Top Issue- 02-05 Ford Thunderbird Ignition Coils COP | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

  • We're glad you found us via a search engine! Right now, you can join our club absolutely free and unlock member only features like the site search! This notice only appears once! It only takes 30 seconds to register, and we would love to have you as part of the World's largest Thunderbird Forum/Club! Click here to continue

  • 2002-05 Owners. As of August 2022 there is now an entire suspension kit for sale! Scroll down to the bottom of the first post click here.

Top Issue- 02-05 Ford Thunderbird Ignition Coils COP

tbird

tbird

Forum Moderator
Staff member
Reaction score
592
Thunderbird Year
2005
2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln LS have a widely known issue with Ignition coils going bad and also fouling out spark plugs causing misfires
. Just by replacing these components, you may be able to bring new life to your engine!

At the time of this post, 59.30 for an entire set of Ignition Coils! Can't beat that! If you have a 2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird I would buy these just to have on hand because of the history of these going bad! Don't forget to order 8 spark plugs too because the coils foul them out!

Many people have had success with the coils above, but if you are looking for a brand name or exact fit, check out the Denson and NGK Coils. Click here to buy them on ebay.

Also members have reported these Standard Motor Product Coils are and exact fit- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C7Y46W/?tag=thunderbirdforum-20

NGK.jpgDENSO-Coils.jpg

UPDATE April 2020
Here is the link for the updated part as of 04/2020 that fits better with the valve cover- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M0V5OGC/?tag=thunderbirdforum-20 previously everyone was ordering parts galaxy which works, but is a tight fit. You can also get NGK and Denso name-brand ignition coils here.

There is a post below with installation instructions- https://forums.fordthunderbirdforum...hunderbird-ignition-coils-cop.5040/post-35040 and also this thread will show you how to tighten down the valve cover for the less expensive coils- https://forums.fordthunderbirdforum...hunderbird-ignition-coils-cop.5040/post-37719

Important- You may also have a problem with your cowl seal, wiper seal or valve cover gasket, which is causing the coils to fail! You can read more about that in this post. If you have coils problems after a few days/weeks/months it's likely not the coil, but an additional problem.


What you need to buy
1- Ignition Coils (Amazon Purchase Link)
2- 8 Spark Plugs (Amazon Purchase Link)
3- Dielectric grease (Amazon Purchase Link)
4- Valve Cover Gasket (Amazon Purchase Link) (EBay Purchase Link) (optional but highly recommended while doing the job)
5- If you need the deep & shallow 7mm sockets, here is a pack with both (Amazon Purchase Link) Also, this 1/4" swivel socket will help you get to the one hard to reach. Note: 1/4" drive makes the job easier! Some owners have reported this tool is also good for reaching the back one- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BTTCW3Q?tag=thunderbirdforum-20
6- This type 7mm wrench will make the job easier



10554_65aac959351008ae6cbab408325cbfe6.jpg

coils.jpg

This page contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Found these directions online- Use at your own risk! Doesn't hurt to disconnect the battery before starting IMHO.

Step 1: Make sure you have all the right tools handy. A deep well 7 mm socket, a regular 7 mm socket, an extension, a 7 mm open/closed-end wrench, a screwdriver, and a small flashlight.
Step 2: Remove the engine cover. Unscrew the two black plastic slotted screws at the front of the cover and remove them. Pop the front of the cover up and gently push the rear of the cover upwards to remove it from the mounting stems.
Step 3: Identify the coil covers on the right and left sides of the engine. They are secured by six screws. We will work on the passenger's side first.
Step 4: Using a 7mm socket and driver break loose the four screws on the cover. (two at the front, two in the center).
Step 4a: Using a 7 mm spanner, break loose the two screws at the rear of the cover closest to the windshield. The upper one can probably be taken out with a regular socket but I used a spanner and once it was loose I turned it out by hand. The lower one is a pain, but it will come loose once you take a few turns on it with the spanner.
Step 5: Take out the six screws and put them in a safe place and gently remove the cover taking care not to scrape the gasket material.
Step 6: Unclip the connector to the coil pack by squeezing the right rear of the connector and pull it loose. Using your 7 mm socket, unscrew the bolt holding the coil pack in place. Then just pull the coil pack off of the spark plug and remove.... with the bolt unthreaded it will pull up very easily.
Step 7: Put some Dielectric grease around the plug cover of the new coil pack and pop it into place onto the spark plug. For the back ones (hardest to get to), it would be wise to put the 7 mm bolt in place on the new pack before putting the pack over the plug and then hand-thread to get it started.

