Had to change the one's on my 2002 Ford Escape 3.0L . They made it to about 50,000 miles and started dying.
Ever bought/changed a coil pack?
- Thread starter ZZman
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Had one blow on my prius that had the proper Denso Iridium plugs with ~5k miles on them. Shut the car down! I had about half a mile of electric-only travel before I coasted to the shoulder.
Darn car didn't even try to run on 3 cylinders for more than a couple seconds.
I carry spares now.
Darn car didn't even try to run on 3 cylinders for more than a couple seconds.
I carry spares now.
Maintained several vehicles from the 60's to present. Never changed a coil until about 2 months ago on my son's Cadillac CTs. Coil on plug.
Replaced 1 coil (not really a coil pack) on my Integra at around 190k, so far so good at 265k. Replaced the whole distributor on my Corolla at 240k, so far so good at 270k.
My other cars didn't need coil pack or individual coil over plug change yet at less than 150k.
My other cars didn't need coil pack or individual coil over plug change yet at less than 150k.
Had two drop out separated by a year on a Ford 5.4 liter pickup.
had to replace the pair on my Y2k Sonata. one of them was going bad..would buck intermittently.. found a hyundai board, it was a common issue, and their descriptions fit my symptoms exactly.
went to local autozone, they only had one coil in stock, the other AZ across town had another in stock. bought it, changed it in the parking lot, drove across town to the other store, bought the other one changed it in their parking lot.
car ran smooth as silk.
This was on a 2.4l 4ycl. it was COP, but only 2 packs, waste spark system. this was back in...2007? car had around 70-80k mi. the down side was that the coils cost $70/ea.(now $83)
and the "duralast" coils I bought, looked dang near identical to the OE ones i took off. even made in Korea.
went to local autozone, they only had one coil in stock, the other AZ across town had another in stock. bought it, changed it in the parking lot, drove across town to the other store, bought the other one changed it in their parking lot.
car ran smooth as silk.
This was on a 2.4l 4ycl. it was COP, but only 2 packs, waste spark system. this was back in...2007? car had around 70-80k mi. the down side was that the coils cost $70/ea.(now $83)
and the "duralast" coils I bought, looked dang near identical to the OE ones i took off. even made in Korea.
Originally Posted by GMBoy
In the old days of carbs it was common for the coils to last maybe 50-60k miles before needing to replace it. Those were just cheap cylinder oil filled styles...
I never had one of those fail internally. However, I did have to replace the one on my Mazda at over 500k, because its insulation around the high-voltage terminal was damaged by arcing after the original attached cable (to the distributor) lost continuity at the coil end. That replacement could've been avoided if I'd noticed the faulty cable earlier.
In the old days of carbs it was common for the coils to last maybe 50-60k miles before needing to replace it. Those were just cheap cylinder oil filled styles...
I never had one of those fail internally. However, I did have to replace the one on my Mazda at over 500k, because its insulation around the high-voltage terminal was damaged by arcing after the original attached cable (to the distributor) lost continuity at the coil end. That replacement could've been avoided if I'd noticed the faulty cable earlier.
An oft overlooked part of the coil over packs is adding a nice coating of dielectric grease into them upon install. Without that stuff the boot can get contaminated and wet and start arcing across the boot instead of the electrode. Forget those little squeeze packs at AZ ...get a big tube and apply liberally.
Originally Posted by eljefino
Had one blow on my prius that had the proper Denso Iridium plugs with ~5k miles on them. Shut the car down! I had about half a mile of electric-only travel before I coasted to the shoulder.
Darn car didn't even try to run on 3 cylinders for more than a couple seconds. ...
Hmm ... Leaving you stranded in the boondocks? Any difficulty locating the problem coil?
Mine has had no problems of that sort, so far.
Had one blow on my prius that had the proper Denso Iridium plugs with ~5k miles on them. Shut the car down! I had about half a mile of electric-only travel before I coasted to the shoulder.
Darn car didn't even try to run on 3 cylinders for more than a couple seconds. ...
Hmm ... Leaving you stranded in the boondocks? Any difficulty locating the problem coil?
Mine has had no problems of that sort, so far.
I replaced all six TWICE on the 1999 Infiniti I30 that my dad gave my daughter. The engine is the same 3.0L V6 found on similar vintage Maximas. I wish I had done more research before going with aftermarket coils because they still tripped the CEL. I ended up finding a set of six Nissan OEM coils on eBay for $260 and the issue was resolved.
