Bad coil or coils?

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moe42171

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Other day I stopped at a stop light and my 06LS died. Would start and immediately die. Fifth try and everything was fine. This morning drive 8 hours to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ran fine until we got into stop and go traffic. Started idling rough and shaking. Pulled into a parking lot just in time for it to die. Same thing. Started and died. After about 5 minutes I started it and revved it for a while and it came out of it. I have read enough on here to know the coils are known to fail often and I think people say replace them all. Is this where I should start and should I replace all 8? First of course I hope it makes it home! Should I be concerned about it not making it home? Car has 96K on it. Thanks.
 
Well, it's possible (even probable), but there may be more to it than just that.

If (okay, when) you do replace the COPs, be sure to use Motorcraft, all new spark plugs, and verify/set the gap at 1.0mm.

I'd also check for any intake air leaks and also check the MAF sensor to make sure it is clean. Do you have the stock intake? Make sure it is correctly locked down over the filter everywhere. I'd also check the electrical system voltage in case the alternator is going south...
 
Thanks Joe. I respect your opinion on here a lot. I doubt I will do this work myself as I am just not that familiar with it other than doing plugs. The previous owner told me he did plugs right before I bought it 18 months ago. What should I expect to pay if I hire it out? Also, your thoughts on attempting an 8 hour drive home with 3 teenage girls?
 
Thanks Joe. I respect your opinion on here a lot. I doubt I will do this work myself as I am just not that familiar with it other than doing plugs. The previous owner told me he did plugs right before I bought it 18 months ago. What should I expect to pay if I hire it out? Also, your thoughts on attempting an 8 hour drive home with 3 teenage girls?
 
Dealers charge too much for such a simple job. A good independent might give you a fair price, but a bad independent might do serious damage. How do you know which is which, especially if you don't know the area well? Anyway, I would say parts + 10% + up to two hours labor.

I'd done an 8 hour + drive with two teenagers (boy and girl). I don't think I could do it with three teen girls, unless they all had mobile devices to keep them occupied.
 
Ha ha. They do and I had a DVD system installed. I meant more along the lines of taking the drive home period with the Car having done this twice now? I know a couple decent independents where I live.
 
I have to disagree with Joe on one thing, I would take it by a dealer for a diagnostic. Shouldn't cost more than 100 bucks and they should be tell you exactly what is wrong with the car.

So far as the trip, unless you're running through populated areas I think I'd get another vehicle to haul the kids in. You don't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of freaked out teenagers.
 
Made it home and had no problems. Not sure if I should just change the plugs and coils to get it over with after this happened twice. I have another trip this week so maybe I should rather then risk it. Found a video on youtube and it looks pretty simple
 
I would try and get it diagnosed before throwing parts at it. While COPs are a known issue it is not a definite fix. As mentioned check the battery/cables. Mine had a corroded negative terminal and I replaced the whole negative cable with a larger gauge. These cars do weird things when not getting proper current.
 
moe42171 said:
Thanks Joe. I respect your opinion on here a lot. I doubt I will do this work myself as I am just not that familiar with it other than doing plugs. The previous owner told me he did plugs right before I bought it 18 months ago. What should I expect to pay if I hire it out? Also, your thoughts on attempting an 8 hour drive home with 3 teenage girls?
Click to expand...

Okay, so he replaced plugs and not coils?

How many miles does your 06 have? I am betting coils for sure, might as well toss in new plugs too for a fresh start.
 
Car has 96K. Bought it with 82K. I was unaware of the coil issues at the time of buying the car. I remember he said plugs for sure. No big deal to replace them again anyway. The coils I linked above are correct?
 
moe42171 said:
... The coils I linked above are correct?
Click to expand...

They could be.
The listing title gives the old coil part number. The label in the picture gives the new part number, but doesn't show the rev. The part number on the coil in the picture is different from the label or the title, but it appears to be one of the correct ones too.
The price is not much less than the $50 from on-line Ford dealers, but it does have free shipping (which they don't).
 
