R36 dodgy coil packs?

[2muchcoffeeman]

G'day all,

I had a few days of rough starts and engine check light. Once on the move, the check engine light went out, all was fine and the car behaved normally.

When hooked up to the box, faults had been logged with #2 and #3 coil pack. The "fix" was to swap them with #5 and #6, send me on my way and to call the service centre if there were further problems....So far, so good- but I am yet to be convinced.

Has anyone else experienced issues?

[R36FTW]

Nothing yet for me but i'm under 1000kms still. Having had cars with coil packs before, unless the problem is a dodgy connection swapping them wont fix anything. If the coil itself is breaking down it needs to be replaced. Ive read VW's have crappy coil packs unfortunately and I'd be expecting more issues soon if I were you. How many kms on the car?

[2muchcoffeeman]

Hi R36FTW,

I have 10k km up so far. Mine's an MY10.

[Transporter]

As the ECU is switching the coils they want to make sure that when they replace the coils, that they were faulty. If the problem would repeat and it would still come as faulty coil #2 and #3, the fault is in the ECU (presuming that the wiring is OK).
However, the coils still can be tested of the car.

Replacing all of it is not good in the long run, since you never find out what is the faulty component.

[R36FTW]

Right, makes sense, Ive had cars with an ignitor that stepped up the 12v signal to the primary voltage required by the coils - when moving coils if the miss moves with the coils its the coil, if it stays on the same cylinder its the ignitor - guess its the same principle with these.

10K kms is nothing though, I'd be expecting coils to last an easy 80 - 100K kms like they do on Mitsubishi/Nissan etc. Many of my Evo mates are over 100 000 kms on stock coils. A previous nissan of mine had stock coils still going strong over 180K kms.

Transporter - How bad are VW coils?

[Transporter]

Right, makes sense, Ive had cars with an ignitor that stepped up the 12v signal to the primary voltage required by the coils - when moving coils if the miss moves with the coils its the coil, if it stays on the same cylinder its the ignitor - guess its the same principle with these.

10K kms is nothing though, I'd be expecting coils to last an easy 80 - 100K kms like they do on Mitsubishi/Nissan etc. Many of my Evo mates are over 100 000 kms on stock coils. A previous nissan of mine had stock coils still going strong over 180K kms.

Transporter - How bad are VW coils?

If I had the petrol engine under the bonnet, the spare coils would be in the boot at 50,000km. But I'm sure there are many, who never needed them.

[R36FTW]

50 000kms, wow, that's terrible build quality. So much for 'german engineering' huh. Looks like there are a few areas so far I've identified where they cannot come close to the Japanese....pity.

[Umai Naa!!]

There is a campaign doing the rounds about revised coil packs. May not apply to your car, though.

The reason they swapped the coils was to see if they could 'move' the problem elsewhere. If the missfire re-occurs, and it is on cyclinders 2 and 3, then that's where they'll look. If the faults are logged on 5 and 6, which are the suspected faulty coil packs, then the dealer will most likely replace those, and theoretically rectify the problem. It's just a process of elimination, with you doing the testing.

[Transporter]

50 000kms, wow, that's terrible build quality. So much for 'german engineering' huh. Looks like there are a few areas so far I've identified where they cannot come close to the Japanese....pity.

Oh, most of us are aware of that, but I personally, choose to go with the leader not the follower. After the Germans and the European car companies develop the technology and polish it, then you see it in Japanese cars. Isn't it amazing?

I had a faulty ignition coil replaced at 10,000km on our 1999 Subaru Forester, ...and the rear wheel bearing at 49,000km, ... and the ignition leads at 90,000km, and again the same bearing failed at 110,000km. But I still say that the Subaru cars are the one of the most reliable cars on the road.

[Wolfman_36]

G'day all,

I had a few days of rough starts and engine check light.......

Has anyone else experienced issues?

Sorry for late reply. Yes, I had my coil packs replaced under warranty (about 15,000 kms) because I reported that I had occasional issues with rough idle (felt like a misfire on one cylinder) on cold start. Would always clear up with a switch off and re-start. I never saw the check engine light though. Apparently a coil fault had been logged - so the dealer replaced the full set.