Replacing a Ford 5.0 (Coyote) coil pigtail

[bdcardinal]

So last week a friend called freaking out because he broke the little red tab that locks the connector in place on one of the coils on his 2015 F-150 with a 5.0L V8. He didn't listen to any of us, big group of friends, telling him to slow down and let me do his plugs since he is rather clumsy and will force things. I had to explain to him that yes the little red tab isn't available by itself from us, and no my techs don't break them all the time and also no I don't have a stash of them for when my techs break them all the time. My Mustang uses the same connector and not only is the tab fragile, the connector itself is hard to get off of the coil unless you know how to properly massage it.

So I ordered a pigtail for him since we were all going to be at a mutual friends place on Friday for a BBQ. It arrived at work on Thursday, 9U2Z-14S411-EA is the part number. I had a revelation on Thursday night that since I had all the de-pinning tools and there was no melting or wiring damage we can just do the connector shell and not have to deal with crimping. I brought the de-pinning tools to work on Friday and took the new connector apart and tossed everything in a bag. Then drove up after work. Friend showed up and after he got his proper supervising drink in hand we went out to change the connector. I had the old one off pretty quick and the hardest part was remembering where the wires went, thank God for cell phones with cameras. Got it all back together and the truck ran perfect. Of course it was at that point he said he hadn't actually changed the plugs and had the set with him, but didn't want to do it tonight. FWIW plugs on a Coyote in a F-150 or Mustang is about a 20 minute job if you rush.

 

[Timmastertech]

yup, do that all the time. Escape 3.0's with the dg513 coil break all the time from heat and age. If you get a Ford pigtail you can swap the shell. The aftermarket pigtails use different terminals and the shells will not swap over so its solder and heat shrink at that point

 

[Trav]

Very common on a lot of Euro cars, having to do a few on almost every VW is almost a given.

 

[ctechbob]

The Honda J Series likes to break them as well. Heat just takes a toll on plastics over the years. I was able to buy 'empty' connectors and replace the 2 that were broken on my TL. One I broke, the other one came with the car.

 

[atikovi]

$40 for a pigtail since Ford couldn't bother to just sell a $2 connector. I would be searching Mouser, Newark, Digikey, etc. for a match before paying that much.

 

[oggb]

I had to explain to him that yes the little red tab isn't available by itself from us, and no my techs don't break them all the time and also no I don't have a stash of them for when my techs break them all the time.

 

[buck91]

I’m pretty meticulous and I broke a couple of mine when doing plugs years ago. 80k miles later, with the broken red tabs, and it still is running very well.

 

[bdcardinal]

I’m pretty meticulous and I broke a couple of mine when doing plugs years ago. 80k miles later, with the broken red tabs, and it still is running very well.

Its easy to do. I was explaining to him how to remove those connectors and all my friends were laughing because I did it in a very sexually explicit manner.

That little right angle SnapOn pick works fantastic on these connectors.

 

[bdcardinal]

$40 for a pigtail since Ford couldn't bother to just sell a $2 connector. I would be searching Mouser, Newark, Digikey, etc. for a match before paying that much.

The problem is getting that little red tab back in the connector without destroying it.

 

[atikovi]

Assume that's a terminal assurance clip that prevents you from squeezing the tab that lets you pull off the connector. If so it's just a secondary lock and not necessary for locking the connector to the coil.

 

[bdcardinal]

The actual tab is inside the connector. Hence you have to tease it with the right angle pick to get the connector to release from the coil.