fengqiu Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Heya all So on my VW polo, something weird's been happening lately. I'ld be driving along and suddenly I'ld lose spark and not able to get it back. Now when I fiddle around a little, touching everything, it fires right back up... So I thought, easy! it's a bad connection somewhere, probably ground or ignition leads from the coil to distributor as I've recently just had my coil replaced because it kinda fell apart. (same issue, at the time I thought it was just a bad coil so I just swapped it out for a new one, but the old one was really blown apart.) So I thought, I'll just start the engine and twiddle around with the leads until I can get it to reliably die on me... then I'll just replace that. problem is I can't get it to die, can't even replicate the symptoms... I thought next step I'll 1) clean the distributor 2) measure the resistance of the leads and clean them and plug them in to make sure they sit properly 3) clean ground connectors and maybe get a few more grounds around the place... 4) change the plugs, they're due anyway (but they're freaking $30 EACH at super cheap... I want to buy them online so I gotta wait a little bit for them to arrive) Short of that, anyone have any ideas? How can I check if my coil is okay? it's a brand new coil from VW so it should be primo... thanks guys! Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mof Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Battery terminals tight? Probably not the problem, but worth a shot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fengqiu Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Yeah, checked that, but even if it was loose, when the engine is started, I shouldn't lose spark as the alternator is still going. Today I didn't have much time and Auckland was reported to be pissing down so I worked in a hurry and measured the resistance of spark leads. all around 5-6kohms, the lead from the coil to distributor is about 1-1.5kohm... hmmm i wonder if that's the problem. Shouldn't all the leads read roughly the same resistance? Checked my spark plugs... after 20000kms they still look good, actually a lot better than I expected, air-fuel mixture is good i guess... so i doubt that's the problem. I'll clean the distributor when i get home if it's not thunder storming Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Did you check also the gap of the spark plugs? You might find that they are way over gapped from use. My coon was running like a bag of arse recently and correcting the spark plug gaps from 1.7+mm down to the specified 1mm fixed it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fengqiu Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 28 minutes ago, igor said: Did you check also the gap of the spark plugs? You might find that they are way over gapped from use. My coon was running like a bag of arse recently and correcting the spark plug gaps from 1.7+mm down to the specified 1mm fixed it. Hi igor, nah I didn't check that, maybe i'll check that when i get home. thing is, if it's started up and going, it runs real smooth and fine for days. But then it'll just instantly die randomly after a week... Well, I've got new plugs coming anyway so i'll just pop new ones in when it arrives Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris r Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Possibly cam/crank angle sensor or shitty wiring to them. Have you done or had a diagnostic scan done? I'm assuming its injected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fengqiu Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 4 minutes ago, chris r said: Possibly cam/crank angle sensor or shitty wiring to them. Have you done or had a diagnostic scan done? I'm assuming its injected yeah, had a diagnostic scan at my mechanic, nothing showed up there yup it's injected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris r Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 see if you can check if you have injection pulse when it stops 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fengqiu Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Just now, chris r said: see if you can check if you have injection pulse when it stops oh okay, how do i do that? And what's normal for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris r Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 unplug a injector and put a test light across the plug if you can. It should flash as you are cranking it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Make sure the gap is correct on the new spark plugs too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fengqiu Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 On 2/17/2017 at 14:30, chris r said: see if you can check if you have injection pulse when it stops took everything apart, cleaned, refitted. put a few more grounds in.. seems to be running good. Will update if anything else goes wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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