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Post by erw38 on Aug 27, 2004 20:55:54 GMT -6
Forgive me if this question is pretty much a no brainer, but because I don't have a brain ;D (or a very small one at that) here it goes. How can I tell if a coil pack has gone bad? Are there telltail signs? Or do I have to replace one and then go down the line to tell if my car is doing anything differently? Thanks  |
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Post by SupaStealth on Aug 27, 2004 23:16:03 GMT -6
well, an easy way to tell if it is sending juice to the spark plug (at least for the front four) is to remove the spark plug and see if its making any spark, just do one at a time and start the car up, if you see spark, everything is good, if you dont, it could either be the coil pack, wires or plug. coil packs should last the life of the car i would think though. anyone feel free to correct me if i have mis-informed.
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Post by Aurora40 on Aug 28, 2004 7:30:44 GMT -6
well, an easy way to tell if it is sending juice to the spark plug (at least for the front four) is to remove the spark plug and see if its making any spark, just do one at a time and start the car up, if you see spark, everything is good, if you dont, it could either be the coil pack, wires or plug. coil packs should last the life of the car i would think though. anyone feel free to correct me if i have mis-informed. If you want to do that, I would get a 9th plug, and just pull the plug wire off and hook it to your extra plug. You don't want to run the engine with a hole to the outside where the sparkplug should go... |
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Post by erw38 on Aug 28, 2004 20:27:52 GMT -6
When I pull a wire, do I put the extra plug in the wire? Should I see a spark?
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Post by Aurora40 on Aug 29, 2004 7:48:16 GMT -6
When I pull a wire, do I put the extra plug in the wire? Should I see a spark? If you were going to do that, then yeah. I'm not sure I'd try that. I'd probably invest in a tool used to tell if a coil is firing. I'd be a little concerned about holding a spark plug in my hand while the engine is running. The coils put out like 50,000 volts. If it were me, I'd probably first just try hooking up my timing light and putting it over each wire (won't measure the timing properly this way) and see if it triggers the timing light at all. I don't know how much current has to flow through a wire to induce the timing light to fire, though, but I'd think a fair amount. |
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Post by Isnibs on Aug 29, 2004 15:53:21 GMT -6
At our local Auto shop they have a 'Spark plug wire tester ', it costs about 18$ Can.
You don't have to disconnect any wires or remove any spark plugs.
With the engine running, connect one wire of the spark tester to the chassis and run the tester along the suspect wire from coil to spark plug. It tests for a good spark from the coil and a break in the wire.
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Post by erw38 on Aug 29, 2004 17:09:33 GMT -6
Thanx Isnibs ;D
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Post by SupaStealth on Aug 29, 2004 17:23:40 GMT -6
I'd be a little concerned about holding a spark plug in my hand while the engine is running. The coils put out like 50,000 volts its not the volts that'd kill ya, its the amperage   oh yeah, i forget about those slick devices for testing spark plug wires and coils. nice work Isnibs ;D |
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Post by hockeydad33 on Sept 2, 2004 20:22:06 GMT -6
It may not kill you but it hurts like rip and makes you hurt yourself trying to drop the plug. I was using a spark plug tester that would check a plug otut of the car but used air to simulate compression and while I was hooking up a plug a gut pushed the button on the sid eof the machine because he wanted to know what it did. It fires the blasted plug. When I could feel my arm again luckily he was gone. Would not recommend holding a plug wire while the car is running.
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