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[jjleonard]

darn it.

I did a mercy dash 170 mile drive at 4am today to get a forgotten passport to my girlfriend's mother at gatwick. Brimmed the tank with Total fuel before setting off (from a tank that had only 43 mile range). Car ran like a beauty all the way and all the way back.

However, at midday today, a short run down the road, and the car started to idle poorly. The emissions light lit up, and the car would idle lumpily around 500-600rpm.

Turned off, restarted - still lumpy idle, but no emissions light.

I've read about this before, but can't find any posts - any idea where to start? Please don't tell me it's the dispack!

I know 300 is a random misfire, and 301 is cylinder 1 - which side is 1, passenger or driver side?

Cheers
John.

[jjleonard]

I had left the car all afternoon, so after the last post I went out and had a look.

At standstill the idle is not very lumpy - but when I took it for a short spin, the engine would run rough at about 1- 2k rpm, then when it ran higher, the emissions light flashed about 4 times, then stayed on.

now the idle is lumpier at standstill. and I'm only getting codes 300 and 301. Funnily enough, the emissions light comes on, but not the EML light. (the EML light is working, it lights up when the engine is started, then goes out).

I'm guessing first port of call is the plug on cyl 1, then the dispack. Any more ideas from the OOF crowd?

[Welung666]

Oil in the plug well?

[jjleonard]

I'll have to check tomorrow. There shouldn't be any oil as I changed the cam cover gaskets about 3 months (7000 miles) ago, and there is no visible oil leaks. Mind you, there appears to be some oil weeping from a couple of the cam cover screw holes - perhaps the o-rings are leaking?

I reckon new plugs all round (no history of them being changed), and clean, inspect and re-seat the dispacks... I'm hoping they aren't knackered.

At least cyl 1 is the drivers side!

[jjleonard]

sorry to bump this - but does anyone have any more ideas, or am I right in thinking plugs, then potentially dispack?

Ta.  

[jjleonard]

I've changed all the plugs today, and the engine ran fine when started. Potentially a little lumpy, but not really noticeable.

I took it for a run, and the engine ran fine - even accelerating happily - until I took it up an incline. Once accelerating under load, the emissions light started flashing, and the engine got lumpier. It stayed that way all the way home. Once parked up, the lumpy idle remained.

I'm still getting codes 300 & 301. (Random misfire, misfire on cylinder 1).

The driver side dispack looks elderly, with a few hairline cracks in the casing. Am I safe to assume replacing it will cure this problem, or does the fact that it starts to run lumpy only under load point the finger elsewhere?

Thanks in advance.
John.

[Lazydocker]

The symptoms described do point towards a HT fault IMO so dis pack may well be the cure... Someone will give another opinion soon

[jjleonard]

Cheers LD - it's a pain in the arse as I need the car for work, but I'm not driving it 50 miles a day with lumpy running, as I can only assume it'll get worse.

When I had the dispack out, the driver side one did look pretty ropey compared to the passenger side - multiple harline cracks and what looked like some swelling in the casing around 1 & 5. I've got my fingers crossed that changing it will sort it out.