So i ran into a little problem about a week back and i figured i would share.

Basically i just drove the car out of the parking garage and the car replied by going into restricted performance and idling rough.

Got out the OBDII reader and got some codes to chew on P0303, P353, P1316.
After that i went to the computer to have a look in the forums, and here's the actual reason i decided to share.
There's quite a few interesting posts with multiple misfires and odd things going on, intermittent errors that go on like sagas but... there's hardly any telling the other side of the story which is it could simply be a single bad coil.

Not being a mechanic by trade i basically did as suggested in a couple of the posts i found which is to swap around the error reported coil and one you're pretty sure is working as intended.
After doing that i cleared the codes and started up the car.
The result was nice and simple, i now i had the same bunch of codes but on the new cylinder.
Got a hold of a "new used" coil, popped it in the car this morning, cleared the codes and went for a test drive.

And what do you know, the car is running like it's supposed to and there's no error codes in sight.
(Well except for the flaky upstream O2 Sensor i left out, but that's a story for a different post)

My point being, sometimes it actually is a simple fix and this is certainly within DIY tinkerer territory.

Best wishes
/Stig.

 

I think you somehow overlooked all the ones where coil was the first and correct suggestion.

 

You may very well be right.
And it may just have been my bad luck when searching for the codes i had.
If i'm spamming unnecessarily i do apologize if was just left with this feeling that a story about a simple fix was called for .

I just want to add that the information i got from the longer threads where what let me diagnose and fix my problem and i'm immensely grateful for this forum and it's contributing members.

Best
/Stig.

 

I certainly don't see it as spamming! Anything that helps people suspect coils first and plugs later is good

 

My experience with the coils when they were in the process of failing was that they would short and misfire at startup when the engine was cold, but after warm up, the offending gaps that permitted the shorts would close and the engine would run fairly smoothly. The OBDII readings would show this also: P0300/0350 DTC's when cold, but none when warmed up. One last thought: probably easiest to replace the entire set when they start to go (110,000 miles on my car), as two went out in quick succession. Either that or carry a spare and 7mm socket wrench.