I emailed the seller and all looks legit on the coils. Seems like a pretty straightt forward job to change them and the plugs so may just go ahead do it. In other exciting news my 16 year old daughter wrecked/totaled my 08 Cobalt last night a month after getting her license. Everyone is OK at least.
 
you must make sure to replace the plugs AT THE SAME TIME as the coils...

a bad plug will kill a good coil, just like a bad coil will kill a good plug... replacing one with out the other is pretty much exactly like doing noting excepts for that it cost more than doing nothing.



also a couple of quick thoughts...
anytime a coil is having a problem, its like a 10x times greater chance of a problem getting misdiagnosed as something else.

also if this is an occasional problem and doesn't happen every time, there is a damn good chance that no problem will be found with their standard diagnostic fee... they will just tell you that they couldn't find anything wrong or that you're gonna need a whole lot of further testing to figure it out.


if it was me, I would replace all the coils, plugs, and the fuel filter (if it hasn't been recently replaced, or ever...) then if the problem still persist, then I would take it in knowing with certainty that wasn't the problem.
nothing would suck worse than taking you car to the dealer and they tell you this is the problem, and you replace it and the same thing happens, then you take it back and they say that is bad, so you replace it but the problems still remains... all just to find out you threw a couple of thousand wort of parts at a car that just needed coils.

let us not forget page one of the LS repair manual, what ever the symptom is, replace coils and plugs and start trouble shooting over...
 
That is my plan. I am going to do coils and plugs soon. I did change the fuel filter myself about a year ago. Thanks everyone for their input.
 
Happened for the 3rd time last night. Came off the highway, came to a stop sign and it died. Kind of the same thing all 3 times. This time I couldn't get it going. Started it and sometimes could keep it going for a while real rough until it died, but couldn't move it. Had to have it towed home. Unless someone can give me a better idea I am going to order new OEM coils and get some new plugs later today.
 
Something you might do while waiting for the new coils and plugs to come in, make sure the previous owner didn't have something electrical installed incorrectly in the car, or have something removed incorrectly. Some folks have had weird problems that were traced to an aftermarket alarm, for example, including intermittent stalling. I've also heard of folks installing amplifiers without bothering with fuses, then removing the amp when they sell the car by just pulling the wiring off the amp and leaving their farked up wiring in place.
 
There is an old bluetooth thing in there that I believe was installed aftermarket but I have had the car since Feb of 2014 and it just started this stuff less than a month ago. I had a total new stereo system installed professionally but again that was 13 months ago and they also installed new bluetooth stuff so I know that old one is not being used. Joe mentioned the alternator above and that has me thinking. He also mentioned the MAF sensor which before I looked into it today I had no idea what it was. Coils, alternator and MAF sensor will all allow the car to start and die instantly? If I give it gas sometimes I can keep it on and running rough for up to 30 seconds.
 
I wouldn't think that was the alt (assuming the charging light is not on with is a dead give away that you probably have alt problems) wasn't the problem unless it was failing and leaking AC voltage and that was interfering with the computers.

the maf, coils and plugs, and the fuel system would be the top things I would suspect above all else.
 
Cleaning the MAF looks simple enough and cheap so will try that first.. I did get a check charging system when I was trying to get it running but that was after trying to get it going many times and the battery was dying.
 
I think I'd remove the old Bluetooth thing then, and inspect the work done by the stereo installer. And, all it takes to be a professional installer is to be paid to install. It doesn't mean they're any good. I once paid a company to install an alarm in a car back before I learned to not let others work on my stuff, and later had to go under the dash to install something else. The job they did was horrible! The thing is, these cars are more sensitive to crap electrical work than most other cars. Something to think about.
 
I can't believe it but I cleaned that MAF sensor today and after charging the battery, the car fired right up. I am far from a mechanic but I am skeptical because it seems to easy, especially because things don't usually go this well for me. Is it possible that this is all it took?
 
well there have been a couple of people that couldn't get their car to run right at all, took the MAF out and there was a bug on the wire was the only problem...

so I'd say that it is a possibility that could be all that's wrong.
 
1LoudLS said:
well there have been a couple of people that couldn't get their car to run right at all, took the MAF out and there was a bug on the wire was the only problem...

so I'd say that it is a possibility that could be all that's wrong.
Click to expand...

Yep, I'm one of those people.
 
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