Yesterday it started missing BADLY; What would you DO before hitting the shop?

2002 Automatic 325 Ci @ 85k miles...

I was out of town for 3 months. The car was in the garage during this time and it never cranked up.
I charged the battery and started it up yesterday, engine sputtered a bit at first (should be normal after 3 months); held down the gas for about 10-15 seconds at 1000 rpm and it picked up.
I drove the car right after that. It drove fine for about 25 miles and then all of a sudden started missing badly. I barely made it home (was about 3 miles out when it started).

It misses badly at idle and throughout the speed range. I almost feel no power in the car. It was as if 184 hp motor became 30 hp. Acceleration after a stop is terrible. Tried to floor it a few times, engine sputtered so bad. It didn't help at all.

My code reader says: P0171, P0174 and P0313 (Cyl#3 misfire with low fuel)

P0171 and P0174 were there for a long long time. They have been coming and going occasionally. I checked many things for those codes but couldn't find the exact cause. Though I never felt any difference in the car the whole time. Engine was running okay, the car was driving fine...

P0313 is the new code. It says cyl #3 misfires due to low fuel but the gas tank is full. Plus it feels like more than one cylinder misses.

I will have to take the car to a repair shop tomorrow in the afternoon most likely. Meanwhile, if you could give me some suggestion, I would take it...

In this limited time, here is what I checked:

-Checked the intake boots. No crack or torn part. I wouldn't expect to see because both of them replaced a few years ago during maintenance.

-Removed and cleaned the MAF.

-Removed the #3 spark plug. It seemed just fine. No crack on the ceramic body and the tips were very clean.

I know it could be many many things but if you know any component that I should check, I would do it with a heart beat...

Hard for me to believe that this happened because the car sat for 3 months w/o running.

Thanks in advance...

Switch your ignition coil from another cylinder and see if it misfires on #3 or the cylinder you switched the coil from.

Yea, Mal is on the track I'd be on too. Sounds like a bad coil.

I liked that IDEA guys!!!!

I knew you guys would come up with something to try but wasn't expecting something this simple to do...

Will do it first thing in the morning and report back...

Originally Posted by iskoos

I liked that IDEA guys!!!!

I knew you guys would come up with something to try but wasn't expecting something this simple to do...

Will do it first thing in the morning and report back...

let us know.

Mal, Smolck,

I did the test. Bingo!.. Misfire code follows the coil. I did it on two other cylinders and everytime it followed. Though I gave a wrong info in my original post. It shouldn't matter much but I would like to correct it.
The problem coil is the one on Cylinder#1 NOT #3 and the associated code is P1343 (Cyl#1 Misfire with fuel cutoff) NOT the P0313 misfire with low fuel. The misfire code (P0313) for cyle#3 is unrelated to this incident and probably was in the DME for a long time and I forgot to clear it. When I pulled the codes yesterday it showed both P0313 and P1343. I thought the P1343 wasn't related because my scanner was saying "Manufac. Specific Powertrain Code" I should have searched for it. My bad...
This morning, I swapped the coils between #1 and #3, then I got P1347 (Cyl#3 misfire with fuel cutoff) because I moved the bad coil from #1 to #3.
Then I repeated the test once again. This time I moved the bad coil to #2 and I got P1345...

Now, I am thinking I found the problem with your guidence.

I checked the Autohausaz for the coils and they have 2 brands:

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...gnition%20Coil

Should I buy the expensive one? And I do not need to replace all of them as the note at the bottom of URO says right?

Originally Posted by iskoos

Mal, Smolck,

I did the test. Bingo!.. Misfire code follows the coil. I did it on two other cylinders and everytime it followed. Though I gave a wrong info in my original post. It shouldn't matter much but I would like to correct it.
The problem coil is the one on Cylinder#1 NOT #3 and the associated code is P1343 (Cyl#1 Misfire with fuel cutoff) NOT the P0313 misfire with low fuel. The misfire code (P0313) for cyle#3 is unrelated to this incident and probably was in the DME for a long time and I forgot to clear it. When I pulled the codes yesterday it showed both P0313 and P1343. I thought the P1343 wasn't related because my scanner was saying "Manufac. Specific Power Terrain Code" I should have searched for it. My bad...
This morning, I swapped the coils between #1 and #3, then I got P1347 (Cyl#3 misfire with fuel cutoff) because I moved the bad coil from #1 to #3.
Then I repeated the test once again. This time I moved to coil to #2 and I got P1345...

Now, I am thinking I found the problem with your guidence.

I checked the Autohausaz for the coils and they have 2 brands:

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...gnition%20Coil

Should I buy the expensive one? And I do not need to replace all of them as the note at the bottom of URO says right?

