Hello everyone,
I'm having some unusual issues with my 2012 Abarth and I'm trying to get to the bottom of what's causing them. The car has 156,000 miles on it at this point, so everything that could need replacing at this age is a possibility (I have owned it since 15,000 miles and have had no major issues until this problem). I am running no mods relating to the engine and it is totally stock when it comes to the motor. There are two main symptoms that I'm having, but everything I've replaced so far isn't solving the problem.
Issue #1 (most concerning problem): some mornings when I start the car, it will run very rough with a noticeable misfire. This morning it started so rough it sounded like a diesel motor trying to start in the cold. It will sometimes smell like permanent marker, but no visible smoke or anything like that (the smell could be a result of fuel system cleaner though, I can't find anything online relating to this). The exhaust smells normal after it's warmed up or during a warm start.
issue #2 (weirder problem, but still concerning): under certain conditions, the car will misfire while driving. It really only happens noticeably on the highway in 4th or 5th gear trying to accelerate. When doing this, I will feel the engine intermittently lose power, and sometimes it will backfire continuously, almost like a small bunch of firecrackers going off together. Oddly though, if you step on the gas in 2nd or 3rd gear when around town, it will pull strong all the way to redline.
With my OBD scanner I am getting codes P0303 (cylinder 3 misfire, it is consistently this cylinder that gives a code), P0440 and P0441. I also recently got a warning to "check fuel cap" and threw a code related to that. I've replaced the fuel cap and the engine code relating to the cap has gone away, but I'm still getting a warning when I start the car to "check fuel cap" (This could be a result of my crappy scanner, It was like $5 from ebay + the torque app)
In an attempt to solve this issue, I have replaced: all spark plugs, ignition coil #3, the air filter, and the fuel cap. My next steps are to run a compression test on all cylinders, double check the spark plug gap in cyl. #3, and maybe replace the injectors or fuel filter. I've also run a full tank of treated gas with fuel system cleaner during continuous highway driving.
so far, my results are intermittent which is really confusing me. Some mornings the car will start great with no noticeable problems. Other times it will start with a misfire and run rough for 10-15 seconds before clearing up and running normal. Driving is mostly normal aside from the misfire on highway acceleration.
Does anyone on this forum have any experience with similar problems? I am a novice mechanic and I'm a little lost at this point. I think the compression test will only confirm there are no issues with certain components, or possibly open up a much bigger can of worms with gasket/valve problems.
Thank you for reading this long post, I appreciate any feedback or experience that anyone could share!
I'm having some unusual issues with my 2012 Abarth and I'm trying to get to the bottom of what's causing them. The car has 156,000 miles on it at this point, so everything that could need replacing at this age is a possibility (I have owned it since 15,000 miles and have had no major issues until this problem). I am running no mods relating to the engine and it is totally stock when it comes to the motor. There are two main symptoms that I'm having, but everything I've replaced so far isn't solving the problem.
Issue #1 (most concerning problem): some mornings when I start the car, it will run very rough with a noticeable misfire. This morning it started so rough it sounded like a diesel motor trying to start in the cold. It will sometimes smell like permanent marker, but no visible smoke or anything like that (the smell could be a result of fuel system cleaner though, I can't find anything online relating to this). The exhaust smells normal after it's warmed up or during a warm start.
issue #2 (weirder problem, but still concerning): under certain conditions, the car will misfire while driving. It really only happens noticeably on the highway in 4th or 5th gear trying to accelerate. When doing this, I will feel the engine intermittently lose power, and sometimes it will backfire continuously, almost like a small bunch of firecrackers going off together. Oddly though, if you step on the gas in 2nd or 3rd gear when around town, it will pull strong all the way to redline.
With my OBD scanner I am getting codes P0303 (cylinder 3 misfire, it is consistently this cylinder that gives a code), P0440 and P0441. I also recently got a warning to "check fuel cap" and threw a code related to that. I've replaced the fuel cap and the engine code relating to the cap has gone away, but I'm still getting a warning when I start the car to "check fuel cap" (This could be a result of my crappy scanner, It was like $5 from ebay + the torque app)
In an attempt to solve this issue, I have replaced: all spark plugs, ignition coil #3, the air filter, and the fuel cap. My next steps are to run a compression test on all cylinders, double check the spark plug gap in cyl. #3, and maybe replace the injectors or fuel filter. I've also run a full tank of treated gas with fuel system cleaner during continuous highway driving.
so far, my results are intermittent which is really confusing me. Some mornings the car will start great with no noticeable problems. Other times it will start with a misfire and run rough for 10-15 seconds before clearing up and running normal. Driving is mostly normal aside from the misfire on highway acceleration.
Does anyone on this forum have any experience with similar problems? I am a novice mechanic and I'm a little lost at this point. I think the compression test will only confirm there are no issues with certain components, or possibly open up a much bigger can of worms with gasket/valve problems.
Thank you for reading this long post, I appreciate any feedback or experience that anyone could share!
