Ignition coils?
- Thread starter DR1
- Start date
I wouldn't risk it.
I bought a set of too-good-to-be-true "Genuine Toyota" coils off Ebay for our trusty old Tundra. Misfire after misfire.
I replaced the originals and all is good in Tundra land...
IMO, this is one time you should use OEM or at least a name brand from a reputable source.
I bought a set of too-good-to-be-true "Genuine Toyota" coils off Ebay for our trusty old Tundra. Misfire after misfire.
I replaced the originals and all is good in Tundra land...
IMO, this is one time you should use OEM or at least a name brand from a reputable source.
OEM or Denso
You will be chasing misfires for years.
Are you having misfires now? I picked up a few OEM Denso coils from a junkyard for $10 each for my Sequoia to replace some cheap aftermarket ones the P.O. put in that were misfiring. Running fine for months now.
What’s the vehicle? I scored 8 Densos for the MGM in my sig from Rock Auto, I think they were roughly $215 total. Big improvement.
Better than coils that misfire and fail. Don't ask me how I know...
2008 Nissan Titan LE 4x2 Crew cab. My truck has 146K miles on it and I bought it used several yrs ago and it had around 115K-120K miles. I drive only 5K miles per year. I'm wondering if I should just replace the plugs with OEM NGK and be done with it or have my mechanic install 8 new ignition coils along with the new spark plugs?
For coil on plug ignition systems, I don’t do coils unless/until they fail.
E.G. OEM Bosch coils on the 2002 XC70. Five coils.
One is a Bosch replacement ($50) and the other four are original to the car.
Several sets of OEM iridium plugs have been replaced, but the coils are still fine.
At 280,000 miles.
Buying cheap after market coils from China is a complete and utter waste of money. If you need a coil, get OEM, or OEM supplier (Bosch, Denso, etc.).
E.G. OEM Bosch coils on the 2002 XC70. Five coils.
One is a Bosch replacement ($50) and the other four are original to the car.
Several sets of OEM iridium plugs have been replaced, but the coils are still fine.
At 280,000 miles.
Buying cheap after market coils from China is a complete and utter waste of money. If you need a coil, get OEM, or OEM supplier (Bosch, Denso, etc.).
If they aren't misfiring, I wouldn't bother. Where do you stop? Might as well replace fuel injectors too while you're in there.
Junk parts, you may as well throw the money away. If its not misfiring put plugs in it and forget it.
I’d tell him to put away the parts cannon & just try new OEM plugs first. COPs shouldn’t be too tough to replace later if you need them.
Now that's a good one! So funny but true!
Ignition coils is specifically an item were you should definitely go OEM or a highly trusted aftermarket(that is reputable for making good coils). Chinese and sketchy aftermarket coils are typically quite literally a waste of money because they sometimes do not work properly or at all new, and fail much faster(like others have said, ask me how I know). Sometimes you may get lucky on an older 4cylinder, but coils are a fairly serious piece of electronic kit and ones made with cheap materials and bad QA just dont work well, especially when there are 8 of them like in your case. With cheap coils you will typically end up with a poorly running car at best, and have to spend more money on coils shortly, so going with quality first is the same price or cheaper in the long run and your car will actually run properly.
Buy the best spares you can afford to keep in the vehicle. Here's my experience, I have a couple of code readers that can report a misfire count too, Innova 3160d, and JDiag Faslink m2, an inexpensive eBay find that is like the Bluedriver with the modes that can read misfire counts.
Latest set was 3 Spectra Premium lifetime warranty ones from Rock Auto for Kia 3.5 transverse V6 motor, bought for the firewall side, but seems easy enough to remove the intake so I haven't used them. I wanted cheap but enough of a warranty to send them back for replacement as may be expected with aftermarket coils. No misfire count at the fire wall, but small counts on the 3 front side, nothing that warrants replacement yet. And I'd save anyone I replaced if it was just replaced for preventive maintenance. Just carried with as spares for now.
