Coil...?

[Orange 94]

Okay here is my story.

So like [MENTION=17070]Tony[/MENTION], if there's something wrong: Replace ball joints.
Its the same with me but with the coil....

If there's anything engine related problem I swap the coil and it seems to go away for a decent length of time. I literally have 2 coils and just swap between them about once every season.My primary connection to the coil has been rewired and no longer causes me problems or comes up as a check engine. I have replaced spark wires too.



Here's what happens to make me swap the coil:
The car will suddenly feel like its really heavy and at a huge lose of power. It will almost refuse going past mid rpm and is extremely slow rising.
Feels like its running on partial engine. So it seems fairly obvious that it is an ignition problem. It did the same thing without the blower as well.


Here's the latest example:
Went for a cruise with a group of people to a car show. I think the drive was about 2 hours? Anyways the car was just recently tuned a couple weeks before, running the best it has ever. Still a little miss and rough on lower rpm, but it has always been like that. We drove for an hour, stopped to regroup. When I started the car back up I immediately knew something was a bit strange, but drove anyways. About 15 mins I was getting annoyed wondering if I was crazy or what. I passed a car and noticed it was very slugish. But I didn't believe myself so i tried again, this time it had nothing it in and felt very very wrong, so I pulled over. My friend pulled over too and said the second time I was blowing smoke really bad. Started it back up, felt funny still. So I check all the connections on the spark plug, coil and even checked to make sure the fuel injectors were snug. Start again and it felt normal. Did a pull and it was completely fine? Drove completely normal til about 10 mins to the car show destination and it started acting up a little again, but not too bad.
Enjoyed the day at the car show.
Then on the way home is was running completely normal, passing cars at full strength. Then just when I got back into the city it started acting up again a little. So I go pissed off and let it sit for the last week of summer.
Last weekend I just swapped the coil and it runs like a dream! Did a couple of pulls and nothing wrong.


So my question is:

Is it possible that I'm over heating the coil with it being mounted so close to the blower?
This is what my dad is thinking, but the blower doesn't get hot with the meth. I've had coil problems before the blower but that may have been related to the primary connection.

With an aftermarket coil could I see any difference?

Something else causing problems?



oh also those who aren't familiar with my setup. 4.2v6 with m112

 

[DeepList]

My 99 v6 did the same thing when I had it. The coil pack was acting up and I had to replace it twice before I got one that was any good. Funny thing was, I could tell there was an issue causing a misfire condition, but the idiot lamp never came on while it was happening. I don't know about it getting hot. :dontknow:

Another thing, when is the last time you changed your fuel filter? Silly as it may sound, if it's partially clogged, it may cause the same symptoms: no engine codes, but loss of power and real sluggish feeling. I'd check the filter and replace it before wasting money on a coil. If anything, it would be good preventative maintenance if you haven't changed it for a while.

Have you cleaned the MAF?

Vacuum hoses all good?

 

[Orange 94]

My 99 v6 did the same thing when I had it. The coil pack was acting up and I had to replace it twice before I got one that was any good. Funny thing was, I could tell there was an issue causing a misfire condition, but the idiot lamp never came on while it was happening. I don't know about it getting hot. :dontknow:

Another thing, when is the last time you changed your fuel filter? Silly as it may sound, if it's partially clogged, it may cause the same symptoms: no engine codes, but loss of power and real sluggish feeling. I'd check the filter and replace it before wasting money on a coil. If anything, it would be good preventative maintenance if you haven't changed it for a while.

Have you cleaned the MAF?

Vacuum hoses all good?

I hate these v6 coils...

The oil filter is decent amount from change time, will be swapped in spring. The filter would make sense, but it completely goes away when I change the coil. So I dont think this is the case for me.



MAF is going to be the next thing for me to try. But like I said, with a swap of the coil it goes away for months.
I think the vacuum hoses are good, but the vacuum system is strangely setup. I haven't got any other indications of a vacuum problem But another thing worth checking.

