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12 Golf R Cylinder 4 Misfire

SacandagaR

New member
Hi all - looking for some assistance on a cylinder 4 misfire that has been reoccurring throughout my troubleshooting today.

Background:
Car is a 2012 Golf R, bone stock with 78,000 miles on it. Oil changes every 6-7,000 miles. Otherwise maintenance is moderate but maybe not to the book.

Problem:
Thursday night, stop for gas about 1/2 way home through my 45 mile commute. Shortly thereafter I attempt to accelerate in 6th gear from 2 to 3,000 rpm. Car bogs a bit, engine starts to shake and MIL flashes. I take it easy the rest of the home trying to shift to keep the car at about 3,000 rpm without excessive load which was where it seemed to want to live. Left it in the driveway Friday.

Troubleshooting:
Saturday scan it with cheap OBDII reader. Shows P0300, P0301 and P0304. Clear the codes and start the car. Idles fine, take it for a short drive. Runs fine except for heavy acceleration/load (almost to complete WOT) from 2-3k rpm. I induced the MIL again to get another code. Shows only P0304, cylinder 4 misfire.
I switched the coil packs between 4 and 3. Misfire occurred at the same condition and remained consistent at cylinder 4.
I pulled the plug on cylinder 4 and it looked OK but I replaced it with a new NGK BRK7EIX. Cleared the MIL, took if for another drive, same condition and code, misfire at cylinder 4. At this point it seems coil packs and plugs are not the issue. Unfortunate because those were easy hitters.
I plan to grab the compression tester tomorrow and run a sanity check on the cylinders.

Help Request:
Anyone else had this issue of solid running car at idle, revs freely, and only misfires under wide open throttle, heavy load condition?
Thoughts on other issues I haven't checked yet?
My next considerations are injector issue or carbon buildup issues. Any thoughts on those?
I considered the O2 sensor but don't see why that wouldn't throw an additional code (like my Passat had) or why it wouldn't affect other cylinders.

Apologize for the long post but wanted to put everything on the table as I'm scratching my head here since I feel like I've hit the easy stuff. Thanks for any insight you can provide.
 

light-spigot!

New member
bad wire or connector on cyl 4 ?
 

HYDE161

Go Kart Champion
At this point it's an injector at that mileage.

You swapped plugs which could have gotten rid of a bad gap, although did you properly gap the new NGK plugs to 0.028". They never come gapped the same from the factory, even in a 4-pack. Re-gap to ensure equality.

Perform a compression test and/or leak down test for peace of mind at this mileage but I believe it's an injector: http://myfastgti.com/volkswagen/threads/15465-Cylinder-2-Misfire
 

SacandagaR

New member
Is there any way to test the injector or verify what it's doing during the misfire without pulling the manifold and then pulling the injector?
 
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