Toyota's, a Denso I've gotten 2 or 3 junkyard ones for spares in each vehicle, that's what I'd suggest if you have little to zero misfire counts on your ignition, barring misfires can also occur because of other factors, just to clarify.
Toyota's, a O/E Diamond were on my 2010 Sienna transverse 3.5 V6, bought 3 new ones from eBay for the firewall, replaced and I save the originals for spares. Working at the firewall on this set-up doesn't have a lot of room and isn't something I could easily do in a short amount of time allowing for any nuances. These did fine and never had a problem, they even came in a Toyota or Lexus box as I remember.
And now for that aftermarket nightmare, 1999 Chevy Prism (Corolla), what I'll call a double coil. Bought 2 new from an aftermarket web site and the next day after replacing going down the highway big booms under the hood, continued till I got to Auto Zone and reinstalled the originals. Aftermarket company sent a refund for 2 double coils, and they did ask which failed, but I said I didn't know and wished to return both sets.
Latest set was 3 Spectra Premium lifetime warranty ones from Rock Auto for Kia 3.5 transverse V6 motor, bought for the firewall side, but seems easy enough to remove the intake so I haven't used them. I wanted cheap but enough of a warranty to send them back for replacement as may be expected with aftermarket coils. No misfire count at the fire wall, but small counts on the 3 front side, nothing that warrants replacement yet. And I'd save anyone I replaced if it was just replaced for preventive maintenance. Just carried with as spares for now.
Toyota's, a Denso I've gotten 2 or 3 junkyard ones for spares in each vehicle, that's what I'd suggest if you have little to zero misfire counts on your ignition, barring misfires can also occur because of other factors, just to clarify.
Toyota's, a O/E Diamond were on my 2010 Sienna transverse 3.5 V6, bought 3 new ones from eBay for the firewall, replaced and I save the originals for spares. Working at the firewall on this set-up doesn't have a lot of room and isn't something I could easily do in a short amount of time allowing for any nuances. These did fine and never had a problem, they even came in a Toyota or Lexus box as I remember.
And now for that aftermarket nightmare, 1999 Chevy Prism (Corolla), what I'll call a double coil. Bought 2 new from an aftermarket web site and the next day after replacing going down the highway big booms under the hood, continued till I got to Auto Zone and reinstalled the originals. Aftermarket company sent a refund for 2 double coils, and they did ask which failed, but I said I didn't know and wished to return both sets.
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I would find out who makes the oe ones and find that brand. The 3 majors are Hitachi,NGK or Denso. Any of those should be fine.
I usually recommend OEM for electrical parts but recently I bought all AC-Delco coils and ICM for my 92 Cavalier and after about a week of driving I developed a misfire. I still had a Standard brand coil and ICM setup that I installed last year so I installed that and the misfire was gone and car runs fine. Plugs and wires are also AC-Delco and fairly new.
So now I have some expensive AC-Delco parts that I don't know at the moment what has failed. No parts stores around here can test ICM's anymore so I have no way of testing it. I OHM'ed the coils out and they both were within spec but there could still be a crack somewhere on one of them. There is some questionable plastic casting around some of the towers. Usually when ICM's on these cars fail the car just dies and doesn't re-start. It also usually blows the ECM fuse. I guess at some point I will re-install the ICM with some used coils I have and see if the misfire is still there or put on the standard coils that are currently on the car.
So now I have some expensive AC-Delco parts that I don't know at the moment what has failed. No parts stores around here can test ICM's anymore so I have no way of testing it. I OHM'ed the coils out and they both were within spec but there could still be a crack somewhere on one of them. There is some questionable plastic casting around some of the towers. Usually when ICM's on these cars fail the car just dies and doesn't re-start. It also usually blows the ECM fuse. I guess at some point I will re-install the ICM with some used coils I have and see if the misfire is still there or put on the standard coils that are currently on the car.
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