Hi there, posting on behalf of my girlfriend, as I'm the one tasked with fixing things in the household. It started not long after she bought the car, its a 0.7 turbo. I serviced when she got it with fresh oil and filter, new plugs, and new air filter and all was well. One day it felt a bit sluggish, like it wasn't boosting properly. I traced this down to it running lean as there was a split in the intercooler to dump valve pipe. I have a code reader, and it showed a misfire across all cylinders. I replaced the intercooler to throttle body pipe and the power returned, so much so its shown up how poor the clutch was as it promptly started to slip in 5th. The codes keep on coming back though and its getting on my wick! The car seems to drive fine, I.e no noticeable misfire, the only thing I can't really check is how hard it pulls as the clutch is on its way out. The only thing I can think of is a dud coil pack but I'm not sure as when I scan the codes its across every cylinder. Any suggestions guys? Been reading the site for a while, seems very helpful. I love driving her car, the turbo woosh is very addictive and round town you can't beat a kei car. I have another question also that's performance related - From what I can see the air intake looks massively restrictive. Does a mushroom filter stick straight into the hole that the original intake uses or do I need certain attatchments?
Hi I'm afraid I can't help with the misfire problem, but there is some information here on 'induction kits' that may be helpful. https://www.copenworld.com/vb3/showthread.php?t=1555 Mine was a bit of a mash up but Adam K has found some kits specifically made for the Copen that look really good. All the best KS
Thanks for the reply - food for thought. I think I will have to check the condition of the spark plugs for evidence of lean running. I can't see how all four coil packs on a 54k mile car are causing the error codes. Another thing that unnerves me on this car is that there is a lot of oil residue/oily grime near the dump valves vacuum hoses and at the top of the intercooler where it meets the hoses. Is this normal or something I should look into?
I had a misfire (more of a cut out) problem and so did another member - see here: https://www.copenworld.com/vb3/showthread.php?t=1397 https://www.copenworld.com/vb3/showthread.php?t=1090&highlight=intermittent&page=2 After I fitted the new induction kit this cleared on our Copen although the other member's fault was linked to a faulty 'spark coil' (there are actually four of them). I have also had an oil/filter change and fitted new spark plugs (NGK Iridium) and the Copen seems to be running exceptionally well now. KS
can the engine management differentiate the misfire between cylinders? or does it just register it on bulk?
It's an obdII system, and my 20 quid cheap ebay scanner picks up the codes, the codes read something like (off the top of my head so bear with me) P300 misfire cylinder unknown P301 misfire cylinder 1 P302 misfire cylinder 2 ... And 303 and 304, you get the picture Its not a massive misfire at all, more of a very, very slight hesitation - thats if we notice it at all. My girlfriend seems to think the engine light comes on when the car is running well and at speed rather than when cold pulling away from lights for example which is when you'd expect some sort of miss. The car has certainly never cut out on us. I've checked the plugs and they are fine as you would expect Denso Iridiums to be after 4k miles. I can't see any holes in any of the vacuum plumbing either but there is a lot of oily residue around that area - not sure if its normal or not. I would expect one, maybe two coil packs to be duff but never all 4 at the same time!
Spark Coils Hi Sean Had similar problem - it was Spark Coils - been perfect ever since they were replaced. My engine keep cutting out / hiccuping randomly, it was a Spark Coil issue. The Daihatsu Dealer could not trace it on their diagnostics kit, in the end a friend said change the spark coils. The Copen has 4 of them, and they cost in excess of £150 each new - luckily I used http://www.1stchoice.co.uk and a very good supplier in Cambridgeshire, FenLand Breakers, (contact Gary on 01354 651949) supplied me with 4 used ones for £67 inc delivery. They work No more cut outs or hiccups Car perfect. Fenland have 4 Copens if you need spares. A friend received a Copen Turbo off them and is very happy as well. So an engine cut out / hiccup that did not show any error codes on the Daihatsu Diagnostic kit was caused by a faulty spark coil. When the fault first occurred my car had 70,000 miles on it and it is on a 54 plate. Daihatsu UK had never heard of the problem before!
Hello again chaps Since this post was originally made I am pretty confident that its not a coil issue, so decided to go back to basics and start again., I have cleaned up the oily residue around the engine, swapped the coils around, bought brand new plugs and fitted them and still the engine light returns. I noticed on the old plugs (which had done only around 12000 miles) that there was some traces of sooty/carbon material on the base ring/washer of the plugs (not the electrodes however) This immediately made me think that the car is slightly running rich, so I checked the air filter, which was shockingly dirty on just the small segment where the engine sucks in air - again this had only been changed about 12000 miles ago so I suppose I will get a new one and install that. Also I noticed a slight rattle from my girlfriends Copen when its cold, its most pronounced at around 2000 rpm and is a rapid rhythmic tick from the top end. It disappears almost when warm, I am guessing its a timing chain tensioner starting to die.. How expensive are these and how hard is it to replace them? I must say I haven't found anything on the internet about the tensioner being replaced on other peoples Copens. I am also now keeping an open mind about the tensioner causing the misfire codes due to an incorrectly tensioned chain!! Any advice welcome
All four cylinders misfiring i wouldnt assume its an ignition probelm. I'd check the air intake system for leaks first then after that it could be many things. My code book gives faulty cat, maf sensor, oxygen sensor, wiring to the injectors and a faulty fuel pump. You might have to take the car to a garage to find out the problem but look for leaks first.
I recently had a missfire on cylinder 4. My ODB2 reported two codes. One was saying that there was a missfire, the second then detailed which cylinder it was. So are you getting 5 error codes? The general misfire then one for each cylinder? Mine was easily solved with a bottle of STP pre MOT fuel additive added to a tank of fuel. It cleaned the carbon deposits off the injectors and really improved performance. But I doubt that's the case for you if you have all four misfiring.
Thanks for the help guys. It seems the new plugs and new air filter have stopped the light returning for now.. fingers crossed. Couldn't believe how dirty the air filter was after 12000 miles. Having never had a turbo car before, I'm just assuming its due to how they work. I'll have to inspect the filter every 6 months or so instead of my usual annual service.
