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3rd time going in for coils to dealer - what should I say?

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Posted by: JaredLS

So two weeks ago I had my car at the dealer for a bad coil. Just today another one seems to have gone bad as well, this will be my third trip to the dealer for them. I have ESP w/a deductible of $100 so the hit isn't that bad, but still, this is kind of ridiculous. I'm going to call to schedule my car in for service on Monday, and what I wanted to know from you guys is what I should say in order for the dealership to pick up the tab? or is it possible for them to just replace all the coils (and still have it covered under my warranty)?
would this depend on the dealer? should I also call Ford?
thnx.

Posted by: 97stscaddy

Just replace them all. Seriously if you have a basic metric ratchet & socket set you can do them yourself, they are NOT that had to do and you'll save hundreds on labor costs.

There's even a writeup in the tech articles section that shows how to do it.
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/tec...gnitionCoilV8/

Posted by: lseguy

Agreed. Even with your ESP plan, you will come out ahead going on ebay, grabbing a set of 8, and replacing them all yourself.

Posted by: TrickVert

I assume you do not have a 2003, as the coils are 100% covered for 10 years or 100K miles. If you do, you need to "remind" them about Programs 07M07 and 07N09.

Andy

Posted by: TrickVert

...And if you do go the DIY route, Global coils on eBay are a great replacement unit. F150 guys swear by them 100%. In fact, I have 7 more of them to go on my truck that I keep forgetting about. (Did one in November, but didn't want to freeze my tuchus off doing the rest.)

Andy

Posted by: JaredLS

Yeah I have a 2002.
thanks for the advice. I will call the dealer and see what he says, if he just decides to replace the one bad coil then I will order the coils on line -cut my losses I guess. I def will not be having one coil replaced this time and have to go in 5 more times. I think I would go nuts. But I guess there are people, who are mechanically less inclined, that will be doing that. WAY TO KEEP A CUSTOMER (well at least one from 00-02).

Posted by: JaredLS

ohh yeah, TrickVert
you wouldn't happen to have a link to those "Global coils"?

Posted by: lseguy

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-F...mZ180259253872

Posted by: JaredLS

Quote:

Originally Posted by lseguy

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-F...mZ180259253872

thnx for the link.
I called the dealer asked if they can replace all of them- he basically said no. Told me it might be something else and to bring it in to check it out. If it is the one bad coil...I am debating of whether I want to them to allow them to change it one more time (and pay the $100), that way I will not have to buy the valve cover gasket/sparks and then the only thing I would have to buy and change out is the old coils. Thoughts?

Posted by: mrzeee

Dont forget to check for oil on the boots which means you need v/c gaskets and just replacing the coils would be a waste.

Posted by: skizot722

JaredLS, because the others keep going out so quickly, I would make the dealer eat the cost. I don't see how one could go out within 2 weeks of the other, without that showing up when they tested the coils. Also, when they're replacing these coils, surely they've seen the oil down in the coil plug wells. I'm guessing they have, and they know that the others will be failing soon and all they can see is $$, instead of telling you that the valve cover gaskets need to be replaced.

You never said how many miles you've got on your LS. I've read a lot on this forum about people dealing with bad coils, and I'm curious as to how many of those coils have just died "naturally", instead of shorting out from oil in the coil plug well. It could just be that they're "naturally" dying, but it's most likely due to leaking valve cover gaskets. If you do decide to take it back to the dealer, demand that they check all of the coils and coil plug wells for oil, and get the gaskets replaced under the original claim.

I know that changing out the valve cover gaskets and replacing the coils is a fairly easy task to do yourself, but it sounds like you've already got some money invested at the dealer. So, I'd try to get as much out of them as possible.

Posted by: JWerner2

If they are failing that fast you have a bad VCG and it should have been replaced the first time anyways.

I would do the VCG and all coils and keep on them about doing it all.

Posted by: JaredLS

I have 75K~ on my 02.
Little history of what has been replaced:
2 weeks ago they found 7,8 misfiring they replaced 2 coil asy- 2 spark and 1 gasket valve.
In Feb when I had 70K they found #4 misfiring. And replaced 1 coil, 3 sparks, 1 gasket and 2 boot-ignition.
So it seems like they replaced the v/c gaskets each time. from the invoice numbers it seems like both sides have been replaced. (XW4Z-6584AB, ""BB)
I don't know if its about the $$$, I mean I have a deductible so all they are getting from me is the $100.

