Broke ignition coil connector while changing plugs

[BuckeyeBrass]

So I was changing all the plugs, and looking for any oil soaked coils, when I came across the connector for coil pack 4. It seems that the little clip which keeps the two pieces together was broken, so at some point a creative mechanic used some type of glue to secure the two together. I tried to push the coil part out without damaging the connector, but it was so brittle it just fell apart. Looks like I will be getting a new one and just splicing it in right there.

BTW, there was a little bit of oil on just the threads of all of the plugs.

 

[Gary Vogeler]

How do you plan to splice the wires?

 

[BuckeyeBrass]

I found a connector with wires attached. I was just going to cut the old one off at the harness right by the heat shrink pictured, then solder the new one on (More heat shrink of course), followed by electrical tape. I would prefer replacing the whole harness and all four clips if it came as a whole plug-n-play assembly, but that does not appear to be the case.

 

[cammerfe]

You may well find out that they're very fine-gauge wires. Hope you have a steady hand with the soldering iron.

KS

 

[Gary Vogeler]

Solder with heatshrink tubing is the way to go but I would recommend double heatshrink tubing over the heatshrink with electrical tape. If the heatshrink does its job, the tape will serve little purpose except to introduce possible contaminates. Electrical tape and heat do not go together well. The adhesive is not intended for hot environments.

To cammers point, be careful in stripping the wire. You don't want to nick the wire or break off too many strands and introduce a weak point that will lead to a break someday.

Squirrels ate some of the soy based wiring to engine sensors on my old 09 Explorer. Solder and double heatshrink has held up well over the past 5+ years (family member now has it).

 

[BuckeyeBrass]

It went well, I think. My soldering is not perfect, but it gets the job done. The car shifted smoothly, even up hills.

I ended up replacing this number 4 coil because the connector was destroyed. I also replaced number 8 because the plug looked a little worse than the others. All 8 plugs were replaced.

I misread Gary's post about using two layers of heat shrink. I will probably just end up using tape like the other side.

 

[Gary Vogeler]

Looks like that will work.

Sounds like you had misfires similar to mine. My random misfired would occur more frequently when the engine heated up under extended loads. Going up the 75 cut in the hill out of Covington in 3rd or 4th to stay in the power band was the most frequent location. Misfires would start about 2/3 of the way up the hill. New coils resolved the issue.

Not like we don't have a lot of hills around here to pull.