Hey guys ok I really need you help.

I have 07 56 that was running fine then all of sudden I felt it hesitating at 3-4th gear then picking up again. I initially thought carbon build up and went in and cleaned up, the car wasn't that badly caked so that was a good thing.

I proceed to do an injector clean that didn't work and eventually noticed the car gradually get worse backfiring and popping more than normal.

Ran a diagnostic and had multiple errors mainly dealing with the misfire in multiple cylinders ranging from 1-4. I figured this could have been down to me changing around the coil pack.

So I had the guy clear the codes and it was back to pulling like it did so I decided to push it hard and see what would happen.

Alas the check engine light came on and gave error code CC-ID 031 which I know to be increased emissions. And then the lack of power again.

So I got back to the diagnostics and this time it only showed up as cylinder 4 misfire and and also gave an error code of something to do with a coil pack. The tech has the full details and will be emailing me the complete list of codes that came up shortly which I will put up here later.

Now excuse my ignorance but I can't figure out which is cylinder 1 or 4, I might add that my car is a euro spec so its a right hand drive so looking from the front of the car I pulled out all the coil packs and "TRIED TO CHECK THE RESISTANCE WITH A MULTIMETER" now I don't know if what I was doing was right but here is what I go.

So I was testing the triangle piece that plugs into the coil pack and so starting from right to left these are the figures I got.

I had the test meter set to 2M Ohms

1 Right) .196 that is the bottom two, .210 that is top of triangle and bottom left and .308 top and bottom right

2 Second from Right) .196, .210, .308

3 from right) .196, .210, .306

4 from right) .196, .210, .307

I have not figured out if there is a way to test the coil itself and if there is a way I would really appreciate it.

Lastly I am planning on swapping the spark plug from cylinder four to cylinder 2 to see if it is the cause. Unfortunantly finding the spares in my country is a bit of headache

So guys really appreciate if you can help me on this.. symptoms again are rough idle, seeking between 500-800 and loosing power in 3-4 then picking up again or just loosing complete power.

Ps I did pull the plugs and one did look a bit white but it was a quick look and the remaining 3 were black but not too bad, the whitish grey looking one was on the right hand side cylinder looking from the front I would call it cylinder 1 once again this is a euro spec right hand drive model.

I also checked the waste gate and its not torn in anyway.


Look forward to your guys replies.

 

What type of scanner are you using?
Do you at least have a set of P-codes?
Or, and even better, do you have access to a Bavarian Technic scanner?

Please, that will significantly help in the matter.

Find the serpentine (accessory belt) that's on the passenger [US-spec] / driver [Euro RH-spec] of the car.
The closest cylinder to that serpentine belt is cylinder #1; cylinder #4 is next to the vacuum pump.

Since the ignition system uses inductance coils, there's only one way to test with an oscilloscope to analyze spark quality...
And you need to do that with the engine running.
There's no other resistance or electrical impedance numbers in the factory service manual.

Have you data-logged the vehicle at all during a 2-3, and 3-4 gear run?
Hows you're knock sensor readings?

What's been done lately in terms of maintenance?
Have you checked spark plug electrode gap?
Have you verified you're using correct octane fuel?

- Erik

 

Hi Erik

Here is the report the first shows what initial codes were been thrown and also something to do with the ABS etc, I did buy the car second hand about 3 months ago so some of those codes might have been previously rectified as I am not experiencing any problems with the braking but cant say for certain with regards to stability control.

I hope the link works if not il try and post the info as text.

I am just popping out of town as there is family emergency but will be checking back and responding to the above questions asap for now what I will say is the following work was carried out.

a) oil change
b) alternative seafoam treatment x2 (maybe this retarded the spark plugs??)
c) I have not been able to data log the vehicle during 3-4 as it requires me to redline it and the I felt sorry for the tech as he was already cringing at 1st gear haha
d) I have no idea about knock sensor readings all that was given to me is on the list and as I have no access to bavarian technic scanner
e)octane well thats another story in out country we only have unleaded and ethanol nobody seems to know what rating the unleaded is but apparantley its somewhere in the 93octane
f)I will have the gap on spark plugs checked again but initial assesment seemed ok, like I did say earlier one was greyish and the rest were black but not to black and according to your layour it was the one one the extreme right towards the battery that is cylinder 4 which it seems is the one throwing the last code.




Thanks again.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4P...FkYmVjNmMxM2U0

 

I have te same problem with my R55S with 45k miles on it, and am worried about carbon build up also.

Hesitation under full load (low RPM's, high gears) and the CEL coming on. Scanning gave: detonation, misfire in cylinder 4. Cleared that code and took it for a spin. CEL coming on again, got in scanned again, gave misfire cylinder 2 and error code of the coilpacks. I'm changing all the spark plugs and coils tommorrow. Hope that's the solution........

