[jtpassat]

car in question is a '99 1.8T AEB engine. I got a CEL last week and I was able find someone nice enough to hook up their vagcom to it and it stated that cyl. 2 was misfiring. so I changed all the spark plugs since it was time anyway and still it was CEL and felt like it was sputtering.

so I decided to change the cyl. 2 coil pack as well and still nothing. so i decided to just swap the coil packs one by one to see if anything changed. nothing...

any ideas? i'm going to get it checked out again via vagcom but i'm curious as to what else can be causing the misfire.

 

[D.Passat00]

probably the ICM.

 

[mjones95]

I had a similar issue (same exact engine)

From what i understand it could be one of a couple of things. Either a bad ignition/spark plug/weak compression or a lean run condition.

In my situation it was a lean run condition. I assume you have checked all your hoses. My problem stemmed from a hole in the angled hose which is conneted to the intake manifold at the back. Huge hole right in the crease. My codes were:

- P1136 "Long Term Fuel Trim Add.Fuel,Bank1 System too Lean"
- P0303 "Misfire in Cylinder #3"

Replaced that hose the engine light disappeared.

GL

 

[D.Passat00]

you can look at block 32 to see what your ltft is.

 

[jtpassat]

wha'ts the ICM and what am I looking at when I look at block 32? I"m assuming using the vag-com?

 

[Rusty]

Is your CEL flashing or steady? If it's flashing, it's almost guaranteed to be your ICM (Ignition Control Module). If it's steady, then it may or may not be the ICM. The ICM sits between the ECU and the coilpacks. Physically, it sits on top of your air cleaner housing.

Block 032 is the fuel trims, if they are between +/- 5% then you are just fine. If they are lesser/greater than that, then post them here.

 

[jtpassat]

CEL is flashing... is there a way to confirm that its the ICM via the vagcom? I would hate to spend 125 and still have the problem.

 

[RechtsFahren]

IIRC the fact that is on cyl #2 is THE classic bad-ICM symptom (do a search). Thousands of them were manufactured with a bad solder on the wire supplying the signal to energize the coil on cyl #2.

 

[harthouse]

Go here to test the ICM: http://www.passatworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133976

You can pick one up for a little more than $100 and about a five minute install.

 

[jtpassat]

thanks for the link..

 

[jtpassat]

that did it... the sputtering went away but the CEL is still on and steady. i'm assuming I can clear it with the vag?

how do I do that?

 

[Rusty]

Go to Engine module, Fault Codes, there's a Clear Codes button. Glad you got it fixed!

 

[jtpassat]

thanks! by buying the Hughs ICM instead of the Bosch I saved 125 bucks not including the labor that VW would have charged me.