GTI Misfire | EPC | DIY | Easy Fix | Ignition Coil Replacement | Volkswagen Misfire

This will show you how I fixed the misfire issue on my mk6 2013 VW Golf.
Error Codes for VW:
P0300 = misfire
P0301 = misfire in cylinder 1
P0302 = misfire in cylinder 2
P0303 = misfire in cylinder 3
P0304 = misfire in cylinder 4
Kit Link:
The ECS Tuning Kit I purchased and install in the video:
www.ecstuning....
OBD Code Reader Link:
www.amazon.com...
Disclaimer: This video is for entertainment purposes only. Note: I am NOT a licensed mechanic. You should use this video to get a rough idea of how you can potentially fix your car if it's misfiring. I just wanted to share my experience to help others diagnose their car's issue which could be similar to mine. It is up to you and only you to do your own research and to decide how you go about repairing your vehicle.

[@akinsons]

Hey there! Just wanted to say a big thank you for your post. My 2011 Mk6 GTI with only 87,000 Kms (I'm in New Zealand) suddenly did all the things yours did, have had the car for 5 plus years and still love it! (it also has a Chiptune remap unit from Germany) I got a new set or coils on line from China for only NZ$128.00 and a new set of plugs took 5 days to arrive with free shipping, though I did not need to use the plugs, as soon as I hooked up the new coils and started the car it ran perfectly, popped the OBD 2 back in and cleared all the error codes and now after a week I'm back on the road. Thanks again, it saved me a bundle 'cos I had no clue until I watched your video! 🙂

[@RaindeerDesign]

You're welcome! I'm so glad it was helpful for you! It's exactly why I made the video. I had no clue what was wrong and then had to share when I knew how simple it could be to fix. Funny I was just in New Zealand last year studying in Christchurch! Wishing you many great Kms!

[@thapelokgwefane3606]

I'm also experiencing misfire on my golf 6gti and sometimes it has hard start and emitting black smoke on the exhaust

[@RaindeerDesign]

@@thapelokgwefane3606 Yikes that doesn't sound good. Mine had a hard start sometimes but didn't have any smoke.

[@imabach1103]

Damn, I have the same exact model same color and everything only mine is DSG and I just started experiencing this problem. I did notice that when I got the vehicle a year ago there was some slight oily film on top of the motor so I knew that there was an oil leak which seems to be common with the mark 5 and Mark 6 from somewhere and I think that might be what is causing the issue with the gunk and everything and I'm very tempted to go ahead and buy the spark plugs this morning and the coils if I can afford it but yes it could be something else maybe a throttle body maybe the fuel filter but, great vid, glad you were able to fix your issue.

[@RaindeerDesign]

Thank you! Yes, thankfully the spark plugs and coils worked for me. The car has been running well for quite a while but lately its been coming back again so I think there is a deeper problem too. I had to do injectors and now I'm thinking maybe a valve cleaning. It's so weird because my engine light will trip and then the car runs perfectly smooth then occasionally it'll sputter so I just restart it and it's fine again. I'll definitely look into the oil leak possibility as well.

[@jeronimjurakovic2919]

@@RaindeerDesign So after that you changed injectors, same problem was or did you fix it? Man, I am crazy, at fist I was thinking that the problem come out because a bad fuel that we have in Croatia. I put some liqui Molly to clean injectors, but nothing

[@RaindeerDesign]

@@jeronimjurakovic2919 After I did spark plugs and coils my problem was fixed. Later on it came back so this time it was injectors. I had those done, problem gone, ran great. Later on it came back again. Could drive just fine but I could tell the injectors were getting clogged again because it ran smooth but would occasionally chug. I also tried liqui molly on mine but it didnt really help. I had my car in the shop a week ago for the new injectors (now for the second time). The problem (per the mechanic) was there is carbon build up. So I had them do a carbon cleaning and put in the new injectors and have since been driving it at 4,000 rpm a lot to try to circulate the carbon and break up and other deposits. My sister found it as like the italian tune up. Since then the car has been great and running smooth. So for me the root problem was carbon buildup.

