So in Kirby's Cartastraphe part 1, I wound up buying this blue Astra Sport, all was going very well until it started misfiring, after about 200 miles of driving .
What could have caused it?
Possibilities; Contaminated fuel? Or something a more costly?
I called my friend Keith, a mechanic and explained the situation.
Initially he suggested to buy some Redex to clean the fuel tank to hopefully clear the issue, if not he had other idea's but wanted to try the cheapest option first.
Leaving work I headed straight for Halfords to buy some Redex following the instructions carefully I put half of the bottle in the tank.
Reading the bottle it did state that this can take up to a week to clear the system.
After a week the car had not improved, clearly there was nothing was wrong with the fuel but at least I had a clean fuel tank and system.
I took the car to Keith where he had look and a listen to the engine, he concluded and instructed me to buy new spark plugs made by Bosch and an ignition coil pack made by Haas.
I went straight to Halfords to buy the parts, they didn't have the parts in stock but they ordered them and they arrived the following day at the cost of £75.
I then asked Keith if he would allow me to use his tools and guide me through the process of removing and re-installing the affected parts.
He was happy to guide me through my first time working on an engine.
What could have caused it?
Possibilities; Contaminated fuel? Or something a more costly?
I called my friend Keith, a mechanic and explained the situation.
Initially he suggested to buy some Redex to clean the fuel tank to hopefully clear the issue, if not he had other idea's but wanted to try the cheapest option first.
Leaving work I headed straight for Halfords to buy some Redex following the instructions carefully I put half of the bottle in the tank.
Reading the bottle it did state that this can take up to a week to clear the system.
After a week the car had not improved, clearly there was nothing was wrong with the fuel but at least I had a clean fuel tank and system.
I took the car to Keith where he had look and a listen to the engine, he concluded and instructed me to buy new spark plugs made by Bosch and an ignition coil pack made by Haas.
I went straight to Halfords to buy the parts, they didn't have the parts in stock but they ordered them and they arrived the following day at the cost of £75.
I then asked Keith if he would allow me to use his tools and guide me through the process of removing and re-installing the affected parts.
He was happy to guide me through my first time working on an engine.
Below are the photos I took and step by step guide.
Open the bonnet and this is what greeted me
Remove the plastic panel with Ecotec written on it to reveal two star bolts.
Remove the lead that attaches the ignition coil pack to the engine then with the correct tool, remove the star bolts.
you can now remove the ignition coil pack.
Below the ignition coil pack are the spark plugs.
Using the correct wrench, turn anti clockwise to remove the spark plug
You can see rust on the bottom of the spark, all four plugs were the same.
Insert the new spark plug into the wench and return the new plug where the old one was removed, turning clockwise to tighten it. This had to be done four times due to there being four spark plugs.
Initially, I tried the new spark plugs with the old ignition coil pack to see if the spark plugs had been the issue. I started the car up and it still misfired. I then replaced the ignition coil pack, refitted the plastic panel.
Anxiously I went to start the car if this did not work, then it would be an expensive engine repair job that I could not afford.
I turned the key and the engine started and it sounded smooth again. I was delighted that I had been able to fix the problem and not have it cost a great deal of money.
I was grateful to Keith for his guidance and his tools. 500 miles on and everything is still running smoothly.
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