Kestas
Staff member
I've seen the maintenance schedule for a BMW X5. They recommend the coils be changed out at 100K.
Never had to on my Toyotas or the Honda, about 460K combined mileage between 3 vehicles. I replace the plugs on schedule and put a little silicone dialectric on them at the first plug change.
Originally Posted by beanoil
Chrysler T&C, failed coil on the rear bank gave a CEL. Had all plugs and pack replaced, repair shop said all other coils tested fine. I don't know how coils are tested, took their word on it. And I wasn't going to be the one digging into the rear bank. A man needs to know his limits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSMUkNhIbi0
https://www.motor.com/magazinepdfs/072001_06.pdf
Current ramping is a common method used to test ignition coils.
Chrysler T&C, failed coil on the rear bank gave a CEL. Had all plugs and pack replaced, repair shop said all other coils tested fine. I don't know how coils are tested, took their word on it. And I wasn't going to be the one digging into the rear bank. A man needs to know his limits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSMUkNhIbi0
https://www.motor.com/magazinepdfs/072001_06.pdf
Current ramping is a common method used to test ignition coils.
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
Dad and I changed the single coil on his 69 Galaxy 500 , 302 cid engine , maybe in the 1970's ?
I've been involved in 2 failures of old style single coils, well 3 actually.
My friend had just bought his first car, a 1953 Chev from his uncle. Took a number of us for a ride. After 5 miles or so the car suddenly lost power and died. It would start again and go for maybe a hundred yards or so, then die again. He called his father from a nearby farm house. His father was a pretty good mechanic and immediately suspected a coil failure. It being Sunday he couldn't get a new coil so he took one off another old Chev. And exactly the same thing happened. We all thought it must not be the coil, but it was. Both coils were defective. So does that count as 1 or 2 coil failures?
In the other case my '65 Comet 289 ci V8 left us on the road in a very dangerous situation, 40 miles from home on a very busy 2 lane highway with no shoulders, in hilly country. Same sort of thing - loss of power in this case going up a hill with a stall or almost a stall. Starts again and goes for a mile or two and the same thing happens. Runs fine without load. We made it to a country service station where the owner let me do a tune up in the back corner using my own tools and supplies - cleaned and regapped the plugs, changed the points and condenser, and tried it again. [I suppose the real benefit was that everything had a chance to cool off.] Anyway that got us most of the way home before it started again though not quite as bad this time as we were pretty much out of the hills. Although I strongly suspected the coil was the problem I had lost confidence in the car, and that was it for the Comet.
Dad and I changed the single coil on his 69 Galaxy 500 , 302 cid engine , maybe in the 1970's ?
I've been involved in 2 failures of old style single coils, well 3 actually.
My friend had just bought his first car, a 1953 Chev from his uncle. Took a number of us for a ride. After 5 miles or so the car suddenly lost power and died. It would start again and go for maybe a hundred yards or so, then die again. He called his father from a nearby farm house. His father was a pretty good mechanic and immediately suspected a coil failure. It being Sunday he couldn't get a new coil so he took one off another old Chev. And exactly the same thing happened. We all thought it must not be the coil, but it was. Both coils were defective. So does that count as 1 or 2 coil failures?
In the other case my '65 Comet 289 ci V8 left us on the road in a very dangerous situation, 40 miles from home on a very busy 2 lane highway with no shoulders, in hilly country. Same sort of thing - loss of power in this case going up a hill with a stall or almost a stall. Starts again and goes for a mile or two and the same thing happens. Runs fine without load. We made it to a country service station where the owner let me do a tune up in the back corner using my own tools and supplies - cleaned and regapped the plugs, changed the points and condenser, and tried it again. [I suppose the real benefit was that everything had a chance to cool off.] Anyway that got us most of the way home before it started again though not quite as bad this time as we were pretty much out of the hills. Although I strongly suspected the coil was the problem I had lost confidence in the car, and that was it for the Comet.
Originally Posted by CR94
Originally Posted by eljefino
Had one blow on my prius that had the proper Denso Iridium plugs with ~5k miles on them. Shut the car down! I had about half a mile of electric-only travel before I coasted to the shoulder.
Darn car didn't even try to run on 3 cylinders for more than a couple seconds. ...