[@Nightrunnergunner]

Great video & straight to the point! Could i do this job for a 2013 audi a8 ? not sure if i have the same issue but have a high idle epc light on studdering acceleration sometimes now sometimes doesnt want to start. i want to do the spark plugs and coils how you did but wonder if battery or throttle body are subject to consider. well done again

[@RaindeerDesign]

Thank you! You should be able to do a similar process for your audi a8. Definitely run an OBD reader on the car to see what codes are going off to start. If you get similar codes to the ones I got in the description then you probably have a bad ignition coil or spark plug. To test the ignition coil swap the one from the misfiring cylinder with one from a cylinder that's not misfiring, clear codes and run the OBD reader again. If the misfire moves cylinders then its the ignition coil that's bad, and if the misfire doesn't move then its the spark plug. If you get other codes that are not familiar to you I'd google them to see what they mean and such. In my case what really lead me to believe it was a misfire from the start was a thumping sort of sound coming from the exhaust and also my car would like "skip" along/shake a lot under acceleration. For the battery it probably wouldn't hurt to check it. You could take it to a nearby auto parts store and they could test it to make sure it's still good. I hope this helps and you get your car fixed quick and easy!

[@robiannace6522]

Hey I'm glad I found this video. I just purchased an Audi A6 only 96000 km on it. Only a week in and it started to putter and very sluggish running rough last night. I'm sure the problem was already there it just got worse. Also when it's parked it's running very rough shaking so to speak. And my ESP fault came on along with check engine light.

[@silentsentinel1]

A lot of videos on this subject point to the throttle body as the likely culprit. So the ignition coil is another possibility? My car is at the dealer, what should I tell them to do about this? They have a ticket open with VW whose solutions in the past have not resolved this.

[@RaindeerDesign]

Yes it could be the culprit depending on your cars symptoms. From my experience what happened was my car gave out suddenly and started chugging really hard. That's one indication that one or more of the spark plugs or coils are bad because it constantly chugged. So I replaced those and all was well. Then the same problem came back but slightly different. Now it would occasionally chug but if I turned the car off and then back on it was smooth again. Thus that was my injectors getting plugged up so I replaced those. Now I've been driving at around 4000 rpm quite a bit to try to remove carbon build up in my engine because that was found to be the root cause. While my car was in the shop, he mechanic there at my local VW dealer said that carbon build up is a common problem with these cars so my best advice would be to do the following. Check ignition coils and spark plugs if the car constantly is chugging; easy fix and cheap to do. If not that or your car is running pretty smooth, maybe occasional chugging, have the mechanic check the injectors. Also if you're having the fuel injectors checked have them check for carbon build up most importantly. If there is, have them do a carbon cleaning and then literally have fun driving at higher rpm every now and again to try to help the car prevent from getting more build up.

[@mrstanlez]

Great helpfull video. Could i do this job for a VW MK7 1.4 TSI?

[@RaindeerDesign]

Thank you! Yes it should on the MK7 although I'm not a licensed mechanic or anything so I could be wrong because it could be a different cause (such as fuel injectors). However, if your car is chugging constantly and your getting those codes I had in the video (like I think it was P0001 or P0101 for cylinder one misfire or P0002 for cylinder two misfire) it should be the coils and/or plugs. A way you can test it if you've got an obd reader handy is to: 1) clear codes, turn car off 2) move the coil pack that you think is bad (error code P0102 means cylinder 2 is bad) to another cylinder 3) turn on car and run obd reader again The obd reader should now have an error code in a different cylinder meaning the coil you moved is bad. If it doesn't move and you get the same cylinder as before then you know the coil pack you moved is still good and you could just replace a spark plug. In my case it worked well and was a cheap fix to start with so that's what I would do.

[@pingu4204]

Great video

[@pedromagina3764]

I have the epc light on before turning the ignition on. After that it turns completely off. Is this normal?

[@RaindeerDesign]

Yeah that should be normal. If you turn the key to just before the ignition point it will turn all the dash lights on and let you roll windows up and down. Then if you twist it further and hold it starts the car. Is that what happens for you?

[@710stiz6]

My epc light came on when I cold started my car and everything was stuck the brake, and wheel and everything. I turned the car off and back on and it went away and everything was all good. Drove just fine. Is this something I need to get looked at?

