Stuttering/Sputtering when hard acceleration - and now Engine Light

[AllBlack05S]

Leaning towards dirty/fouled injector(s) next, interested in the results of the code read even more now.

[HotTinRoof]

Yeah, had the stutter with the oem injectors which had some 85k miles on them when I swapped them for the then brand new 380s. Maybe they immediately got clogged? I've always run 93 octane. Just learned that the JCW 380s are apparently recommended to be changed yearly?

Can't wait for the code read myself - just hope it doesn't shoot a hole in the wallet.

[HotTinRoof]

UPDATE:

Winner: Glen - crazy man. You nailed the issue.

Codes came up as:

• p0303 misfire on #3 cylinder
• p0313 misfire detected with low fuel

Friend pulled the #3 plug and its browning pretty good. I'll look to grab another set. He takes one look at the gap and says "this is too much", grabs his gapping tool, adjusts the plug and that was it. We hung around talking about how expensive mini parts are compared to VW and away I went. Drove it hard on the way home into the triple digits and it was a smooth pull throughout the band.

Came home with a big smile on my face as I've had this stutter since I purchased the car!!! through two sets of plugs - oem and these NGKs - it was just a matter of gapping this entire time.

Looking back I was a bonehead and trusted the wrong advice. Never checked the gapping of the NGKs when I put them in. Listened to the advice, "they're preset man, just drop them in and you are good to go." Pfff.

So there you have it. I want to thank you guys for the assistance. I'm quite happy this didn't persist to a boost issue as I imagine that would have been a PITA to locate.

I'm going to pick up new cables as mine are on their last legs and have served as several meals to mice. Will also buy new plugs. Any recs? I'm holding onto the oem coil pack as there isn't anything wrong with it.

[Pir8 97]

Glad it was an easy fix

[HotTinRoof]

Yer telling me man. I'm quite ecstatic, feel like I suddenly saved a lot of time and frustration.

[ScottinBend]

If you run the OEM JCW plugs you don't have to gap them as they are the 4 prongers. BKR6EQUP

[HotTinRoof]

That's what I was told but looks to not always apply. Don't know. Didn't work before and now it does.

[ScottinBend]

So you had the 4 prong plug and you regapped them?

[HotTinRoof]

Yeah, I've got this special 4-prong adjustment tool.
Bah - Scott, apologies. I read your post too quickly. No, they are NOT stock, these are NGKs - just a single prong. I'm doing too much at once, I see I started talking about fuel injectors above too. Need to fix that. *facepalm*
I need to replace the NGKs tho - I assume the JCWs are crazy expensive?

edit: geezus, I need a day off from work, I've been calling the NGKs "380s" all day.

[HotTinRoof]

Way sells the JCW 4-pronged spark plugs for $50.
Any opinion on these over other brands?

http://www.waymotorworks.com/john-co...gs-by-ngk.html

I also see Kingsborne Performance wires and LiveWires Plug Wires. $59 and $95. I have no idea what I'm looking at here.

http://www.waymotorworks.com/02-06-c...in/index4.html

[ScottinBend]

If the price from Way includes shipping it's not a bad price. But you can get them a bit cheaper.

I wouldn't worry about new wires at this point as the OEM ones are nice and beefy, unless your's are faulty.

[HotTinRoof]

Hey scott any suggestions as to where? Do the JCWs perform better than the NGKs?

[ScottinBend]

Just do a search for the part number I posted above. I usually get them from NGK.com.

These are the OEM JCW plugs.

[HotTinRoof]

Ah terrific, thank you. Amazon has them for $7.85 a pop.

[HotTinRoof]

EML light turned on this morning - Hoping it was just the cold... sheesh. Didn't notice any difference in drive feeling on my way to work (30mi)