Then just secure everything back in the reverse order that you took it all off. Make sure you re-connect the clips to the packs before you put the cover back in place. Read this post for some additional cover tightening tips for the aftermarket COPS that are slightly taller.

Cylinders are numbered starting at the passenger side front with number 1. They follow from front to back to number 4 and then start on the driver's side front at number 5 and then back to 8.

STEP4.jpg STEP5.jpg STEP6.jpg STEP7.jpg STEp8.jpg STEP9.jpg STEP10.jpg

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I purchased a set of these when they were available about two years back, about a year ago we noticed our 2004 Pacific Coast Roadster have a hesitation while running, not smooth. took it down to our mechanic of many years and had him install eight of these coils and WOW, running like the CAT it should be. Just ordered another set as this was the second time in the 10 years of owning our Jag that we have had to address the COPs issue. I would for sure nab a set or two of these!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well my '05 with 102,000 just started to miss every now and then and also when I give it the gas. I am thinking I have developed the COP problem so I plan on replacing the ignition coils this weekend and see if that resolves the issue. I do plan on going to Amazon and getting the coil set you indicated above as well as new NGK plugs plus some dielectric grease. Anything else I should do while I am under the hood? Any and all suggestions are appreciated. Thanks Mike
 
Mike in Nashville said:
Well my '05 with 102,000 just started to miss every now and then and also when I give it the gas. I am thinking I have developed the COP problem so I plan on replacing the ignition coils this weekend and see if that resolves the issue. I do plan on going to Amazon and getting the coil set you indicated above as well as new NGK plugs plus some dielectric grease. Anything else I should do while I am under the hood? Any and all suggestions are appreciated. Thanks Mike
Click to expand...

If you replace the COP and Plugs you will be good! I bet you will notice a big difference in response!
 
tbird said:
2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln LS have a widely known issue with Ignition coils going bad and also fouling out spark plugs causing misfires
. Just by replacing these components you may be able to bring new life to your engine!

At the time of this post, 42.99 for an entire set of Ignition Coils! Can't beat that! If you have a 2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird I would buy these just to have on hand because of the history of these going bad! Don't forget to order 8 spark plugs too because the coils foul them out!

Here is the link http://amzn.to/2ilnIo3

There is a post here on how to replace or here.


View attachment 673
View attachment 1351
Click to expand...
Thanks. I replaced them. Runs new $47.00 for 8 coils and 8 plugs from NGK.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have learned something from changing COPs. If your Bird is running very rough and throwing codes after changing COPs and you had to move the fuel rail or anything else, make absolutely sure that you didn't pinch ANY wiring when putting everything back. I change the COPs on my Expedition by myself, but when it came to the Bird, I got some help from my neighbor who is a BMW mechanic and he accidentally pinched one of the fuel injector leads to the block (when putting everything back) putting put a Ground on that cylinder fuel injector so it was dumping fuel into that cylinder non-stop.
 
Elsie said:
Wish I knew about these COPs off of amazon. 2 years and less than 7500 miles ago I changed my coils and used Motorcraft - over $400 for a set of 8. 5 or 6 were easy the last 2 were a butch. Has anyone had to replace theirs more than once?
Click to expand...