 

[Orange 94]

I've been thinking the maf may be the cause of my slight low rpm miss. So it's been on my list for awhile now.

 

[RichV]

Where does the coil sit on the V6es? I've never heard of such a thing, on the 94 the coil gets hot in the stock location, but I've never had a miss from it. Swap it out for a aftermarket setup and see how it does.

If your swapping between 2 coils, there's probably not a problem with the coil itself. You could also wrap some heat protective material around it, go for a long drive. Maybe use that gold foil that Cobraposer posted.

 

[Orange 94]

Where does the coil sit on the V6es? I've never heard of such a thing, on the 94 the coil gets hot in the stock location, but I've never had a miss from it. Swap it out for a aftermarket setup and see how it does.

If your swapping between 2 coils, there's probably not a problem with the coil itself. You could also wrap some heat protective material around it, go for a long drive. Maybe use that gold foil that Cobraposer posted.

Well thats a good question on location... on the early 3.8 it goes on the driver side of the intake. I think on the new edge v6s it goes someplace else? I think the 4.2 has another location? Then on the termi it is in another location...
So where to put it... I have it on a bracket close to the supercharger in a similar location where it was N/A.



With the heat it would make sense if it acted up after long drives. But it acts up after months... and it will start randomly.
Would prolonged heat over months cause it to act up? Then why is it okay once it sits for months?

 

[Orange 94]

currently looks like this:
Coil on the driver side of SC

And before:
Coil bolted to side of intake on drivers side.

 

[DeepList]

On the early 3.8 it goes on the driver side of the intake. I think on the new edge v6s it goes someplace else?

On my 99 V6 it was on the driver's side of the intake as well. Actually, I think they moved it sometime halfway through the 2000 production run??? Maybe the same time they decided to change the balancing too??

Half the time when I went to get new plug wires, they'd give me the wrong ones. I'd realize it when I got home and opened the box to find 6 cables that were relatively the same length rather than 3 long wires and 3 shorter wires, like I was supposed to have.

 

[Orange 94]

On my 99 V6 it was on the driver's side of the intake as well. Actually, I think they moved it sometime halfway through the 2000 production run??? Maybe the same time they decided to change the balancing too??

Half the time when I went to get new plug wires, they'd give me the wrong ones. I'd realize it when I got home and opened the box to find 6 cables that were relatively the same length rather than 3 long wires and 3 shorter wires, like I was supposed to have.

I had the same fricking wire problem!!!!
Bought a wire kit. Had 5 wires on and went to put the 6th on and it was waaaaayyy to short! I was pissed. So we measured the length and went back to buy one wire, well you can't buy just one wire.... and we couldnt return the wires... So I have 5 blue wires and one grey wire currently.


So I guess in the spring I have to figure out what to buy the wire kit for...

i hate how I have to figure out what to buy parts for, 4.2 v6? new edge v6? early v6? termi? :deeplist:

 

[CC'S95GT]

When the coil was going out on my 5.0 it would miss in the upper rpm range.
Maybe it's not the coil, since you swap between the same 2. and it may just be the wiring connection or mounting of the coil and it's losing the ground.

 

[RichV]

Change the distributor! j/k

I wonder, if your terminals corrode or just get bad contact after some time. Then when you plug in another coil it cleans the contact for a bit. Have you ever tried putting in some dielectric grease in the electrical plug(s)?

I make it a habit to squirt a little in the female side of the plugs for good contact whenever I disconnect stuff. Just a thought.

 

[Orange 94]

Change the distributor! j/k

I wonder, if your terminals corrode or just get bad contact after some time. Then when you plug in another coil it cleans the contact for a bit. Have you ever tried putting in some dielectric grease in the electrical plug(s)?

I make it a habit to squirt a little in the female side of the plugs for good contact whenever I disconnect stuff. Just a thought.

I put grease on every time. I think its called dielectric grease anyways? I don't remember what it says, I just call it spark plug wire grease, so chances are that's what you're talking about.
I have never seen any signs of corrosion.