Engine Is Running On 2 Cylinders

[jonnyturbo 3]

xu10j2te engine

 

started running on 2 cylinders ( 1 and 4) so far iv changed the coil pack plugs and leads. i took the lead off number 1 and tested it with a spark plug and its sparking. I then checked the voltage on number 1 injector plug and its getting 12-13 iirc when ignition is off and 11. something once engine started, been told to test if its pulsing by using a lightbulb which im yet to do, also been told to check the crank sensor? what else could cause this problem?

 

thanks.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

Ignition module. They run on a wasted spark system. I had mine go once (due to an over charging battery pumping acid on a relocated module) and it ran on 2 cylinders and put a load of fuel into the exhaust, which caused it to glow red!!

[jonnyturbo 3]

dont really understand wasted spark but all i know is i took injector off number 1 and it ran the same so took spark plug lead off put a plug on the end and tried it and it was sparking? would it still spark if it was ignition module? if so i dont suppose you have a working one going for sale do you ?

[Anthony 1,003]

Unplug cylinder 4 and see if that changes anything. Cylinders 1 and 4 are paired on wasted-spark, so if there's an issue with the coilpack, ignition amp etc it'll affect both of them.

[jonnyturbo 3]

unplugged all the injector plugs and 1 and 4 didnt make any difference.

Edited March 28, 2011 by jonnyturbo

[jonnyturbo 3]

tested with the lightbulb trick and all plugs are pulsing fine, got a new ignition amp and its running a little better, took number 1 injector plug off and you can hear the tone of the engine change which makes me think number 1 is running fine but when i take number 4 off its still running the same from what i can tell.

 

took the plugs out and they were black and smelled of fuel.

changed the fuel rail + injectors to another set i have and still running like crap but not as bad as before.

 

im running a gti6 fuel pump at the moment but is there any way i might have wired the pump up wrong? i cant think of anything else to check at the moment! looked for air leaks too by spraying carb cleaner around and nothing.

[jonnyturbo 3]

changed the crank sensor today and let the car run for longer, when i started it up it sounded alot better but after warming up a little it started running lumpy again and the longer it ran the more it started smoking from the exhaust, it also started smoking out of the oil filler at the top through one of the holes that was open.

[jonnyturbo 3]

asked at a garage if they will plug it in to diagnostics for me and said nothing will show up due to the engine being a 406 engine and the car being a 306 so at the moment i dont have a clue what to do? anybody else got any ideas what the problem could be?

[Anthony 1,003]

It's not entirely clear, but am I right in thinking that the engine is now running on 3 cylinders since replacing the ignition amp, and #4 is the one that doesn't appear to be firing?

 

Obvious thing to do is to swap/replace the spark plugs given that they don't tend to like getting saturated in fuel, and if that makes no different swap parts between cylinder 4 and one of the working cylinders to see if the fault follows any of them. A compression test would probably be a good idea as well, as it's plausable that you've bore washed it and killed the rings by running without reliable spark.