Drying Coils, Coil Covers, & Rain

[bluemarket]

Hi Guys,

So I figured I would seek your guys expertise. I just replaced my whole set of 8 coil on plugs completely in my 2005 v8, for the second time since I've owned the car. Same coils as before, but the last set lasted about 50k. Cleaned out the wells, made sure to put the right amount of dielectric, car was running great on my test ride during the night. I had the coil covers off because I was going to see how they ran for a bit before I put them back on given the difficulty of getting the covers on and off. Unfortunately it rained heavily during the night and when I started my car this morning it was misfiring terribly. I'm not sure if moisture and condensation from the night rain got into the boots, as it was still very cold at about 32 degress this morning test drove her to the train, but it still continued and when I popped the hood at the train, I didn't notice any moisture on the plugs.

Do you think it's possible one or more of the plugs is exhibiting failing behavior, or that it is more likely moisture and that if I take out the plugs, dry them out completely with a heat gun, blow out the wells with a compressor, and reinstall them with the covers tight that they function properly?

I appreciate any advice you guys can give. Mad respect for the wealth of information you got here.

 

[LS4me]

Is your CEL flashing? I had a similar issue with my V6. I cleaned the engine and rinsed it off with a hose. Apparently water sat around the coils (they are exposed on the V6) and when I started the car the wet coils fried.

IMHO the at least one of the coils (and therefore the plug(s)) is toast.

 

[bluemarket]

It briefly showed a flashing CEL when I got near the train station and it was misfiring but it went away when I got to the station although it still idled roughly. I have a basic OBD II reader I could use to see if there are any codes on the car, but there is no CEL presently.

I still have the old set of Coil on Plugs at home and I could try switching one out if it shows up as misfiring on a particular cylinder, unfortunately, it seems to be quite difficult to evaluate their condition, but I suppose this is just stating the obvious here lol.

 

[G-RELL]

what brand coils?

 

[bluemarket]

They are the cheap ones from AC Auto Parts on EBay. The same one's I purchased before. I looked online to see if there were Visteon's available but they appeared to be discontinued. As well, I read numerous posts on here about the qualities of others, such as the Motorcraft, and Dragon Fire which suggested that they weren't much better in the end unfortunately. The Accel mod seemed liked a possibility but I suppose I'm a little hesitant to experiment.

 

[joegr]

It's just as likely that one (or more) of the cheap coils has already failed. It's also very important to be sure that the spark plug gap is 1mm. Bigger than that, and the coils are over stressed and can quickly fail. Smaller than that, and you won't get good ignition.

 

[bluemarket]

That's what I'm afraid of. Just wish they were easier to diagnose. I pulled one of the plugs yesterday and it appeared to have normal wear but didn't check the gap. They are the NGK Laser Iridium 7994's. As nice as I could get when I changed those with the last coil set. I'll make sure to check the gap at home. I appreciate the insight guys, really do. Just wish this car didn't run on my optimism lol.