Lemon LS - Coil Question

J

jberbrich

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I'm new here, so please forgive me for probably asking this question for probably the umpteenth time.

I have one of those 2003 LS V8s with never-ending ignition coil problems. I am now over the 100K "limited" Customer Satisfaction Program, and have since paid twice this year alone for coil diagnosis and replacement. I replaced the last 4 coils myself.

I heard from an LS owner friend that Ford keeps on selling the old stock of crappy coils until they run out, then will start selling upgraded coils. Is this a true statement? If there are better coils out there, where can I get some?

By the way, I love driving my LS. I don't love driving the rental cars I get when my LS is in the shop. I'm dealing with a California Lemon Law attorney, since Ford was unwilling to own up to their defective product.

Thanks guys.
 
If you bought the COP from Ford Parts you should have a limited warranty like six mounts, I would take them back.

As far as Ford reselling defective parts, that make for a great story but I doubt it. You might have a Ford dealer doing that but I cant imagine them jeopardizing their dealership for parts they get reimbursed for anyway.
 
It sounds like FMC is only giving the dealers the bad coils until the supply is out. I hope FMC isn't that stupid. If so, I have bought my last Ford product.
 
i've never heard of them doing that with the coils, maybe someone else has though
 
The last coils that I bought from Max were the latest revision parts.
 
Hi Joe
How do you know that they have upgraded that paticular part? Is it a Rev level B,C or D. The orginals certainly were defective. I hope the O.P. has luck against FMC. Remember the plastic intake manifolds? Another great design.
 
REDBED said:
Hi Joe
How do you know that they have upgraded that paticular part? Is it a Rev level B,C or D. The orginals certainly were defective. I hope the O.P. has luck against FMC. Remember the plastic intake manifolds? Another great design.
Click to expand...

I believe that the latest are D or E. (Sorry, I can't remember for sure now.)

Just wait till all the plastic cooling system parts start cracking...
 
Thats was a pain joe, it seemed like they all starte crackin a weel from each other so I just ordered some in advance to replace them before they cracked.
 
hi all

Current pricing for ford coils are...

P/N 2w4z-12029-b
V-8 retail..$92.56 reg member $54.15 (a set is 433.20);gold $49.98ea ( a set is $399.84)

P/N 2w4z-12029-a
V-6 retail $105.51 reg member $61.72 (a set is $370.32);gold $56.98 (a set is $341.88)

all are new fresh from ford and the latest part numbers
 
It is my impression that the reason the coils go bad is the valve cover gaskets leak oil down into the plug wells causing the coils to go bad. i replaced my coils with the global coils on ebay and replaced my valve cover gaskets at the same time, 3 of my coils boots were soaked with oil. 40k miles and no probs. if your vgc's are leaking oil down into the plug wells, you can throw coils in it all day long and they will probly keep failing. but i've been wrong once before :)
 
hite337 said:
It is my impression that the reason the coils go bad is the valve cover gaskets leak oil down into the plug wells causing the coils to go bad. i replaced my coils with the global coils on ebay and replaced my valve cover gaskets at the same time, 3 of my coils boots were soaked with oil. 40k miles and no probs. if your vgc's are leaking oil down into the plug wells, you can throw coils in it all day long and they will probly keep failing. but i've been wrong once before :)
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That was Ford's impression at first too. While oil exposure can kill or weaken a coil. Most of them fail with no oil or water in the well. Ford has identified the failure as an adhesion failure of the epoxy inside the coil which leads to high-voltage breakdown. None of my failed coils had any oil or water on them.

I think that the gen I LS had two separate problems, and Ford assumed that one was causing the other at first. The problems were that COPs were failing, and that the valve cover gaskets were leaking into the plug wells. It took some time after they solved the valve cover gasket problem for them to realize that the COPs were still failing (on the gen II) anyway.
 
Yup, the coils will fail even without oil or water contamination. Just go by the general rule of thumb to replace them all once one starts misfiring. Also just do the plugs while you're in there... Fairly cheap and easy maintenance. Though annoying.
 
joegr said:
That was Ford's impression at first too. While oil exposure can kill or weaken a coil. Most of them fail with no oil or water in the well. Ford has identified the failure as an adhesion failure of the epoxy inside the coil which leads to high-voltage breakdown. None of my failed coils had any oil or water on them.QUOTE]

ahhh....i stand corrected. when i changed my coils the one that caused the misfire was soaked in oil and i've read about that causing misfires. i have never heard of the epoxy failing internally. good info joegr
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when i changed mine, there was a very small amount of oil on one or two spark plugs but none on the cop's, changed them with the ones from global automotive and new spark plugs and all is good
 
bearsfan39 said:
when i changed mine, there was a very small amount of oil on one or two spark plugs but none on the cop's, changed them with the ones from global automotive and new spark plugs and all is good
Click to expand...

Yes, I think that a very minor amount of oil seepage at the bottom of some of the wells is acceptable. If it makes it up to the insulator on the spark plug, then the gaskets need to be replaced.
 
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