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[Lizzie_Zoom]

Hi there

Just after some pointers before I dive into the engine bay and start pulling things apart.

Facelift 3.0 MV6.

I've owned the car a year and it has happened once before but cleared up within a few hours or driving.

The miss-fire has now come back and hasn't gone away.

1st start in the morning the engine runs smooth as a turbine - drive 1/4 mile down the road and the engine starts missing - as reguar as clockwork it will start to stutter at the same point in the journey every day and will stay rough all day until the next morning start up

1st inspection the foam under the scuttle is sopping wet and looks to be dripping onto the driver side cylinder bank rocker cover -  i've dried the foam out and the plug wells are dry.

This leads me to think that the dis pack may have got water into it - would a leaky scuttle cause the dis pack to get wet?  Though i'm thinking that once the dis pack got wet or started to fail the stutter would be permanent?

It does sound like it's firing on 4 when it stutters - so fits into the idea that a coil on the dis pack is failing ( I understand that there are 3 coils and its a wasted spark set up).

Any thoughts appreicated.

Chris

Most certainly ... common fault ... the DIS pack then rusts and starts to fail ....  sounds to me like yours is fine when cold but as it heats up and expands then something is breaking down .. probably a gap is getting too wide somewhere ....

IMHO whip the DIS pack off and examine thoroughly, then get a known good one from one of the breakers here ..

Absolutely right if my recent experience with plugs and DIS pack is anything to go by

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Cheers.

I'll weigh up whether I have the patients to tackle this myself.

The patient will requie plasters

and patience .... 

and an ability to swear a lot to let off frustration about the miggy designers!!

The job is certainly awkward, but I found very straightforward when in the right frame of mind and very good sunlight.

[CHRISKG]

Had the diss pack changed for a Bosch unit.

The bad news is i'm 4 hours labour lighter (job tuned into a nightmare) and the car still doesn't work right.

BUT it seems all cylinders on drivers side bank are now firing and it's just missing a cylinder and sometimes two on the passengers bank by the looks/sound of it.

2 problems masquerading as one I think.

Mechanic didn't check state of plugs/plug wells or leads when he had it in bits which is a bit annoying.  Though they did offer to investigate further F.O.C which was good of them.

And although I haven't really driven it much at all since it started missing the cat(s) are now toasted too.... Definitely a cat rattle coming from under the car.

Am stripping out passenger plugs this afternoon for inspection.

[CHRISKG]

I had no.4 plug well full of water plus a split in rear most passenger side  HT  boot that must be causing an intermittent miss-fire .

What is it they say...? If you want a job doing...

[Elite Pete]

Had the diss pack changed for a Bosch unit.

The bad news is i'm 4 hours labour lighter (job tuned into a nightmare) and the car still doesn't work right.

BUT it seems all cylinders on drivers side bank are now firing and it's just missing a cylinder and sometimes two on the passengers bank by the looks/sound of it.

2 problems masquerading as one I think.

Mechanic didn't check state of plugs/plug wells or leads when he had it in bits which is a bit annoying.  Though they did offer to investigate further F.O.C which was good of them.

And although I haven't really driven it much at all since it started missing the cat(s) are now toasted too.... Definitely a cat rattle coming from under the car.

Am stripping out passenger plugs this afternoon for inspection.

An hour and a half max to do the dis pack

[dbug]

Agreed - 4 hours is very heavy for this job - I certainly did mine in well under 2 hours start to finish.  Guy was obviosly not a good mechanic taking that time to change a diss pack and not check plugs, plug wells and leads
Did you see your old disspack?

[CHRISKG]

Yes. I nearly fell over in shock when I was presented a bill for £192 worth of labour inc VAT.  Apparently they couldn't get one of the bolts out of the diss pack which added 2 hours to the job

Having just spent about a grand or so with them in the past few months and several grand over the years on various bits and bobs on our other cars I though they might just say 'giz 2 hours labour seeing as we haven't really helped matters in any way shape or form this time'.

That's another matter though... They're a good bunch of guys and business is business I suppose.

Anyway after a quick clear out of the plug wells and a some black maskers on the HT lead the motor is running OK.  Slight stutter under load but 99.99% better than it was.

New plugs & HTs on way.

Any plug well cleaning suggestions?

[albitz]

Unlikely that the cats are toasted.More likely to be a loose heat shield or internals of centre boxes rotting and becoming losse inside the boxes.

[CHRISKG]

Unlikely that the cats are toasted.More likely to be a loose heat shield or internals of centre boxes rotting and becoming losse inside the boxes.

You think? 

Exhaust is brand new and only just fitted so should be ok.

It sounds like the nearside cat is full of marbles when its running.  I'd be delighted to be wrong on this!

[Elite Pete]

If it's been run for a while with a miss fire the cat could be furbered