Yes. Many things can shorten the working life of COPs due to their high voltage output. They can just become weak IE not make it to the stated mileage mark. They can develop condensation or moisture in the boot and start arcing (use more dielectric then you think you need when installing new boots. And many other issues. There are things one can do to help, keep your Bird garaged, only drive on sunny days, don't "steam" clean or pressure wash your engine, have your head gasket replace, etc. Some of these things and other we can do, but in the end, it is a car and everybody can't keep it garaged or only drive when it is sunny!

I was losing COPs to often and it turned out to be the valve cover gasket leaking oil. Had the valve cover gasket changed and haven't lost a COP since.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined Forum this week. Coil failure can probably be cured by doing what expired Ford Program 07N09-S1 states regarding replacing the wiper motor bracket seal along with the coils and coil cover. Search the web for that program to get the part numbers for the seal and coil covers. Buy those parts from the Ford dealer and have any competent mechanic install the parts. Or do it yourself. Replacing the seal was the only thing I had someone else do.
Every time I took my 2003 T Bird to the carwash or drove in a heavy rain the coil failure occurred on the passenger side, because that seal leaked water onto the coil cover and the water got into one or more plug holes. The new seal and coil covers stopped the water contamination. Too bad I didn't find out about the "secret" program before it expired.
 
I went through my first COP job last week, and thought I would share some observations and pictures. I bought this ’04 base in the first week of January, and up until a few weeks ago it had run fine. I was familiar with the COP problems as I had owned two Lincoln LS years ago. In fact I joined this forum to find out how the COP problem was being addressed post-warranty, and found a lot of helpful advice here that encouraged my decision to purchase the car.

A few weeks ago I encountered some serious misfiring and flashing check engine light, so I ordered up the Parts Galaxy COPs and a new set of NGK plugs (7994). Several previous posts gave some helpful instructions, but they notably used the passenger side for demonstration. “Look how easy!” LOL All told, it took me about 90 minutes to replace the plugs and COPs on the passenger side. Might’ve gone quicker if I wasn’t doing laundry at the same time.

As others have noted, I found the new COPs have a higher profile, and as such the plastic cover would not fit back down squarely. The net difference in height appears to be about 1/8”. Here are the two side-by-side.

Difference in coil height.jpg

By alternately tightening the six cover screws a little at a time, the cover went back down fairly snug but I doubt it would be water-tight. I ended up pulling it off again and applying a bead of Permatex Black to improve the seal.

Here’s a tip a friend showed me. No rocket-science here, but he told me I would save time to tape the spark plug socket to the extension. Once the new plug is in place and tight, it’s really easy for the extension to separate and leave the socket stuck on the plug.

spark plug socket2.jpg
I also found something I had never seen before. A couple of the old plug tips were a bright, oxide red color. A little Google research showed the most common reason for this is the use of an octane booster or intake cleaner added to the gas. Guilty as charged.

spark plug red tip.jpg

With the passenger side done, I moved over to the port side. And this is where the fun began. Lots more stuff in the way there. Despite this, I was able to get five of the cover screws out with little difficulty. I had to move the power steering reservoir to the side slightly, and it was necessary to push the dipstick tube aside a little. Also removed the fuel vapor solenoid from the top of the strut, and disconnected the fuel line at the engine and pulled it back out of the way.

The bottom screw all the way back closest to the firewall was the challenge. I was able to get a socket on it, but it’s so close to the brake booster there was no way to get a ratchet on.

Back screw clearance.jpg

So I ended up using a 7mm ignition wrench to remove it, and it took about 20 minutes making small-increment turns. I couldn’t find a 7mm gear wrench.

