Misfire - solving the problem

[Darren-2000]

I'm after some advice.

My Caterham has developed a misfire. After running fine on the first Sunday's use in 6 months, it would not run on 4 cylinders when taken out on the following Sunday. It was impossible to drive smoothly with the misfire and the Caterham was returned home.

Any ideas what I should check first? Would the spark plugs be the first culprit to eliminate?
I am thinking of getting a set of spark plugs just in case - does anyone have knowledge or experience of what is recommended / proven for use in a 1.6 K-series?

Additionally, I checked the oil with the engine hot and running, as suggested. I couldn't see any line on the dipstick, and it seemed dry, but with the engine off and the cooler, it was at Max, or thereabouts. Is this normal for one with an Apollo Tank?

[rotorwings]

I had a miss-fire/hesitation problem once and it turned out to be a bad battery connection (corrosion on the terminals).
I would remove, clean, and re-attach the leads to the battery as one step...

[F355GTS]

What Year is the car Darren? and do you know if it's EU2 or EU3? If an EU2 check the coil main lead running to the distributor is well away from the crank sensor wire (normally grey shielded and runs from loom down to the sensor on the back of the engine below where the clutch cable goes into the gearbox bellhousing.

re the oil it should be read with engine hot and running, if you're seeing no oil on the dipstick you need to add some! They are difficult to see but use the old trick, wipe the dipstick, reinsert then remove and place on a piece of kitchen towel comparing the oil stain to the dip stick markings. Only think I'd add is the dipstick may of course be broken can you post a picture of the end couple of inches?

[Darren-2000]

F355GTS said:

What Year is the car Darren? and do you know if it's EU2 or EU3? If an EU2 check the coil main lead running to the distributor is well away from the crank sensor wire (normally grey shielded and runs from loom down to the sensor on the back of the engine below where the clutch cable goes into the gearbox bellhousing.

re the oil it should be read with engine hot and running, if you're seeing no oil on the dipstick you need to add some! They are difficult to see but use the old trick, wipe the dipstick, reinsert then remove and place on a piece of kitchen towel comparing the oil stain to the dip stick markings. Only think I'd add is the dipstick may of course be broken can you post a picture of the end couple of inches?

Thanks for the advice. It's a 2002 and a EU3. The previous owner (it's a relatively recent / little used purchase) seemed well on top of the maintenance, and had hardly done any miles since doing it's last oil service including foam sump baffle and sump gasket, so I would be surprised if it was low or empty of oil, but I am concerned enough to want to be absolutely sure. The oil is really clean (visible when engine is off), but with the engine running it was impossible to see on the yellow plastic indicator of the dipstick. No level could be found and it did seem far too dry for my liking. I would follow your suggestion and check and/or take a photo, but I am working away until the weekend.

First outing this year I drove it and put it away, all good. I'm wondering why the second outing should be different. I washed it after the first outing though. Have I inadvertently saturated something I wonder?

[Darren-2000]

rotorwings said:

I had a miss-fire/hesitation problem once and it turned out to be a bad battery connection (corrosion on the terminals).
I would remove, clean, and re-attach the leads to the battery as one step...

Thanks. I will check it, but I replaced the battery prior to using it this year as the old one had had it. The connections seemed clean so I just reconnected. It wouldn't hurt to clean them to see it it works, as a easy fix.

[PiersR]

If you washed it and water has got into the spark plug wells and into/on the ht leads and coils packs, this could be the problem. Take all the ht leads out and check to see if any water is in the spark plugs wells, clean and dry and replace. Make a note of what lead goes where etc.

Piers

[sfaulds]

Darren-2000 said:

First outing this year I drove it and put it away, all good. I'm wondering why the second outing should be different. I washed it after the first outing though. Have I inadvertently saturated something I wonder?

Wet plug wells - EU3's are terrible for it. Take the coils and leads out and leave it all to dry, but don't be surprised if you need to replace the plugs to get it back to 100%