Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ianu]

Hi all,
Wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction here please. Long story short - car running fine, suddenly starts misfiring, Engine management light flashing for a short period then stayed on permanently. Managed to get car back home and read the codes as follows:
10 4 3 10 - which I believe is - P0430 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 2)
10 3 10 10 - which I believe is - P0300 Random/multiple cylinder misfire detected
10 3 10 4 - which I believe is - P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected

Checked under the bonnet - everything looks connected where it should be. No obvious leaks ??
Is the Cat code likely to be an effect or a cause of the other 2 ?

Whare do I start ??

Cheers
IAn.

[RobG]

0420 standard pre-cat issue, 0304, if V6 check n/s plugwells for oil and visually check coilpack, if 4-pot, again plugwells and #4 on coilpack

[feeutfo]

What Rob said. Bonus will be if theres no oil or water in plug wells. Oil will be failed cam covers. Water will be leaking scuttle or windscreen to scuttle seal come adrift.

Hopefully just needs new plugs, or the old ones have come loose. Look for soot around the plug base.

If needed...
Plugs and seals from GM
Genuine bosch coil pacs can be had for £70 odd plus vat.
Scuttle seal will push back on with scuttle removed

[feeutfo]

Its 2.6 iirc

[TheBoy]

it would be 246 bank. Bugger.

if you are stuck with it, I'm in all day tomorrow

[Debs.]

it would be 246 bank. Bugger.

if you are stuck with it, I'm in all day tomorrow

  What, no church? 

   ..........

[ianu]

Thanks Gents - so it's looking like possible cam cover seals / plug / oil issue ?? Where does the scuttle seal fit into the equation Chris.
Yes it's 2.6 - I take it the coil packs are a single component for each bank -yes ?
So do I need to check the n/s bank first.

TB - thanks I might just take you up on that - I'll have a go at it first thing and have a look through the guides on here tonight.
Cheers
Ian.

[ianu]

0420 standard pre-cat issue,

oh dear - whats the prognosis/damage for this then ?  Is this likely to be affecting my fuel consumption ? It hasn't dropped a lot (1 or 2 mpg) - I'd put this down to the temperature drop in the last two weeks

[henryd]

0420 standard pre-cat issue,

oh dear - whats the prognosis/damage for this then ?  Is this likely to be affecting my fuel consumption ? It hasn't dropped a lot (1 or 2 mpg) - I'd put this down to the temperature drop in the last two weeks

All revealed here,       http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90613.0            common problem on 2.6/3.2.

[ianu]

0420 standard pre-cat issue,

oh dear - whats the prognosis/damage for this then ?  Is this likely to be affecting my fuel consumption ? It hasn't dropped a lot (1 or 2 mpg) - I'd put this down to the temperature drop in the last two weeks

All revealed here,       http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90613.0            common problem on 2.6/3.2.

Excellent.........
  . And the alternative is errr what ?

BTW - spot on - I love this Forum:
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90545.0  Thanks Markjay

[Entwood]

0420 .... several options ranging from cheap and easy to expensive and hard .....

1. Buy a code reader/resetter (£60-£80 for a stand alone OBDII one .. £20 for a laptop based ELM327 one), when the code appears reset it until the next time.

2. Don't buy supermarket fuel. Use a proper decent quality fuel.. seems to solve the problem quickly... 2 - 3 tankfuls and the light goes out .

3. Move the O2 sensor from betwen the cats to behind the main cat .. involves drilling and welding bits in the exhaust system.

My preferred option is 1.  I get the warning twice a year ... once just after filling up on arrival in France - supermarket fuel (LPG in my case) I reset it and it doesn't recur until ..... 2nd time just after refilling back in UK. IMHO it is the difference in LPG (French stuff has more butane than UK stuff) that the system "notices" and flags as a fault. Others who run on petrol have noticed similar when changing between supermarket and quality fuels ... again it would "appear" that the system spots a "difference" and calls it a fault ...

[ianu]

0420 .... several options ranging from cheap and easy to expensive and hard .....

1. Buy a code reader/resetter (£60-£80 for a stand alone OBDII one .. £20 for a laptop based ELM327 one), when the code appears reset it until the next time.

2. Don't buy supermarket fuel. Use a proper decent quality fuel.. seems to solve the problem quickly... 2 - 3 tankfuls and the light goes out .

3. Move the O2 sensor from betwen the cats to behind the main cat .. involves drilling and welding bits in the exhaust system.

My preferred option is 1.  I get the warning twice a year ... once just after filling up on arrival in France - supermarket fuel (LPG in my case) I reset it and it doesn't recur until ..... 2nd time just after refilling back in UK. IMHO it is the difference in LPG (French stuff has more butane than UK stuff) that the system "notices" and flags as a fault. Others who run on petrol have noticed similar when changing between supermarket and quality fuels ... again it would "appear" that the system spots a "difference" and calls it a fault ...

Thanks Entwood - as per my last post - I love you guys... 
It might just be coincidental - but I normally fuel with BP Ultimate religously (it happens to be convenient on my daily commute & I get double Nectar points). This week a slight change in journeys and I stopped by and filled up with Tesco's a couple of times so I'll definitely keep a check on this over the next week when I revert back to the Ultimate and see if the code disappears too - terrific.

[cem_devecioglu]

as said above first check point ignition components..  (oil in plug well means the coil may also be damaged)

less probability faulty injectors (but you could hear engine knock)

assuming no cut or chasis (grounding) on injector/ingintion sockets/cables.. 

[feeutfo]

Thanks Gents - so it's looking like possible cam cover seals / plug / oil issue ?? Where does the scuttle seal fit into the equation Chris.
Yes it's 2.6 - I take it the coil packs are a single component for each bank -yes ?
So do I need to check the n/s bank first.

TB - thanks I might just take you up on that - I'll have a go at it first thing and have a look through the guides on here tonight.
Cheers
Ian.

Yes, thing is it's a case of dismantling the passenger side 3gang coil PAC under the cable tray, examine coil PAC and wells to see what you find. If it's a loose plug re tighten and re fit everything. If it's oil or water damage, then you need go get whatever parts etc. Then re fit. So if you have a spare car...

What's the service history on the plugs? Are they due a change anyway?
How many miles on the car? Coil pac start to fail from 80k ish iirc, TB will advise on that.

Wind screen to scuttle seal has come away from the windscreen on the last 4 3.2's I have seen. This means any rain runs down the windscreen and straight into the engine bay. Plug end of Coil pacs are directly underneath the seal and was the cause of 246 cp failure on my current car. Wells full of rust residue, and the coil pac seal had been damaged by the previous gorilla that changed the plugs letting water in. Full vx service history.

[feeutfo]

Also you'll need this to get the coil pac out. Also shows rust residue and gorilla damage. http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90670.0