Thanks to everyone - can all fixes be that easy? - Happy Rant!

[myfirstlincoln]

So one of my jobs this summer is to replace all the plugs and coils (my Visteons are on their way). I am a teacher so I plan to do some major mods/repairs after the school year starting June 11 - plasti dip my wheels, change plugs and coils, take the car to a paintless dent removal place (I hate shopping carts), etc.

Anyway, the car has been driving fine but I think the purchase of the coils jinxed me because yesterday (perhaps due to heat and humidity) I got a SES light, a rough idle, and driving was a total pain in the a$$ - hesitation, stumbling through gears - all the signs of a shot coil. I called the dealer since I need inspection anyway and they said I couldn't get in until June 11. I figured by then I'd have my Visteons so I just needed a quick cheap fix. I stopped at Autozone and for, perhaps the first time ever, they were actually helpful. They read the code quickly and found cylinder 1 had a misfire. I hopped on LincolnvsCadillac to determine which cylinder that was and 15 minutes later I had the coil replaced and the car is driving great once again. It's a temp fix and I bought a cheap Duralast coil (I had a $20 off coupon) but I can't deal with the crappy driving until I get around to replacing all the coils. So for about 20 bucks and a total of 30 minutes of work I am a happy camper.

I knew enough not to ask the question cuz I knew I'd get flamed but the amount of info readily available on this site is such a help!

THANKS GUYS!

 

[G-RELL]

:gr_hail: AMEN!!!

All kidding aside, I'm glad it worked out for ya... Hope you notice a difference with the rest changed out... dont forget the plugs :wrench

 

[jmtiseo]

Congrats on the quick fix and using your resources to its full potential. Maybe you'll be featured in an AZ commercial to speak of your great success!

 

[lseguy]

save your money. If the car is running fine, idling fine, performing fine, then that means the remaining Ford coils are firing just fine.

First time I had a coil failure, I did the same thing..replaced them all.

Second and third times I had failures, (which were thousands of miles apart), I read out the CEL, changed out the coil just from that particular cylinder...and kept on driving. I keep the remaining coils in my toolbox as spares for whenever one fails.

its possible to change one coil then go tens of thousands of miles before another fails

 

[trickett90]

save your money. If the car is running fine, idling fine, performing fine, then that means the remaining Ford coils are firing just fine.

First time I had a coil failure, I did the same thing..replaced them all.

Second and third times I had failures, (which were thousands of miles apart), I read out the CEL, changed out the coil just from that particular cylinder...and kept on driving. I keep the remaining coils in my toolbox as spares for whenever one fails.

its possible to change one coil then go tens of thousands of miles before another fails

At my first COP failure above 100k I'll replace them all. Once one out of the new set fails, I'll replace them all again. With 8 cylinders a single COP can fail all the time. I know this because I'm always at the dealer getting a stress test and getting the bad one replaced. After the warranty is up, I'm not going to want to pay for the stress test. I'm not going to want to wait for the CEL (which can be a long time). I'm not going to want to spend the time to figure out which coil it is the old fashion way, as my time is worth more to me than that. It would be tedious either way.