Thanks for the advice guys, I def will ask them why they are going bad so quickly -2 weeks-.
There is one common element that I do recall that led to this CEL and the previous one, is that I had the RPM up briefly to around 3K-4K. (just spirited driving, no drag racing, ever).

Posted by: 97stscaddy

3k-4k rpm is spirited? 3k rpm is where my car shifts on a slow day. I run mine to 5k on a regular basis.

But yes driving the car harder will generally make the ECM recognize any problems and finally display a code for them.

Posted by: JWerner2

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaredLS

I have 75K~ on my 02.
Little history of what has been replaced:
2 weeks ago they found 7,8 misfiring they replaced 2 coil asy- 2 spark and 1 gasket valve.
In Feb when I had 70K they found #4 misfiring. And replaced 1 coil, 3 sparks, 1 gasket and 2 boot-ignition.
So it seems like they replaced the v/c gaskets each time. from the invoice numbers it seems like both sides have been replaced. (XW4Z-6584AB, ""BB)
I don't know if its about the $$$, I mean I have a deductible so all they are getting from me is the $100.

Thanks for the advice guys, I def will ask them why they are going bad so quickly -2 weeks-.
There is one common element that I do recall that led to this CEL and the previous one, is that I had the RPM up briefly to around 3K-4K. (just spirited driving, no drag racing, ever).

Even better. The work must have a guarantee. Depending on the outcome I would even get the deductible waved.

Posted by: JaredLS

Just got off the phone with the dealer. And you would not believe this sh*t. He says coil #6 has gone bad, and thus it is not the same side of what was replaced last time. The best part: he says that since there was no oil in the v/c gasket that it is not covered by the ESP warranty. Which means $85 for coil + $185 for labor. I was about to let off a few choice words!!!

(Luckily) I told him I wrote on the work order-sheet the previous night that I wanted to pay $0 b/c it was not fixed last time - and I circled "estimate". He was then a dick about it and was like "sometimes you have to pay for stuff you don't like" I said "that's an interesting way of putting it" (was about to say a$*hole) I said "you shouldn't have done any work I wanted to pay $0!!!!". Then he says okay, we will just take the new coil out and put in the old one back in. I said "do that!!".

This is were he sort of changed his tune. And said that he was willing to give me half off the labor b/c "I'm a good customer". I said again: "that's an interesting way of putting it". I told him changing a coil still shouldn't cost $90- I told him I felt like I was being nickel and dimed -all the 03+ have this covered under warranty- and that I could do that repair myself. This is were he says that he will cover all the labor and I just pay for the coil =$85. I agreed b/c I was not going to argue anymore and I guess in total it will cost me $60 (w/ ford advantage program).

So overall pissed off with how they handled the situation (is it true that the ESP does not cover coils if there is no oil?) but glad that I got them down from $270 to $85 which is below my deductible anyway.
Ohh and yeah. I'm ordering some coils tomorrow.

Posted by: JWerner2

When they did my coils it was the driver side that had oil in it and visibly damaged coils.

When I got it back the car was still in just as bad of shape so they obviously did not test run the car after the installation. I got on them once about replacing all coils cause obviously it did some kind of damage to them on some way or another. Seeing how the car duplicated the problem without much effort they replaced all coils ( or so they say ) regardless of oil or not and the car ran fine and in the end it was not any hassle at all what so ever.

I would think that if the part is covered it don't matter if it has oil in it or not as long as it is not damaged by something aftermarket or something of your negligence it should still be replaced but like you said you have a deductible and now it has been reduced to less than the cost so I would be happy with that. Just make sure they don't go and say "well now that we realize you have the deductible we cant go any lower".

The one thing that I would still question is the fact that you had it in once and the car was not fixed regardless. In my eyes that should not mean that you pay for another deductible. They should cover it under guarantee since the vehicle was not properly fixed.

Posted by: pektel

Wow... you can hold your temper better than I can, that's for sure...

Posted by: skizot722

I would have told them to put the focking coil back in and not paid for a damn thing. I seriously doubt they kept the old coil laying around, so chances are they would have just had to eat the cost of the new coil.

You can definitely control your temper better than me, too. It's unfortunate that they were such sh!tholes about the whole thing.

Posted by: pektel

PLUS one.

Posted by: JaredLS

So got my car back it was $85, as promised. Hopefully no coils go bad in the near future. I'm ordering the coils from ebay and will do the install whenever I have a chance.
About my temper or lack thereof; I don't let arguments get emotional, that's when you usually loose an argument. That's part of the reason I'm going to be starting law school in the fall.
Anyway thanks for the all the advice in this thread and this forum, it saved me $200.

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