a New Tsi owner with a ton of issues

[Ahuremi89]

Hello,


I've been searching around the web for answers but i didn't find anything to pin point my issue exactly.

almost a year ago i purchased my first ever VW, a 2010 golf TSI twin charged which is my 5th card after a 2006 Cadillac CTS, a 2004 Mustang GT, Civic Type R ep3 and last is a Cadillac sts-v.


for the entire year the car was driven daily and i was extremely happy until i changed my Spark plugs in June and the garage noticed a slight misfire which wasn't much at all. so he assumed it's just the carbon build up and it will go away, however now the car started acting crazy ever since and it started with whenever i start the car and stay parked the EPL light comes and it starts misfiring ( Cold or warm .. it's the same ) and even when i come to a stop in traffice it's the same, i simply turn it off and on again and it's all gone and it drives normally again !

the misfire is in Cylinder 4 and i assumed it's only a bad coil plug and i replaced both 3 & 4 with a used pair in the garage from a different engine with no issues at all, but the issue is still there .. i'm confused and i figured i might search around for answers as i do have trust issues with mechanics



the other issue which is also weird, my Temp gauge is always on 90 Degrees which is the normal temp, however i recently noticed whenever i drive the car for a longer trip than usual the gauge would rise by one dash and even a little bit higher and goes back to normal when i'm at a stop or sometimes even when driving, any thoughts ?

[stuart]

If you have changed the spark plugs, or had them changed I would not rule out that a spark plug may be faulty... I had that happen to me a long time ago on a Seat Leon Cupra I owned... I had the plugs changed (dealer changed them but I supplied them) and it ran like a bag of nails, misfiring like mad.. The dealer put the old plugs back in and it ran as good as ever..

Problem is spark plugs get dropped even when new and on the boxes, the slightest damage to the ceramic will cause issues.... if you have not already checked, may be worth a try...

[Ahuremi89]

If you have changed the spark plugs, or had them changed I would not rule out that a spark plug may be faulty... I had that happen to me a long time ago on a Seat Leon Cupra I owned... I had the plugs changed (dealer changed them but I supplied them) and it ran like a bag of nails, misfiring like mad.. The dealer put the old plugs back in and it ran as good as ever..

Problem is spark plugs get dropped even when new and on the boxes, the slightest damage to the ceramic will cause issues.... if you have not already checked, may be worth a try...

ill give that a shot later on today


i never thought the VW will make me feel like a total noob, but i guess it's new science to me since i've been around the american muscle scene for a long while.

[Ahuremi89]

So an update


I changed the plugs and oh boy the old ones were messed up .. however it seems that I still have an issue with coils 3&4 .

Car does feel better though


Those two I replaced from the garage which both are used.

What are the chances that both are busted .. just my luck I guess

I’ll do a switch between 3&4 and 1&2 later to determine the issue

[stuart]

Could be a combination, the plugs or plug may have an issue and the coils, being 2nd hand may also be at fault, again one or all of them... changing around the coild may point to which one

[Ahuremi89]

I switched the coils and still .. 3&4 :facepalm:


I did however noticed the wiring looks in pretty bad shape so I might see if I can fix that first

This car is a fighter and I’m extremely happy with this little thing

[Ahuremi89]

New update..


this morning i started the car and it was normal until i put it in drive and boom the car dies.. tried this couple of times and its the same thing ..

i'll check it later when i get back from work.

[stuart]

Very odd.... Now you mention wiring, if you do a search for the wiring repair kits in Google they seem to be very common, so maybe it is a corroded or damaged wire/terminal...

When @Crasher is online again he may be able to advise...

[Crasher]

as i do have trust issues with mechanics

I also have trust issues, with customers

anyway.... as a mechanic I have huge experience with the (what I presume is) the CAVD engine which was great when new, (wining International engine of the year in 2009 and 2010) BUT as it has aged it has proved to be unreliable, fragile and appalling difficult to fix even with the correct equipment. You make no mention of having carried out the basics which in this case are

1) Fault code read, print, clear, drive, re-read
2) Compresion test

without these two tests you are breaking all the rules of diagnostics and going for the throwing parts at it method which is the last gasp resort. Note also that removing and reinstalling coil packs damages them even with the correct tools and that the plugs insulator should be smeared very lightly with special silicone grease to prevent the rubber sticking to the porcelain which causes the unit to be stretched upon removal

Tne temperature gauge on your car is programmed to read 90 when the engine is really 77 and still read 90 at 110 so something is clearly wrong, you may have a faulty thermostat or just the temperature sender and a fault code read could help in determining this.

[Ahuremi89]

I also have trust issues, with customers

anyway.... as a mechanic I have huge experience with the (what I presume is) the CAVD engine which was great when new, (wining International engine of the year in 2009 and 2010) BUT as it has aged it has proved to be unreliable, fragile and appalling difficult to fix even with the correct equipment. You make no mention of having carried out the basics which in this case are

1) Fault code read, print, clear, drive, re-read
2) Compresion test

without these two tests you are breaking all the rules of diagnostics and going for the throwing parts at it method which is the last gasp resort. Note also that removing and reinstalling coil packs damages them even with the correct tools and that the plugs insulator should be smeared very lightly with special silicone grease to prevent the rubber sticking to the porcelain which causes the unit to be stretched upon removal

Tne temperature gauge on your car is programmed to read 90 when the engine is really 77 and still read 90 at 110 so something is clearly wrong, you may have a faulty thermostat or just the temperature sender and a fault code read could help in determining this.

Sorry I did not mean mechanics in general just the ones here as we don’t have a strong market for European cars

But thank you so much for the great info

I’ll do both tests later as soon as I reach home as I’m stuck in traffic for the past hour