Hmm ... Leaving you stranded in the boondocks? Any difficulty locating the problem coil?
Mine has had no problems of that sort, so far.
Not the boondocks but it was 5:15 in the morning and I had to call my wife to come get me which cost me "karma points".
I returned in my spare vehicle with a scan tool, 10mm wrench, flashlight, and spare part from my stash. Was only 20 minutes late to work.
Then I rode my motorized bicycle to retrieve my spare vehicle when I got back home. All tied up in a neat messy little bow.
I had my 2azfe camry pop a coil but it at least ran on 3 with a blinking CEL. Switched out my spare coil on that thing by starting at cyl 1 and moving one-at-a-time until it ran good.
Originally Posted by eljefino
Had one blow on my prius that had the proper Denso Iridium plugs with ~5k miles on them. Shut the car down! I had about half a mile of electric-only travel before I coasted to the shoulder.
Darn car didn't even try to run on 3 cylinders for more than a couple seconds. ...
Hmm ... Leaving you stranded in the boondocks? Any difficulty locating the problem coil?
Mine has had no problems of that sort, so far.
Not the boondocks but it was 5:15 in the morning and I had to call my wife to come get me which cost me "karma points".
I returned in my spare vehicle with a scan tool, 10mm wrench, flashlight, and spare part from my stash. Was only 20 minutes late to work.
Then I rode my motorized bicycle to retrieve my spare vehicle when I got back home. All tied up in a neat messy little bow.
I had my 2azfe camry pop a coil but it at least ran on 3 with a blinking CEL. Switched out my spare coil on that thing by starting at cyl 1 and moving one-at-a-time until it ran good.
I've only replaced one coil and that was on a friend's '86 VW Golf. It was severely corroded.
Why do BMWs seem to need them so often? Poor quality?
Why do BMWs seem to need them so often? Poor quality?
I've only ever had to change one, it was on my '04 Odyssey. One day it just up and quit, engine started misfiring on cylinder 5. Picked up a used one on Ebay for less than $10 shipped, cheaper than the junkyard. Still runs good 50k later.
Replaced all 8 COP packs on a 2004 F150 with the 5.4. I know 2 were bad, (misfire followed the coil), and the others were on their way out I am sure.
On my '02 F150, original COP with almost 200,000 miles on them, but the boots and springs were replaced @ 170,000 miles.
On my '02 F150, original COP with almost 200,000 miles on them, but the boots and springs were replaced @ 170,000 miles.
Originally Posted by ZZman
Am I lucky or are some vehicles just prone to having them fail?
Some cars have wear items which wear out sooner, and more often. A lot of factors.
Some people change everything all at once. Spark plugs, wires, ignition coil packs, coil-over-plug... do it all at once as part of maintenance. Some people wait, and chase the misfire. Same way some people replace thermostats, belts, hoses, water pumps - as maintenance. Instead of waiting for a belt to break, a hose to rupture, a thermostat to get stuck, or a water pump to stop working. Where someone else can say that they've never had to change a thermostat.
Am I lucky or are some vehicles just prone to having them fail?
Some cars have wear items which wear out sooner, and more often. A lot of factors.
Some people change everything all at once. Spark plugs, wires, ignition coil packs, coil-over-plug... do it all at once as part of maintenance. Some people wait, and chase the misfire. Same way some people replace thermostats, belts, hoses, water pumps - as maintenance. Instead of waiting for a belt to break, a hose to rupture, a thermostat to get stuck, or a water pump to stop working. Where someone else can say that they've never had to change a thermostat.
I have a Ford truck with coil on plug ignition. Of course I have ! Every 12 to 18 months and I always have spares. Even more frustrating is that these things don't set a check engine light!
Originally Posted by Linctex
My uncle's 2001 F150 4.6 liter would kill the furthest forward one (on the passenger side) with regularity....
We never could figure out why.
My 2008 F150 4.6 has never had one fail with 192,000 miles on it.
I kept losing the drivers rear coil on mine. Eventually narrowed it down to a missing hood seal and water dripping on it
Originally Posted by Linctex
My uncle's 2001 F150 4.6 liter would kill the furthest forward one (on the passenger side) with regularity....
We never could figure out why.
My 2008 F150 4.6 has never had one fail with 192,000 miles on it.
I kept losing the drivers rear coil on mine. Eventually narrowed it down to a missing hood seal and water dripping on it
