Top Issue- 02-05 Ford Thunderbird Ignition Coils COP

[autoprofessor]

Two questions on bad coils. 1) Is there a car code reader that can determine which cylinder is misfiring? My 20-year old code reader has been lost so I need a replacement. Hoping for a reasonable priced upgrade since the lost reader could not do this. (2) Despite being stored under cover and very lightly used since the last COP replacement about 5 years ago, the misfire condition has returned. I assume that it is the COPs again. Is there a good solution other than selling the car?

Best, Ken

The Blue Driver works for me just fine. I put NGK’s and cheap Rock Auto COP’s on when I first bought my 04 and have put 10k problem free.

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[queensbird]

Are the coils supposed to move when torqued to the valve cover? I noticed that the aftermarket coils someone put on the car move around slightly because the retaining bolt bottoms out before the coil clamps in place, is this the way the OEM coils are as well? I’m guessing not, otherwise there’s no reason for a torque value if you’re just bottoming out a bolt. I can fix this issue with a small washer placed between the bolt and coil if it shouldn’t be moving around.

 

[gregl32]

Are the coils supposed to move when torqued to the valve cover? I noticed that the aftermarket coils someone put on the car move around slightly because the retaining bolt bottoms out before the coil clamps in place, is this the way the OEM coils are as well? I’m guessing not, otherwise there’s no reason for a torque value if you’re just bottoming out a bolt. I can fix this issue with a small washer placed between the bolt and coil if it shouldn’t be moving around.

My OEM coils do have slight wiggle.

Two questions on bad coils. 1) Is there a car code reader that can determine which cylinder is misfiring? My 20-year old code reader has been lost so I need a replacement. Hoping for a reasonable priced upgrade since the lost reader could not do this. (2) Despite being stored under cover and very lightly used since the last COP replacement about 5 years ago, the misfire condition has returned. I assume that it is the COPs again. Is there a good solution other than selling the car?

Best, Ken

If it is the COPs you need to see if the sparkplug wells have any kind of liquid (oil, water, or ?) in them. If they do then you need to solve that issue first. I have 3 different devices, one is self contained. It's a Foxwell NT530. I also have 2 different dongles that hook up to my laptop. I have a couple different programs that can use the dongles. All of these can access all the different modules and read data, do testing and even do some programming. Way more functions than just reading check engine light codes including general live monitoring for misfires. Unfortunately, none of these programs show any live data options for monitoring individual cylinders for misfires. I have to wait until the specific cylinder misfires enough to at least set a pending code. The other choice is to disconnect the electrical plug from each coil one at a time and start the car and compare idle quality. You'll set another code about general ignition problem because it can sense when the electrical plug is not connected. It will not tell you which one is disconnected.