I can get you a used one for 25 bucks. Thats what I do

Originally Posted by iskoos

Mal, Smolck,

I did the test. Bingo!.. Misfire code follows the coil. I did it on two other cylinders and everytime it followed. Though I gave a wrong info in my original post. It shouldn't matter much but I would like to correct it.
The problem coil is the one on Cylinder#1 NOT #3 and the associated code is P1343 (Cyl#1 Misfire with fuel cutoff) NOT the P0313 misfire with low fuel. The misfire code (P0313) for cyle#3 is unrelated to this incident and probably was in the DME for a long time and I forgot to clear it. When I pulled the codes yesterday it showed both P0313 and P1343. I thought the P1343 wasn't related because my scanner was saying "Manufac. Specific Power Terrain Code" I should have searched for it. My bad...
This morning, I swapped the coils between #1 and #3, then I got P1347 (Cyl#3 misfire with fuel cutoff) because I moved the bad coil from #1 to #3.
Then I repeated the test once again. This time I moved to coil to #2 and I got P1345...

Now, I am thinking I found the problem with your guidence.

I checked the Autohausaz for the coils and they have 2 brands:

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...gnition%20Coil

Should I buy the expensive one? And I do not need to replace all of them as the note at the bottom of URO says right?

I would buy bosch coils from oembimmerparts.com I bought all new coils when I put my SC on. They are expensive BUT the good thing about coils is they either work or they dont. So technically your ok just changing out the one with the issue.

Originally Posted by smolck

I can get you a used one for 25 bucks. Thats what I do

$25s! that's not bad at all.

$25 is definitely a deal but I talked to someone and he told me about a store in Orlando. I will check with them and see what they have.
If I order one, I will have to wait several days. I am currently grounded. The car is NOT driveable...

Smolck if I want yours, could you do USPS priority mail by the end of today? With that I will have it Thursday. But I will still try the store in Orlando first...

I will let you guys know...

Well I checked the local stores and bremi/OEM is $75 each. As much as I like saving money by ordering it from Autohaus (or even better from smolck), I unfortunately can't afford to get grounded a few more days. So I had a friend purchase one for me from a local autopart store...

I will install it tonight and let you guys know. Hopefully it will be the fix...

Okay guys Thank you. It's been fixed. The Bremi coil came w/o a boot. It was showing it clearly on the website that it didn't have a boot but I didn't pay attention. It worried me a bit to remove and use the old boot from the defective coil but I had no other choice at the time being. I transferred the boot to the new coil and installed it.
Car started up immediately. I got a few hesitation at first but I generally have that at each cold start. After warming up the motor, it all went away. I test drove the car in the neighborhood and it drives just fine.

Thank you so much Mal and Smolck. You guys saved me tons of money

Now the question is considering the age of the car, are the other coils in the queue to fail?

Originally Posted by iskoos

Okay guys Thank you. It's been fixed. The Bremi coil came w/o a boot. It was showing it clearly on the website that it didn't have a boot but I didn't pay attention. It worried me a bit to remove and use the old boot from the defective coil but I had no other choice at the time being. I transferred the boot to the new coil and installed it.
Car started up immediately. I got a few hesitation at first but I generally have that at each cold start. After warming up the motor, it all went away. I test drove the car in the neighborhood and it drives just fine.

Thank you so much Mal and Smolck. You guys saved me tons of money

Now the question is considering the age of the car, are the other coils in the queue to fail?

No problem man! glad to help. Just replace each coil as they go bad. Like I said above they either work or they dont. When you say your car has hesitation at first when cold on startup it sounds like you need to do your vanos seals.

Originally Posted by MalibuMafiaV

No problem man! glad to help. Just replace each coil as they go bad. Like I said above they either work or they dont. When you say your car has hesitation at first when cold on startup it sounds like you need to do your vanos seals.

Yes, I am pretty sure it is the Vanos seals. I have been wanting to do that job since 2009 (I think) and many times I watched the tutorials and got myself ready for it; though I never started.
I had an old spare car for years and with that car working, I would tackle DIYs much easier. After that car stopped running (auto tranny), I am not as willing to perform DIYs anymore.

Maybe one day when Smolck retires from his job and decides to setup his mobile repair van and hits the roads, I will let him do my Vanos seals

Originally Posted by iskoos

Yes, I am pretty sure it is the Vanos seals. I have been wanting to do that job since 2009 (I think) and many times I watched the tutorials and got myself ready for it; though I never started.
I had an old spare car for years and with that car working, I would tackle DIYs much easier. After that car stopped running (auto tranny), I am not as willing to perform DIYs anymore.

Maybe one day when Smolck retires from his job and decides to setup his mobile repair van and hits the roads, I will let him do my Vanos seals

Lol. Actually I'm pretty sure Smolck can send you a completely rebuilt unit and you just send him your old one as core charge and pay a little extra for the seals.