Miss firing Audi A3 ?

Micro

I think my audi is miss firing - big vibration in the engine. Its only an 04 plate so has pee'd me off a bit. Any suggestions before I take it to Audi and they rip me off ?

goldspanners

if its misfiring check all the H.T leads are fitted properly onto the sparkplugs.

Micro

Will try thanks. Someone mentioned fuel cleaner ?

goldspanners

should have asked this earlier,it is petrol isnt it?

Micro

yeap !!..............

goldspanners

i wouldnt think a fuel additive will stop any kind of mis-firing.
if its mis-firing it means fuel isnt being burnt properly in one of the cylinders,does it start ok?
if the H.T leads are ok next thing i would do is remove the spark plugs (one at a time mind) and check each plug has the same sort of colouring around the tip,this will identify if all cylinders are firing properly,the tips should be a chocolatey brown colour.
if one of them isnt the same as others,test the HT lead that supplies the spark to this plug and make sure it is ok. test this by using proper testers or get someone to turn the engine over while you hold a screwdriver in the end of the HT lead and hold a part of the metal area on the screwdriver very close to (but not touching) an earth point (engine mount or cylinder head bolt) if you get a spark then we know it is working fine.

Micro

Thanks very much I give all this a try in a bit. One final dumb question - do i need a special tool to take out the plugs ?

goldspanners

yes,you will need a spark plug socket,they come in different sizes,usually 10,12 and 14mm,they look like deep sockets.i think it may be the 10mm one for the audi if it uses the same plugs as the golf.

Micro

Thought so. I'll see whats in the box. Many thanks for your help

goldspanners

no problem,let us know how you get on.

shininghero

most likely your coils/plugs are kapoot. get them from ECP or GSF and replace them yoursefl