Broken spark plug
Discussion
My son's car started misfiring badly. Pulled the plugs to find that one no longer had a ground electrode. Put a camera into the bore, couldn't see anything in there. Bit of research suggests the electrode could have gone into the exhaust system and out. As any damage would have already been done (started misfiring on the motorway and was driven off) put a new plug in and the car started without difficulty, ran sweetly for 60 motorway miles or so without problem until it stalled, It cranks but won't start. Error code suggests a throttle body / air intake fault. Is this just an unrelated fault in short time (car has done 110k), or could the two instances be connected? Any help appreciated.
Edited by SwanJack on Saturday 28th June 12:51
Edited by SwanJack on Saturday 28th June 12:52
Not obvious how those would be related but I suppose that the plug could have been damaged by debris in the intake which might be related to the other faults. What are the actual fault codes? These are likely to be related to why the ECU is no longer able to run the engine.
Are you planning to fix this yourself? If not, best to leave the figuring-out to whoever is going to fix it for you. Professional mechanics rarely appreciate being told how to do their job.
Are you planning to fix this yourself? If not, best to leave the figuring-out to whoever is going to fix it for you. Professional mechanics rarely appreciate being told how to do their job.
The fault code is p1512, the car is a Mito and one source says it's a stop start relay fault and the other says it's to do with the intake. It was towed to an Alfa specialist in the middle of the night who will hopefully be able to have a look on monday. I'm just trying to get my head around what it could be and the possibility that if compression is gone or valves damaged, then the car is scrap, or if it might be something less drastic. If it's the former then we need to get something sorted asap as he needs it to get to work
That fault code suggests the car has a variable length intake runner and it is now stuck. That could be due to a mechanical failure, carbon build-up or something else jamming it. There's no way to know until somebody has had a chance to investigate.
IMO it would be reasonable to assume the car will be off the road for at least a few days. If you need transport and the garage doesn't provide a courtesy car then I suggest you make other arrangements.
IMO it would be reasonable to assume the car will be off the road for at least a few days. If you need transport and the garage doesn't provide a courtesy car then I suggest you make other arrangements.
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