Need solution to piston misfire

[dbwilder22]

Hello everyone,
First, I am brand new to the forum and would like to thank you for providing the space.
Second, I am an absolute novice to working on my car. I am just now learning and have found it difficult to learn everything on the boxer engine. With that being said I need professional opinion on what is wrong with my car. I'll provide a breakdown of the issues and everything I have done.

I received the car from my parents in August last summer. When I got the car, the engine was shaking while idle, and the check engine light was on. They lived in Kentucky and I drove it across the country to Denver, without having it looked at.

I have been working in Golden and have been driving it back and forth 5 days a week. After a while the car began dying as I let off the gass pedal and decelerated, and throughout this time the idle became rougher and rougher.

I took it to an auto parts store and ran a check on the computer and found that piston #2 and #4 are misfiring.

I have
- changed spark plugs
- changed air filter
- changed the fuel injectors on the driver side
- changed the oil

I have done the only basic things I know in order to find a solution. I am at a completely loss at what could be causing the problem. These are also the systems.

- Easy when engine hasn't been started all day
- Rough idle
- Low RPMS.
- Only dies after applying gas pedal

Any knowledge would be MUCH appreciated.

[tomato_88]

Have you checked your plug wires?

[dbwilder22]

Well, I haven't unfortunately. I am a beginner and I couldn't find the ignition coils. It's also a turbo.

[tomato_88]

Oh. Good info. It has coil packs over each spark plug. A 10 mm socket should remove it. You could unplug and swap with a cylinder that is not misfiring currently. That would let you know if that's what it was.

[dbwilder22]

Oh perfect, Ill try that.

[dbwilder22]

UPDATE:

I switched the coil pack from piston #4 with the coil pack from piston #3 and I am having the same problem. Any further suggestions?

[tomato_88]

How many miles and has the timing belt been changed?

[dbwilder22]

It has 100,000 miles and Im not sure. I was really hoping it wouldn't be the timing belt. Is there anything else I could try before that?

[mikenmel08]

UPDATE:

I switched the coil pack from piston #4 with the coil pack from piston #3 and I am having the same problem. Any further suggestions?

When you say you are having the same problem do you mean it its still running the same way? Or did you take it and have it re scanned and it is still misfiring on the same cylinders as it was before? If it is a bad coil swapping it around to a different cylinder won't fix the problem...it just helps you to isolate the problem...

[dbwilder22]

Good point.
It is still handling the same, as in the engine is still shaking. I assumed changing the coil would bring power to the piston and prevent the misfire, therefore stabilizing the engine. Should I still have the computer checked for same pistons?

[mikenmel08]

If it is a bad coil it will be bad no matter what cylinder you put it in........I might be misunderstanding what you did......do you put new coils, or just moved the ones you already had?

If you are moving your old ones around it will not run any better , but you should be able to determine what coil is bad if any by keeping track of where you put them...but it has to be re scanned to see if the misfire moves to a different cylinder when you move the coils...

[dbwilder22]

I switched the #3 and #4 coils. 4 was misfiring and now has the 3 coil in its place. Is each pack location specific?

[mikenmel08]

No they are not cylinder specific....now if cylinder 4 is still misfiring the problem is not coil related.....If the misfire has moved to cylinder 3 you have a bad coil...

[dbwilder22]

So, it actually seems to have gotten worse after all the work Ive put into it. Could I have messed something up?

[bajaguy]

I don't see how what you have done could make it worse... what everyone is saying is that you know cylinder 4 was misfiring. if the coils are switched for 3 and 4 the problem should be the same...but if cylinder 3 is now misfiring then the coil is your problem. If 4 is still misfiring and 3 is still operating fine, the coil is not effecting anything and therefore not your problem.