Coil pack, Plugs or what???

[FusionReload]

Hi,

I have a 2003 A4 2.0 FSI. About a month ago I had a misfire which with the aid of VAG-COM i diagnosed to be in cylinder 3. I promptly replaced the coil pack and all was well again.

Today however on driving to work I got a ESP and EPC warning lights and noticed that the car had started mis-firing.. When re-starting the car after work the ESP and EPC lights didnt come back on but the mis-fire seemed worse, at this point the engine management light started flashing.

I limped home and got the VAG-COM on it and it reported the following faults:

5 Faults Found:
16955 - Brake Switch (F): Implausible Signal
P0571 - 008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
16698 - Misfire(s) Detected: Single (unspecified) Cylinder
P0314 - 001 - Upper Limit Exceeded - Intermittent
18047 - Accelerator Position Sensor 1/2 (G79/G185): Implausible Signal
P1639 - 008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
16684 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0300 - 001 - Upper Limit Exceeded
16688 - Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
P0304 - 001 - Upper Limit Exceeded

I cleared the faults and went on another drive. The mis-fire was still present so re-connected the VAG-COM and now i have the following faults:

3 Faults Found:
16684 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0300 - 001 - Upper Limit Exceeded
16688 - Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
P0304 - 001 - Upper Limit Exceeded
16698 - Misfire(s) Detected: Single (unspecified) Cylinder
P0314 - 001 - Upper Limit Exceeded

Would this just be a coil-pack issue? i cant remeber but i believe the last time the coil pack went I only had the one code. Reading this forum It appears it could be anything from coil packs to plugs etc etc.

Should I try replacing the plugs or moving the coil packs around? Or take it straight down the garage?

Any help greatly appreciated.....

[benjie]

Just an idea, but a friend had the "Random/Multiple Misfire" and "Misfire on Cylinder 5" in her MkIV Golf V6 and it was spark plugs. (She tried everything else first and the cheapest and simplest was the answer!)

[Martin F]

How long is it since the plugs have been replaced?

[FusionReload]

How long is it since the plugs have been replaced?

I only bought the car about a month ago the service record shows it hasn't been offically serviced for a few years. Is this likely to be the plugs then? Wouldn't only one of the plugs go? Why would I be getting randomness misfire code?

I'll certainly change the plugs tomorrow I really hope it's only that!

[FusionReload]

Cheers for the help guys...

Started to replace spark plugs today (which didnt seem that bad) when the problem became apparent when I went to remove cylinder 4s coil pack... half of it came away in my hand! the other half stayed in the hole!!!

After a while trying to prise it all it managed to replace with new coil pack and now runs like a dream!

[RickT]

I was just going to suggest remove the "good" coil pack which was fitted recently from cylinder 3 and put into cylinder 4, then see if the misfires follows to cylinder 3 to prove a dodgy pack.

The first time a coil pack went down on me, i replaced just the one, then 2 weeks laters another went... then a month later another..

Now i just replace all 4 at the same time.

Cheers

Rick