[@RaindeerDesign]

That seems strange that everything is just stuck. My epc came would only come on when my car started shaking a lot. If you have an obd reader you could try that to see if you get any error codes that may help indicate if something is actually wrong. Otherwise I'd personally wait to see if it keeps doing that and then if it does do it again then I'd take it in. I haven't heard of that happening personally.

[@jeronimjurakovic2919]

@@RaindeerDesign same problem here, golf gti 2014, it went to the safe mode and after my mechanic cleaned the mistake it was ok, but when we connected car on the laptop and we were driving around it was showing misfire in 1st and 4th cylinder. We changed spark plugs and coils, same mistakes is showing again. I can drive the car normally

[@dnttrstliam443]

@Complex Ez this happend to me once my turbo in my car went bad or so they said so they fixed it it just turned on again just now

[@dnttrstliam443]

@Complex Ez I’m just scared because I don’t know like what’s wrong with it my cars tuned and everything so it can be the sparks or the coils or just a number of things the last time my turbo actually went bad bc apparently a lot of them went bad

[@dnttrstliam443]

@Complex Ez alright thank you know how it works with you I’m going on vacation for some time so won’t have time to do so

[@ryanaquino5740]

What profile did you use ? I’ve selected the OBD-II/EOBD first on the list and the OBD reader isn’t able to connect to the ECU

[@RaindeerDesign]

The selected connection profile on my app is "Volkswagen OBD-II / EOBD CAEB 2.0 TSI/TFSI" and I used the Bluetooth LE (4.0) connection type. Does this help?

[@FourCeez]

My epc light has been on and off for the past week whenever it turns on I shut the car off and on again and the light is gone until I idle in some point of my drive. Usually doesn't happen when I'm driving though. Car goes into limp mode after the light appears only allowing me to go above 2400rpms. (2009 mk5 gti) I heard it could be the wiring harness but I sorta want to talk it down with someone with such expertise like yourself if possible before going to buy a whole new assembly. I can't see it being my coil packs because they all were replaced not even 4k miles ago.

[@RaindeerDesign]

Yeah your coils/spark plugs should be good since you'd notice immediately with a lot a shaking from the car if it were those. For me, after doing the spark plugs and coils packs, the issue came back where the car was fine to drive but it just had the EPC light and engine light on all the time with no limp home mode. Eventually the car started misfiring so I'd turn it off and back on again and it'd run smooth again with the EPC and engine light still on. I took it to my local shop and it was fuel injectors that were clogging because of carbon buildup in the engine. For you, I'm not sure if it would be the wiring harness or not. One thing I found when I was searching for how to fix my gti was the throttle body. Symptoms like yours could be caused by a throttle body issue so I would look into that as a potential cause too. Keep in mind I'm not a mechanic or anything so I could be wrong.

[@FourCeez]

@@RaindeerDesign I appreciate the response man! I just ordered a whole new throttle body 2 days ago. I was reading forms and dude had the same issue I’ve been having. He said it’s either wiring harness or the TPS. So I’m going with the cheaper alternative first which would be a whole new throttle body assembly. I’ve figured out that it only happens when it’s damp or just bad weather conditions. Wish me luck!

[@RaindeerDesign]

@@FourCeez Yeah of course! I'm glad you found someone else with the problem for reference. That sounds like a great plan. So strange it's only with the damp conditions. I hope the fix works and you get back on the roads soon!

[@ziomakamarov5109]

Hi my car same problem but car is verry shaking obd show cylinder 2 how do you think bro this is ignition coil???????

[@RaindeerDesign]

It likely is if it is shaking a ton. That is exactly what my car did. Try this first. Clear the codes and then move the ignition coil from cylinder two to another cylinder and do the obd again. If the misfire code is now another cylinder then you know the ignition coil is bad.

[@cooperferre4990]

I have the exact same Wolfsburg 2013 with the plaid bucket seats and all and I have the exact same problem and I just hit 70k miles, did you also recently have to replace you vacuum pump? Cuz I did

[@RaindeerDesign]

To my knowledge no. I've had new spark plugs, ignition coils, and fuel injectors. Maybe I should check on my vacuum pump too. I'm at 71,000 miles now and haven't had problems since I did the injectors last spring.

[@jbac5767]

I'm praying this is what's wrong. Just started blinking but stopped today. Sounds and feels like misfires and I've had the same problem in a vw before.

