My car is misfiring. What could be the problem?

Question

My car is misfiring and also the rev counter is bouncing up and down while the car is stationary but it dose not go over 1000rpm

Its a VW GOLF 2001

What could be the problem?

Answer 1

My mums brand new polo had to go back to the Volkswagen garage for a similar problem, I think the diagnosis was a "cracked cylinder head",  I have no idea what that actually means but hopefully it will be of some help to you :)

Answer 2

Could be a coil pack! makes you loose compression. ckeck the coil packs and the spark plugs... that should do the trick.

Answer 3

depending if it is petrol or diesel, if it is petrol it sounds like a coil-pack that has gone down, this is very common on the petrol vw engines. If it is diesel, it may be a clogged injector?

Answer 4

misfire and tach bouncing i'd bet its the cam positioning sensor is going bad or you have a bad timing belt or chain and this is warning a disaster is shortly coming if the chain or belt isn't replaced right away. what miles have you gotten on the engine if over 50,000 and not replaced a belt yet get it done now!!!

Answer 5

Your problem is the coil pack, most VW cars don't have headgaskets, instead their spark plugs are in a coil pack.

They cost about $500 for the part alone but it is really simple to remove and install yourself.

If your car is misfiring or running rich it is due to this. I would almost bet money on it, because sadly this is a common problem in VW cars.

If you want a way to check, after you drive somewhere, when the car is off but engine still hot, open the hood and spray the coil pack with water. If it sparks then you have a cracked coil pack. For more info just email me but it is a very common issue.

I know VW diagnostics are expensive so you can go to a VIP or anywhere with a general sensor and they can read what is wrong with your car. Say it says misfire on cylinder 3 then you know it is a coil related issue.

This may be fixed by replacing sparkplugs if you are lucky but in most cases it is more than that. Good Luck!