Lost a coil or two?

[Ziggy]

I've been noticing a steady decline in fuel economy over the last several tanks of fuel, then Friday all of a sudden, my car developed a miss under light throttle. The miss has gotten worse over the last 40 miles, but still no check engine light. So, I've looked on Rock Auto, and the Motorcraft coils are $52 each. There is a more cost effective option at about $13 each, but if I have to replace them two or three times as often, the cost savings isn't there. What say you, Panther gurus?

[Dereck]

Hi Ziggy

I put Delco coils in my Excursion They were a little cheaper than the Ford ones and I figured the same quality, 5000 miles later no problems.

Regards

Dereck

[Piece-it pete]

GM in Ford? Tsk, tsk :P

Zig I wouldn't go with the super cheapies.

This guy says he has 7, if I was needing them I'd be watching it close: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Ford-Mot...a06828&vxp=mtr

Pete

[sly]

double check that all coils are actually bolted down. I've heard of some bolts coming loose and allowing the coils to flop. The coil should still have slight play with the bolt tight though, so don't crank down like a mad man.

[gadget73]

make sure the plug well is clear of any fluids or otherwise too. They will miss and generally run like poo with water in there.

If a coil is bad, it should set a misfire code on some cylinder. The quick and easy test for a bad coil is to move that coil to another cylinder and see if the problem moves with it. Most of the big chain stores will read codes for free and the coil takes only minutes to swap around.

[Ziggy]

I have access to a scan tool at work, so I can get it hooked up on a machine and pull any codes that may be lingering just under the threshold for setting a light. I know when I replaced the intake manifold a couple months ago, I broke some of the brittle clips that plug into the coils, but I've had absolutely no trouble with it at all until just the other day, and every time I've driven it since Friday evening (three times now), it has gotten noticably worse. I'm sure I've got a coild dropping out, but I have no idea how to identify which one. Is there any reason beyond skepticism of the quality of the cheapies that I should avoid them?

I'll pull the coils and check the wells for fluid when I get a chance. I hate it when my car is sick!

[79lincolnlover]

In many cases, cheap price=cheap quality.

[Ziggy]

Pulled and replaced the plugs yesterday. All 8 plugs were reading a gap of .076-.080. I'm certain they're original to the car with 158k on them. Unfortunately, my miss didn't go away with new plugs. I'm sure that a coil has dropped out. Runs pretty smooth at idle, but the miss becomes more pronounced under load. It actually was bad enough to flash the check engine light. I'm going to hook up my scan tool and see if she'll tell me which cylinder is cutting out.

[Ziggy]

BTW, the proper gap according to Ford is .054-.056. Been doing some research on the Ultrapower FD503 Angled Plug Ignition Coils, and I've only been able to find one or two bad reviews. Overwhelmingly, the reviews are positive, though the do all use the qualifier "for the price"... I'm going to borrow the scanner from work today and try to get this thing sorted out. Maybe buy a couple of the cheap coils, replace the one that is bad, and hold the other as a spare.

[sly]

if it is a coil... don't go cheap... those will die. Get a decent one.

[SVT98t]

There is a resistance check for coil packs. I'm not sure what it is. But I know one does exists and I do not have the range for limits.
Poo.
These things are notorious for water in the pack. A little WD-40 in there will help things out.


-ryan s.

[Ziggy]

Scan tool says... Cylinder 8 misfire. I'm ordering a new coil tonight. I know I've been cautioned against going cheap, but frankly, I can get two of the cheap coils for less than the cost of one of the "good" ones, so that's what I'm going to do. If they're crappy and they suck, then I'll only be out about $30, and I'll have the second one as a back up until I can get another. If they're pretty okay, I'll have the second one as a back up for when the next one inevitably goes out.

[Ziggy]

Bought the cheapie ignition coils from Rock Auto, got them in the mail yesterday. Quick 10 minute swap of the #8 coil, and fired her up. Took a second for the plug to start firing cleanly, but she smoothed out and seems to be back to the picture of health again! I'll let you all know if/when this new coil fails. Here's hoping for a nice long life!

[Ziggy]

Still hitting on all 8 cylinders, last tank of gas netted me a more respectable 18.4 MPG. Need to change the air and fuel filters next. Cheapie coil is still hitting strong, and yes, I know, it has only been 10 days.

[sly]

if it survives rains and other nutso weather... or getting splashed... it'll probably last past 6 months.