[@RaindeerDesign]

The spark plugs are a good place to start if it's chugging constantly. I hope that's the problem too so it's an easy fix. My car has had issues with carbon build up which was the root cause to my troubles. Good luck with yours. I hope it gets fixed soon!

[@jbac5767]

@@RaindeerDesign Be real though please...IF it's carbon build up....Engine or head teardown??? Be real. Please.

[@jbac5767]

I figured change the iridium plugs and Ignition coil then possibly fuel pump in the backseat

[@RaindeerDesign]

@@jbac5767 For me after I did spark plugs and coils it worked for a couple months. Engine light came again and I ran my ODB, came back as misfire again. I drove with the light on for about three weeks because it ran smooth still. After that time it started chugging again but it was off and on. Sometimes it'd run smooth but then it'd randomly start chugging so I'd turn the car off and back on then it was smooth. If that's happening then yes a fuel issue. For me when I took it into my local VW dealer I was told I needed injectors. I did this process twice (crappy service :( ) and then the second time they did injectors I requested a carbon cleaning and since you can do that while doing injectors it helped me save money. Since that time in April I had it carbon cleaned and the injectors, I've been driving about 40 highway miles a day and have been doing an Italian Tune up style driving here and there too. This has been helping me a lot as I haven't issues since April which is when I had it in for injectors and carbon cleaning.

[@RaindeerDesign]

@@jbac5767 If carbon cleaning you have to remove the black manifold right in front and some pieces in front of it but other than that you gain access to the valves to clean them up. Then Italian Tune up, which is basically driving it hard and also highway miles help a lot too.

[@luisdelta6879]

Missfire cylinder 4 code, replace coil pack and sparks ,also pcv valve and still on my check engine light. Gti 2013 mk6

[@RaindeerDesign]

For me, after I replaced my spark plugs and coil packs I later had to do fuel injectors. They were getting plugged up so I also had to do a carbon cleaning. After doing those things I haven't had any problems.

[@jangoooo]

The misfiring in your car isnt from your coil pack. {i thought the same when i replaced mine} but these tsi engines have an issue with carbon build up in the engines and needs cleaning out or the car given a good 30miles on the motorway at high revs/speed.

[@RaindeerDesign]

You're correct. Carbon is the root cause to the issues I found that out and have since not had an issue.

[@speedbug_9017]

How do you fix a carbon build up ?

[@RaindeerDesign]

@@speedbug_9017 A driving solution is an Italian tune up, basically have fun with higher rpms and you can drive at 3-5 thousand rpm and hold it in that range. The idea is to get enough heat in the engine to break up carbon deposits so they get sent out the exhaust. Also a carbon cleaning is a good idea too.

[@larryjacobsjr6049]

How ironic but it didnt help we have a 2010 gti 6 speed manual and we put new coils and spark plugs but it still runs very bad we dont know what else it could be could you give an suggestion?

[@ChampagneDream]

I would try a new fuel filter and fuel pump. Also I recommend r8 coils because when I had a different branded one, it led to way more rough idle to stalls.

[@ChampagneDream]

If the problem continues, you may need to buy a new throttle body

[@larryjacobsjr6049]

@@ChampagneDream Okay, Thanks for your advice!

[@RaindeerDesign]

Next stop would be either valves need to be cleaned or fuel injectors. You can do both at the same time because its under the exhaust manifold. Mine needed fuel injectors a while after I did the spark plugs and coils

[@ChampagneDream]

@@larryjacobsjr6049 I think I finally solved the problem 900$ later, replaced the EMC, Boost pressure sensor and breather hose... So far, no more EPC issue

[@nathangardner8183]

:( same

[@RaindeerDesign]

I'm sorry to hear your car isn't doing well. I hope it will be better soon as it was not a fun time for me. It's been good for a long time now so it gets better.

[@paveljakl]

I just spend $330 at mechanic shop to fix epc on my gti..

[@RaindeerDesign]

Ooof, definitely not a fun experience.

[@RaindeerDesign]

I hope the car is well now and last a very long time!

[@paveljakl]

Its running great he change coils spark plugs and air filter..

[@RaindeerDesign]

@@paveljakl Awesome! Glad to hear it's running well now!

[@paveljakl]

@@RaindeerDesign 👍