Golf coil problem.

Davesnave

My DD recently bought a R reg Golf 1.6 which has covered about 60k. It went without problems for a month or so, but then died as a result of a faulty coil.

Daughter renewed the coil and the car was fine again....until she set off to catch a plane, when again, the coil packed-up. Luckily, she still had her Polo to fall back on!

When DD returns from holiday (ash clouds permitting) she wonders what will happen if she renews the coil again. It could be that she fitted a duff coil (bathtub curve and all that) but equally it could be that something else is causing the coils to fail.

I am not smart enough to know what that 'something' might be, or if Golfs are prone to this. Is there anyone out there who can shed any light?

Many thanks.

hethmar

Have you tried a VW Golf forum? They usually have techis on hand.

Davesnave

hethmar wrote: »

Have you tried a VW Golf forum? They usually have techis on hand.

No. not yet. I was relying on the sheer size of this forum to throw up a few ideas, then maybe pursue those elsewhere a bit later if necessary, especially if there may be model specific issues.

mkirkby

Can you gaurantee that it is the same coil that went? If one has gone, then the others usually go soon after as they are all the same age.

skiddlydiddly

If its the same coils as used by the vag 1.8t unit then it seems a very common problem and some owners even carry spares in the car.

Davesnave

mkirkby wrote: »

Can you gaurantee that it is the same coil that went? If one has gone, then the others usually go soon after as they are all the same age.

Err, no. I didn't realise there was more than one! There wasn't when I used to do this sort of maintenance on my Austins back in the dark ages.:(

Interesting that it seems to be a common fault on some VAG engines.

skiddlydiddly

Some VAG engines have a coilpack for each cylinder and they seem to be a service item costing about £25 each.

only_mee

On an R plate I'm sure it will be a separate coil supplying the dizzy, which in turns supplys the spark to the four plugs.

remosquito

Head over to the Club GTI forum, some very knowledgable people on there, I'm sure you'd get a response within a day or 2.

hopefulfooluk

I had one of the 1.8T VAG engines that suffered from faulty coils - I got through six coils in as many weeks - car was totally off the road for several weeks too as it was such a common problem, the whole of SEAT UK had run out of them. In the end I had to carry a couple of spares with me but getting SEAT to give me any was a massive battle.

So you're not alone!

only_mee

Had my 1.8 20 VT for two years no coils gone and no MAF problems.
I must be gifted