I'm in a bind and I'm open to any suggestions.
Had a problem with a cylinder misfiring about a year ago. Would through the check engine light about once every week or so and cause the car to stall out. It would run fine and then out of no where it would start stalling and the check light would be going on and off. A weird stall, where attempting to accelerate would cause greater stalling. I would simply have to ease off the gas, pull over and let it pass. (most times were random but shifting gears to quickly would trigger the light and the stalling and also I found that if it rained a lot one night the next morning it would run so ragged when started. Colder weather increased the odds of it failing as well.)

Back when all of this was going on I wasn't making as much money as I needed so the budget gave me no other option than to start with the least expensive part (the plugs) and take it one step at a time. I bought OEM replacement plugs, checked the gap and installed them. Nothing happened really for at least a week and a half to two weeks. At random one day the check light came on and then I started stalling and bucking a bit and then back to normal. I put up with that and tried to be as careful as possible until it got to be too bad. I had to go back home and get the coil and the wires on my charge account at NAPA Auto Parts and stopped by my dads to install it all. The coil went in without a hitch, the wires were a pain in the ass, fishing them through the little channel they all were ran through. My dad was giving me a hand getting the wires on so I could head on back to my home and through poor communication we fucked up the number 4 wire. I had already snapped the wire onto the plug and my dad was pulling it back to run it over something instead of under and when he pulled on it the cable itself broke. So new plugs, new coil, 3/4 new wires. The car since then has ran great every day but the check engine light is very relentless.

It's well past time I got to the point. I haven't had a ticket in years. Got one recently because my tags had expired. I thought I would have it fixed by my court date, but I ended up having to continue it. I can't get my tags renewed without passing inspection. I can't pass inspection with this damned Check Engine light being on. I thought that I could explain the issue but show the car runs fine never the less... no luck. Then I wondered if I could beat it. I wondered whether I could get near the place that was to inspect my car, unhook my battery long enough to reset and when I hook the batt back up I'd rush it on in there and since the "Light" wouldn't be showing on the dash yet maybe it would pass... but I think I found out that it wouldn't just not have a red flag up by the light not being on... it would simply just not be finished checking itself. The inspector would probably say I need to go drive the car around for a certain distance or time before I returned with it.

Anyone have any advice here? I mean I'm pretty sure it's that one old cable that I couldn't replace because we broke the new one. I can't really afford buy another set of plug wires and even if I did, what happens if that isn't the problem... I may still have to pay someone to look at it. I have until early August to handle it so I have some time but I would like to go ahead and get it done. I'm not sure if any of you mechanics on here barter or trade but I have a few items I'm selling on CL...

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ele/2486539526.html <-- I have more shit to add to that list... Comics, baseball cards, knives, tools, books (I may add some of my fishing / camping gear)

It's not set in stone that I have to sell or trade to get this done. I don't mind paying someone if I had to, I would just definitely get the price before the work is done to make sure there is no miscommunication. Thanks for reading this long ass post.

7/10/2011 2:47:12 PM

what's the code?

7/10/2011 6:42:51 PM

I've looked all over and can't find that sheet that printed out. I'm going to have to go back up there and get another one.

I'll get it and post it sometime tomorrow.

I meant to mention my airbag light in the original post but must have left it out once I confirmed that they won't fail you for that. There's never been any other problems with this car except for the stalling and I believe the description for the code was "cylinder # misfire" ? but, my airbag light stays on now too. There's no physical damage and I couldn't find a blown fuse..... (unless it's one of those fuses up by that power distribution block closer to the battery)

7/10/2011 8:16:43 PM

Need the code. beethead is a VW expert.

7/10/2011 8:21:15 PM

Yeah, I'm gonna go get them to run it again tomorrow and I'll post it. Sending pm to beethead.

7/10/2011 8:36:32 PM

How many miles on it? Anything over 100k I would replace the fuel filter to address the stalling issue but if its a single cylinder misfire issue now id check out using one of the old wires if you still have them, even if its not the original wire for that cylinder just to test it. Fuel filter is very easy and relatively cheap with some hand tools and prior research, under the rear passenger seat.

[Edited on July 10, 2011 at 8:54 PM. Reason : .]

7/10/2011 8:51:07 PM

Quote :

"The inspector would probably say I need to go drive the car around for a certain distance or time before I returned with it."

60 miles iirc.

Quote :

"I'm pretty sure it's that one old cable that I couldn't replace because we broke the new one. I can't really afford buy another set of plug wires and even if I did, what happens if that isn't the problem... "

If there is nothing special about the wires I might have one I could give you. I don't know what the wires on that car look like. If it has a rubber boot that extends pretty far down into the head before it clips onto the spark plug the spares I have wouldn't work.

Definitely need the code.

7/11/2011 11:15:29 AM

Jettas are such a great looking ride... I would love to have one, but they are lemons right out of the factory...

Tough break man...

7/11/2011 12:02:51 PM

Quote :

""The inspector would probably say I need to go drive the car around for a certain distance or time before I returned with it.""

There is no exact number of miles really. If you had a higher-end universal scantool you would be able to see exactly when it's ready by looking at each diagnostic monitor. I have seen engines ready for inspection within 10-20 miles. It depends on the drive cycle you perform, the year of the vehicle, and what kind of emissions equipment it has.

7/11/2011 12:26:29 PM

I 'forced' readiness in like 15 minutes with ebay cable and an old version of VAG-COM on an '01 2.7T A6. I tried finding the steps again, but only turned up two threads. One seems like way more work than I had to do and the other seems like way less.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2180286-How-do-you-force-readiness-with-a-VAG-COM

http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/VW/MKIII/VWVortex.com_VW_MKIII_Setting_Emissions_Readiness.pdf

7/11/2011 1:03:38 PM

sorry man, just saw this.

can't do much without the code but if you bring it by the shop, we don't charge to scan codes (but we do charge to diagnose further)

which engine is in this? 2.0?

7/14/2011 8:48:39 AM