Misfiring?

Wryel · 21 Aug 2006 at 16:51

I always thought misfiring was accompanied by a bang at the back, but I'm told that's what my car is doing: It started only at high speeds but now its doing it around town and its very annoying, especially as I want to sell the car soon. Basically the power seems to cut out for about half a second then come back, sometimes when it gets bad the engine will stall. I was thinking of changing the spark plugs and having a look at the air filter when I can, does that sound like the right course of action?

monkeyspank · 21 Aug 2006 at 16:56

I don't think it would hurt. Check the leads with a multimeter while you are at it. Dizzy cap?

Wryel · 21 Aug 2006 at 16:58

Forgot to mention, a couple of times the engine has had a little trouble getting back down to idle, you can also feel the engine doesn't sit at a constant speed, but varies by about 50rpm or so.

Wryel · 21 Aug 2006 at 16:59

monkeyspank said:
I don't think it would hurt. Check the leads with a multimeter while you are at it. Dizzy cap?

How easy/cheap is that to replace? I've changed some glow plugs before, I'm not looking at anything more challenging than that am I?

ci_newman · 21 Aug 2006 at 18:11

Wryel said:
How easy/cheap is that to replace? I've changed some glow plugs before, I'm not looking at anything more challenging than that am I?

Dizzy caps are easy to replace, provided your car has one! What car are we looking at anyway?

Spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter and HT leads components would be my first port of call! All simple items to replace on most cars.

Mickey_D · 21 Aug 2006 at 18:17

If it's hunting at idle it sounds more like an intermittent vacuum leak. That's going to be a little harder to diagnose and find, though.

Could also be the EGR valve. Very easy to check. Pull it out and give it a shake. If it rattles, it's fine. If it doesn't, replace it.

But thatg will only solve the idle problem. Sounds like you've got multiple faults.