine that it was often hard to keep up, but each revision had "improvements" to the design.
 
I feel your pain..I've just gone through coil pack hell with mine. If I was going to offer one piece of advice it would be this - buy the OEM / manufacturer recommended part and don't be tempted to try and save a few quid by buying A N Other brand. In my case at least that has proved a totally false economy and I've ended up buying another 3 within 2 months.

Having said that! If cash flow is an issue I have had success repairing damaged packs (hairline cracks) using epoxy resin. Sure it's a bit of a pov thing to do but in essence all you are doing is stopping the coils shorting which is far and away the most common failure. It definitely works just not sure I have 100% confidence in them...

Good luck
 
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