With the cover finally loose I began to withdraw it. That’s when the nightmare appeared. As another poster mentioned, these covers can keep water out, but they can also serve to trap water in. There was enough water under that cover to start a koi pond.

condensation.jpg

The entire recessed area under the cover was rust-stained; water all down in the plug wells; and there was condensation all over the packs and wiring. This set of packs also looked different. These had no writing on top, where all of the ones on the passenger side had numbers and codes stamped on them. Probably replaced sometime in the past.

rusty inset coils out.jpg

rusty coils.jpg

The car was only out in the rain a couple times, and through the car wash a couple times. The wiper seal had been replaced previously, and I had seen no signs of leakage around it. When I bought the car the engine was extremely clean, so it’s possible it was pressure washed. Who knows where the water came from. I may replace the wiper seal again just the same.

So I went about a very methodical cleaning process. First, I used paper towels to sop out as much water as possible from the wells, and then allowed everything to air-dry for a day or so. I left the old plugs in to keep any debris from falling into the cylinders, and cleaned up as much of the rust coating as possible. All of the screw heads were rusted, which is probably where most of the color came from. I carefully treated all of the screws and bolt heads with an OSPHO-type cleaner to retard the rust.

Once the outer area was clean, I used compressed air to blow debris out of the wells. A shop vac was helpful too. The hexes on the plugs were heavily rusted, so when I began to remove the plugs I stopped every few turns and kept blowing out debris before finally removing the plugs and exposing the cylinder.

Next I applied some dielectric grease deep down in the wells and on the plug seats. Then came the new plugs, and the new coils. The coil wire connectors have a watertight seal, so there was no sign of moisture or corrosion in those connections.

Everything came back together well, and the engine is running smoothly again.

new coils and plugs in.jpg

The last part of the project was to get the coil cover back on. Like the passenger side I added a generous bead of Permatex Black around the entire perimeter of the cover, as well as the channel where the coil wires exit in the rear. While I have no illusions, hopefully this extra step will keep water out in the future.

Something else I observed: both of these coil covers had a date stamp inside of ’07. The TSB that covered this issue (TSB 05-16-2) provided new coil covers, so it would seem a prior owner took advantage of the TSB.

It may not always be possible, but if you’re considering buying one of these cars it would certainly be worthwhile to pop these covers off and have a look for any surprises. I don’t know if I would have walked away from this one had I discovered this mess before buying it, but it certainly would have affected my offering price.

I’m grateful for all the helpful hints and suggestions from previous posters, and hopefully my observations above will serve to help someone else along the way.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
May 24th, 2018. Check engine light came on. White exhaust smoke. Engine shake, obvious missing. Analyzer said it was No. 2 Coil misfiring. Took it to the Ford Dealer. After a day he called and said they want to replace all 8 coils becuase the gaskets failed and oil was all over the coils. I said, "how much?" They said $2600.00. I said "no way." I had them just replace the bad coil and wipe the oil off off the others and replace all gaskets. The ended up charging me $1400.00 So.............I ordered a set of coils from Amazon It runs great. If another coil goes bad I will replace them all myself.
 
John Hayman said:
After reading every single post on this thread, no one has addressed the problem. Why do they fail? Is it the wiper seal or the cowl foam seal, or do these coils just suffer from a bad Ford design?
Click to expand...

.
There are two main reasons COPS fail early and four things that cause the two reasons. Water/moisture/condensation or Oil are the two reasons. Reason one, and it goes with oil, is a bad Valve Cover Gasket. If you have oil on your COPS this is why. IIRC this is a bigger issue with 2002 Tbirds then other year models, but just the same if you find oil on the boots it is a leaking Value Cover Gasket. Reason two, you or you detail guy power or steam cleaned the engine and now moisture and condensation have gotten under the COP boots. Extreme high energy being produced for ones spark plugs doesn't like oil, water, moisture, or condensation as it causes an arc to the grounded motor and kills the COP over time. Reason three, water/moisture getting under the cowl seal and then condensing on/under the COP boot. Replace the cowl seal. Reason four, water getting past the wiper seal, see Reason three. Replace the wiper motor seal.

I do NOT buy factory plugs or COPS.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top