 

Frankie it will be great to see if you first start with the sparks then finally the coil pack. I am off to pick up some sparks on the weekend and hopefully that sorts it. Failing that I am on the coil pack the following week

 

I will keep you informed. I've noticed on iddle, it will also ocassionally "mis a beat". Will try to post some pics of the old sparks also.

And if this doesn't solve the problem, I will try to clean the inlet port and valves.

 

Well, changed the sparkplugs and this is what I've found:



Obviously, that will give you misfires...........Better do an oilchange also...

 

Damn it cracked exactly in the same place as mine. If its still missing a beat it's likely down to being stored in the ECM. I suggest you reset it via the odometer trick alternatively battery pull. Failing that then get it plugged into a diagnostic machine to clear any error codes.

 

No, that doesn't clear out the fault as it's stored in the non-volatile memory.
Pulling power will NOT "fix the problem".

And if there's still a misfire, its because there's still currently a physical misfire, not due to a fault code stored.

With the plug that damaged, I'd check diagnostics on the ignition coil.
Trying to make the plug spark across that large of gap will ruin the ignition coil.

- Erik

 

If I'm not mistaken I believe @Frankie also replaced the coil pack. I've read about hesitations or missing a beat being down to the ECM learning to work on a retarded system and basically those that cleared it via the odometer trick found successful results.

Obviously their was the debate that the reset done via odometer vs battery pull was the same thing nobody could confirm nor deny it.

 

I've changed the sparks first. That's when I discovered the cracked spark plug. Replaced all the sparks and cleared the codes (diagnostic machine used is a SnapOn Solus). Made a testdrive and checked for codes again, but there where none and the engine was running fine without hesitation or missing a beat.

So that solved all the problems for me, thus no coil pack change so far.

 

That's great news you probably also might want to get a compression check done on the cylinder that the bit of plug fell into. Likely chance it just blew out through exhaust.

I'm still awaiting my plugs super delayed and it's getting on my nerves.

 

If it has done damage to the cylinder or valves, I should have higher oil consumption. So far, oilconsumption is about the same. It could also damage the turbo on it's way out, but that might result in more whistling sounds and lack of power and I don't experience that.

There's a good chance it blew out the exhaust, or just evaporated due to the heat, without exstensive damage. But we'll wait and see.

 

Do you happen to know how many miles/years on these spark plugs?

 

About 45k miles and 4 years.

It's not really clear to me when the sparks should be replaced (well obiously when one is broken ). I was under the impression it's part of the Condition Based Service, so it is variabel and depends on driving style and so on......FYI it's an Eurpean R55, so more used to km than miles

 

Ok so sparks finally changed and pretty red is back to normal...I am still yet to get a compression test done but so far it seems all good.

 

Good to hear changing the sparks helped you as well.

 

I guess we got away with the skin of our teeth now I just need to replace the thermostat for the coolant and hopefully she will be running problem free for a while.

 

Well, mine will be on a Dyno wednesday to find some extra horses.....So hope the stock figures will be what they need to be . That will be a good clue if everything is ok inside the engine .

 

FYI, my 2004 Mini was throwing P300 and occasionally P301 codes last summer. I replaced the spark plugs and the spark plug cables; it ran more smoothly but I still had the engine light going after about 30 miles. One mechanic told me that it looked like the belt tensioner wasn't doing its job, but I had to travel home before he could get a new one (he said I'd be fine for the 300 mile trip, but to make sure it was the first thing I did when I got home.) A friend told me it could be a faulty head gasket, but the carb spray test showed no change in idle. I took it to my regular mechanic, who said no, the belt tensioner was fine. So, I took it to the MINI dealer...and they had two technicians look at it and say that the tensioner was fine. They reset the engine light and sent me on my way. 30 miles later, the light came on again; the P300 code was back. I took it back to MINI for another look and they told me that it could be a bad computer ($$$$) but strangely, they seemed reluctant to talk me into replacing it, which I interpreted as a lack of confidence in their guesswork. I asked if I was their daughter, would they let me drive the car to Texas and back (an upcoming 4000K road trip) and they said yes. So, I drove on.

And then halfway between Lubbock and Amarillo, the serpentine belt shredded. The belt and tensioner were just about 16 months old, btw. Luckily, I was able to coast to some shade and the tow truck came before I ran out of drinking water. And, more importantly, the shop I was towed to said I'd done no damage to the engine and everything was turning freely.

Anyway. That's just a long way of saying that don't forget to consider replacing the belt when spark plugs & cables and other less expensive options fail to get rid of the engine light! If I had, I wouldn't have spent all summer fretting about what was looming on the horizon.