So I'm driving to the gym the other day, and taking off from a stop, my car kind of hesitates, sort of a sputter or something, then the check engine light begins flashing. It doesn't actually die, but it didn't act normal, that's for sure. All the way to the gym and all the way home, it just has no power.
I get home, begin doing some Google searches, and apparently this meets the exact symptoms of either: bad spark plugs, bad spark plug wires, bad ignition coil, or bad fuel filter. I stopped at AutoZone and had them diagnose the CEL. Misfire in cylinder 3. So I bought some new spark plugs. They were last changed when I put my supercharger on about a year and a half ago, and since I knew how to do it, it shouldn't be too bad.
I changed those this morning. I began driving, and it seemed like it was okay, and then, nope, loss of power by the time I got to the end of the neighborhood, and the CEL flashes again.
Blah. Not the spark plugs. I drove on to Advance and bought a Fuel Filter. I've never changed this, nor have I had it changed, and I'm headed towards 141,000 miles. According to a DIY I found on VWVortex it's not very difficult.
And it wasn't. The most challenging part, as it often is with my car, is the lack of working space. So the fuel filter has been changed, and I tried driving again.
Nope, same deal. I had a hunch it was the ignition coil when I first started reading. It seemed to be the most common cause on many different forum posts I read. The fuel filter and spark plugs were really maintenance that would've needed done sometime soon anyway, so I don't feel like I wasted my money. The ignition coil is about $140 from Advance, so that's hopefully that fixes it. I'll have to order it from Advance, so I'm going to try NAPA first. Maybe I'll blog before another month is over.
Oh, subject change! We got a kitten from the neighbor last night. His name is Clyde, and he's the friendliest kitten I've ever seen. All he does is follow you around and purr. Pictures coming soon....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You should have Advance read the code again--see if it's consistently a misfire in #3 that's causing the problem. If so, you've got something wrong that only affects one cylinder. Since you already replaced the spark plugs, you could also be dealing with a bad plug wire, or perhaps a bad fuel injector on #3. Are the ignition coils separate for each cylinder on the Beetle? Or is it one ignition coil and a distributor that gives the spark to each cylinder?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, sounds like you're becoming a mechanic the same way I did.
I want to see kitten pictures!
It's one ignition coil for all. NAPA wasn't open, so I ordered it from Advance. It will be there in the morning. About 2 months ago, the CEL came on, and it was a misfire in cylinder 1. I just had Advance reset it, and hadn't seen it since.
ReplyDeleteI'll do the wires next if this coil doesn't fix it. I'm hoping it does though.