xantia activa running on 2 cylinders! help!

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cheeseit
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xantia activa running on 2 cylinders! help!

Post by cheeseit »

Hi. i have a p reg xantia activa (2litre turbo petrol). i few weeks back i washed it under the bonnet. after doing so it started running on 2 cylinders but after a while went back 2 four (a couple of minutes). it was a jerky on accelaration for a couple of mile but fine after that. a week of two later i made the mistake of getting the engine wet again [:I] and this time it took alot longer for it to go back to four. infact it took quite a while to go back to 4 cyl. the car has been starting on 2 cyl in the morning ever since and then returning to 4 after a couple of minutes. well untill a couple of days ago. i had quite a long trip and on the way back it was stutering everyonce and a while. now im home it stays on 2cyl all the time. i found its cyl 1 and 4 that arnt firing which are both conected to the same coil in the coil pack (there are 2 coils in the pack). it isnt the spark plugs or ht's and ive replaced the coil pack and still runs on 2cyl. im all out of ideas!!!! please help!!!! something to do with water but what? there arnt any ecu lights staying on so i dont think its the ecu. HELP![V]
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

What are the plugs like? Have you checked the HT leads?
Jeremy
cheeseit
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Post by cheeseit »

the hts are brand new and ive tested thesparks on the cylinders that do fire and there ok. like i said ive replaced the coil pack and still no change. Confusing!
Peter.N.
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Post by Peter.N. »

Do these cars have a distributer? (I havn't run a petrol car for years) if so I would think that would be the first place to look.
cheeseit
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Post by cheeseit »

sorry i should have said. this is distributorless. the coil is controlled by the ecu but the ecu i showing no faults. ie no management lights on dash.
johnway
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Post by johnway »

Hello,
Have you taken a plug out of one of the non-firing cyclinders, re-connected the HT lead and placed the plug (electrode end) near the engine block or some other grounded area holding with a rubber glove and have someone handy turn the key? If you see a spark then your coil units are OK - if not then you certainly have an ignition problem. 1st thing I would do is swap the coil you know is good for the other one and repeat the test - if this checks out you have a problem either with the replacement coil (which you can then switch over with the known good one and see if your previously firing cylinders still do. If all tests passed then it must be the ECU (try and find a spare at the breakers). Good luck,
John. (Boy, I'm glad I switched to diesel)
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Post by handyman »

Your problem points very much to the coil pack, as these are designed, when faulty, to provide limited sparks to two cylinders so you can drive to a repair centre. How thoughtful!
Is your substitute pack a new unit? If not, I would suspect that too. New packs are not very expensive as there are "pattern" units made by the suppliers of the OEM units. I was surprised when I only paid £31.00 for the similar pack fitted to a ZX 1.6i.
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