What's causing this misfire & lack of acceleration when cold

[zed4]

I have a 2003 Clio 172 Cup and it's not running right. I hope you can help! This morning it started fine, but it very nearly stalled a couple of times when I was reversing it off the drive and the revs wouldn't settle at a nice idle.

Then once I was underway, it wouldn't let me accelerate. It would accelerate extremely slowly if I put a very small amount of throttle on but it was very slow. Any more throttle and it would misfire and judder and wouldn't go over 2,000 RPM.

Apologise for the terrible video and the fact that I was holding my phone whilst driving, but it was very slow on a private road of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W88EqwtP6qE

What do you think? I reckon the exhaust is blowing too, it's making a lot of noise.

[Dr Interceptor]

Sounds like an ignition issue - check the coil packs, leads and plugs.

[JDMDrifter]

Check the throttle body to, make sure its not sticking shut.

[BL Fanboy]

Sticking valves? - put some Forte oil treatment through it?

[zed4]

I should say that a mile down the road, once it's warmed up, it's absolutely fine and it's actually very quick. I've only had this problem twice before.

[bigmadjohn]

Zed
My Mrs' clio 3 had the same issue, it was coil packs. To check which one remove the engine cover then remove the plug to each coil one by one until the misfire stays the same. This is where your issue is. You may have to hold the engine at 2k rpm to hear it. Also might be worth checking the plug on this cylinder as theyre much cheaper to replace. If its coil pack, replace with oem quality as cheap ones fail quickly expect to pay about £30. Ive ended up doing all 4 on the clio over the last 5 years. Is the engine light on? If so it might be worth checking with a reader as it might give you what cylinder it is.

[bigmadjohn]

Zed
My Mrs' clio 3 had the same issue, it was coil packs. To check which one remove the engine cover then remove the plug to each coil one by one until the misfire stays the same. This is where your issue is. You may have to hold the engine at 2k rpm to hear it. Also might be worth checking the plug on this cylinder as theyre much cheaper to replace. If its coil pack, replace with oem quality as cheap ones fail quickly expect to pay about £30. Ive ended up doing all 4 on the clio over the last 5 years. Is the engine light on? If so it might be worth checking with a reader as it might give you what cylinder it is.

[zed4]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I’ve only recently bought the car, but the previous owner says he replaced the coil packs very recently. They certainly look new, along with the spark plugs and HT leads. I’ll double check the spark plugs again to see what colour they are.