spark problem

[Captain Starlet]

To start with its not on a starlet more a clio.

today the car went onto 2/3 cylinders so i decided to change the plugs, taking out first one there was no tip so i thought boom hear we go problem solved, second one out covered in oil and the other two werent to bad.

so upon starting it still wasnt right sortof intermitting from three cylinders to four.

being a clio needing to strip half the engine to even see the plugs i checked for spark at the coil by taking out each lead (with pliers lol) when engine on and three leads seemed ok but one well it was getting spark but not that great

now since everywhere shut new leads will be ordered tommorow my concern is the oil im assuming its the rocker cover gasket on way out?

 

[Morph]

Might also be worth checking and cleaning the crank position sensor as I've had a few clios in the past and they all suffer with the sensor getting crappy mate.

 

[Captain Starlet]

did she go onto three cylinders with tht dude

the engine management light came on for maybe 10 seconds when booting it but i thought that be standard if on 3 cylinders

 

[Morph]

Yeah would run on 3 at cold start then run on 4 with a few revs quite common fault tbh but also causes poor starting. The mil could poss be if it ran on three mate have u had it code checked as they should store it if it came on. Worth taking the sensor off and cleaning the tip with some emery paper see if it helps.

 

[Gtstu]

What Clio is it?

 

[Chris@CCM]

Leads ? Coil , injector ? I work for Renault btw dude tbh them 172s r good wee cars make sure u get the rite plugs for it too

 

[Captain Starlet]

i havnt changed the leads needing to wait on delivery of them monday.

this morning it started and i run to my work couple miles and ran on 4 perfectly but on my lunch its sortof intermitting when driving from 4 to 3 then back on 4

 

[Captain Starlet]

chris if it was an injector wouldnt the light come on?

 

[Texx]

I don't do Renaults, they give me tourettes, however I would expect a car of that age to have some kind of misfire detection that will put the light on.

Have you got a timing light? If so you can use it to check the HT leads.

 

[Captain Starlet]

hey ma man i dont have a light a wouldve thought myself it wouldo through a light on.

It did for prox 10 seconds then never ever did it since i guess al replace leads on monday and go from there :/

 

[Captain Starlet]

see the way renault have designed engine i cant take the lead out of the plug to see if there is a change in engine note because to get to leads the top part of inlet needs to come off

 

[Texx]

see the way renault have designed engine i cant take the lead out of the plug to see if there is a change in engine note because to get to leads the top part of inlet needs to come off

Could you pull the leads off at the coil instead? Putting on a pair of thick rubber gloves before hand would be a good idea though!

 

[Captain Starlet]

i did that with a set of pliers one of the "spark current" wasnt as strong as the rest but was there a lil bit.

i took it out completly and put a spark plug onit and it was sparking the plug

 

[Texx]

Take the car out when it's dark, go somewhere where there's no street lighting and it's so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face, pop the bonnet and look for a spark leak from any of the leads. When it's dark you shouldn't have much difficulty spotting a stray spark. Or if you've got a garage at home, shut the doors and turn the lights off.

If you do spot anything, you can try wrapping a shit load of insulation tape around the leaking area of the offending lead as a temporary fix.

 

[Captain Starlet]

The new plan for tonight then ano a few dark dogging areas

 

[Captain Starlet]

update:

so i replaced the leads and took it a run and it never went onto 3 cylinders atall and pulled well but now and then at low revs 2kish when induction kit sortof kicks in it has small misfire like a wee jurk then its away