DaveFJ
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 01:38 PM |
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testing coils in tin top
I wonder if any of you enlightened gentlemen can help...
How can i test the coils fitted to my car? I am sure that one is playing up because the engine is playing up in exactly the way it did before the last
one went.
problem is it has 5 coils and they cost £30 each so i really don't want to swap them all!!
I know I could buy one and swap it around until I fix the fault but I'm sure there is a more scientific approach! - and what if 2 are going ?
The setup is new to me, I have five cylinders with a LT lead going to each and then a coil attached directly to the spark plug....... weird
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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02GF74
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 01:44 PM |
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is it a volovo? you sure they are coil packs and not fancy rubber plug things?
can you fit plug steswtes - halfords selll a set of 4.
Or fit plugs into the removed coil pakcs and look for sparks when cranking the engine over? Will for sure show up a dead one but possible not one
that it is on tis way out.
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DaveFJ
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 02:01 PM |
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Its a Fiat and yes they are definately coils. they are about 6inches long and reach down into the head and plug straight onto the sparkplugs.
whats a steswtes ?
another problem with testing is that the computer will shut down the engine if it detects unburnt fuel in the exhaust... bloody computers! why did
engines have to get so complicated? give me a pinto anyday!...grrr..
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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02GF74
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 02:17 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by DaveFJ
Its a Fiat and yes they are definately coils. they are about 6inches long and reach down into the head and plug straight onto the sparkplugs.
whats a steswtes ?
another problem with testing is that the computer will shut down the engine if it detects unburnt fuel in the exhaust... bloody computers! why did
engines have to get so complicated? give me a pinto anyday!...grrr..
5 cylinder Fiat are you sure someone hasn't stolen a cylinder? could account for the bad running.
ok, they are long reach plug thingies so the tester (finger trouble) won't be of use, even if you could fit them, then you would not be able to
see the spark.
steswtes: they are like igntion lead ends but in transparent plastic that fit over the plug and connect to the leads with a lamp inside (neon?) that
light up when there is a spark. (oh, and proper name is tester if one doesn't have finger trouble)
you should be able to pull the fuse to the fuel pump when cranking it - that should get past that part of the computer intelligence!
... but as you are finding, the engine has been designed to generate maximum possible revenue for the dealer ship 
trip to scrappies for a set of packs?
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DaveFJ
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 02:36 PM |
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I think I would be lucky to find a Stilo 2.4l Abarth in a scrappy... but possibly worth a look...
As for maximising dealer revenue... the headlamp bulbs are a main dealer replacement only and cost £200 to fit (front bumper off!)
All I can say is the computers (7 of them) are all linked and running an operating system based on Microsoft! arrrggghhhh. it really is windows for
autos! Can't wait for my first blue screen of death!
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 04:10 PM |
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What ever you do, DO NOT do ANY back probing with a multi meter. THAT action HAS been known to blow the ECU's on modern
FIAT's.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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froggy
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 04:43 PM |
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you will have to change the lot im afraid as even if you find the one thats faulty the rest will follow in short time , learnt this the hard way on
other french cars . i cant figure out why bosch can make single ciol packs for bmw engines last for years but the french cant seem to get more than a
couple of years out of theirs?
[Edited on 24/7/06 by froggy]
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DaveFJ
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 06:40 PM |
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they are Bosch coils........
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 06:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by DaveFJ
they are Bosch coils........
And a Fiat Stilo is definately not French
If one is breaking down when hot can you not just remove one LT connector at a time and listen for any change in idle?
Idealy you would want to stick an oscilloscope on the coil primary and have a look at the waveforms for each coil, a duff one should stand out.
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froggy
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| posted on 24/7/06 at 07:37 PM |
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yes very drole but pulling connectors off is good way of buggering the coil drivers in the ecu too. i stand by what i said as its cheaper than
replacing the cat later on ( i never said that the fiat was french but they all had the same smart idea of putting the coils in the hottest place they
could find )
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tks
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| posted on 26/7/06 at 12:27 PM |
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mhh
yeah not to mention that a bad coil doesn't mean to be a non sparking coil.
if the dwell time rises because of the malfunction of it...
you are really done..
i would do the next thing!
search for heat! go somewhere where they have the infared temp pistol.
read every exhaust tube you can and point out wich piston isn't like the rest.
thats the one with the problem.
you could then try to swap the coil.
and see if now the other piston fails..
its the easyiest option.
Tks
p.d. experience with a Ford RS2000 engine escort MK5
The above comments are always meant to be from the above persons perspective.
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DaveFJ
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| posted on 26/7/06 at 12:31 PM |
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now that's an interesting solution.... will give it a try! may be fun though coz it's so titghtly sqeezed in that seeing the headers is
nigh on impossible...
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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