misfire... how much will it cost me?

Gibson

Gibson

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yea so im sure youve all heard of this before i have 2 cylinders misfiring and im gonna go ahead and change all 8 spark plugs, all coils, and get 2 new valve cover gaskets for my 02 v8. my question is, how much is all this gonna cost me? im talkin basically just all the materials.
 
Eh... Depends where you go to get the coils.

IF you get them not from the dealer, you'd be looking at like $450, maybe less (e-bay)... really depends where you go. From the dealer, expect around $600 or more.

Gaskets I think will run you about $90 (make sure you get the kit, not just the outside gasket, you also need the plug well seals; search it out...)... plugs, $3-$4 ea.
 
If you are going to replace the VCG's and coils yourself then I would suggest another approach.

Replace the VCG's as normal. If you want to replace the spark plugs too then that is cool. If not then at least clean them off real well on the upper side that connects to the coil. Then take the rubber boots off of the coils and with brake parts cleaner scrub the springs real well to get all the burned on oil off of them. Clean the rubber boots too. It doesn't have to be perfect but just get the large majority of oil off of them. Reinstall all of your stocker coils but leave the coil covers off and take the car for a test drive for a while (aka beat the car a little to try to force a misfire or code). If you still encounter the misfire then order a set of OEM coils and replace em in 10 minutes. If your car runs fine with the re-cleaned stockers then bolt the covers back on top of the stock coils and continue to monitor for any misfires over the next few days of driving. If the misfires continue to stay away then enjoy a ell running car and few hundred dollars worth of savings.

While some coils actually go bad I have a feeling that more often than not it is not the coil that has actually went bad or broke. It is more a connection and resistance issue with the spring swimming in oil from the leaky VCG. This would make sense because the misfires most are encountering are intermittent. That means that the coil is working to some extent but not all the time which would indicate that it is still probably good, just a connection issue.

If you are going to do your own work then I suggest doing this. If you are going to just take it into the dealer under the TSB then might as well have all replace with new coils since you aren't paying for the job anyways.
 
ILLS said:
If you are going to replace the VCG's and coils yourself then I would suggest another approach.

Replace the VCG's as normal. If you want to replace the spark plugs too then that is cool. If not then at least clean them off real well on the upper side that connects to the coil. Then take the rubber boots off of the coils and with brake parts cleaner scrub the springs real well to get all the burned on oil off of them. Clean the rubber boots too. It doesn't have to be perfect but just get the large majority of oil off of them. Reinstall all of your stocker coils but leave the coil covers off and take the car for a test drive for a while (aka beat the car a little to try to force a misfire or code). If you still encounter the misfire then order a set of OEM coils and replace em in 10 minutes. If your car runs fine with the re-cleaned stockers then bolt the covers back on top of the stock coils and continue to monitor for any misfires over the next few days of driving. If the misfires continue to stay away then enjoy a ell running car and few hundred dollars worth of savings.

While some coils actually go bad I have a feeling that more often than not it is not the coil that has actually went bad or broke. It is more a connection and resistance issue with the spring swimming in oil from the leaky VCG. This would make sense because the misfires most are encountering are intermittent. That means that the coil is working to some extent but not all the time which would indicate that it is still probably good, just a connection issue.

If you are going to do your own work then I suggest doing this. If you are going to just take it into the dealer under the TSB then might as well have all replace with new coils since you aren't paying for the job anyways.
Click to expand...

what do u mean 'TSB'? sorry, im a noob
 
Gibson said:
what do u mean 'TSB'? sorry, im a noob
Click to expand...



TSB= Technical Service Bulletin.

A TSB is basically bulletin that the vehicle manufacturer puts out that recognizes a certain issue with a vehicle. All vehicles have at least a few of these for various things that didn't perform properly when the car comes out of the factory. If the vehicle falls into the criteria of the TSB then the owner will be able to get the parts and labor to fix the problem for free. Once again this is assuming that your vehicle fits the criteria outlined in the TSB.
 
the TSB ILLS mentions only applies to 03+ models. Anyone with a 00-02 is screwed, like me. Not sure what year you have. If it's 00-02, you can save some money by buying the parts online. Here is how my order a couple weeks ago broke down:

Set of 8 coils - via globalautomotive eBay seller - $152
Set of 8 spark plugs - from anywhere really - $75
Valve cover gaskets - from Max at Five Star Ford - $78
Parts Total: $305

As for labor, depends on how much you're going to do yourself vs. taking it into a mechanic or dealership. If $75/hr is an average mechanic rate, I'd expect this job to take somewhere around 3-4 billable hours, so $225-$300 in labor.

I see most people on this forum whose cars were not under warranty/TSB and paid out of pocket spent on average $1,200-$1,500 for the repair. that's if you go dealer all the way. At the least, it can only cost $300ish if you do the repairs yourself.
 
I recommend not going to a dealership. If you have any friends that own a shop of some sort go there. (Assuming they know what they are doing). I got a friend that will do this for $250 flat. This includes wires, spark plugs, and labor for installing the above along with my coils.

Gosh its good to know people.
 
If they're charging you for spark plug wires, then they aren't that good.
 
ok thanks everybody for everything, im gonna try to get all this done within the next couple weeks. btw the cars an 02 so i guess i am screwed on the tsb.
 
O/E coils from Max....8 X $45.49 each= $363.92
O/E plugs from Max...8 X $5.63 each + $45.04
gasket $$ are correct
 
Yea, I didn't realized I had even typed that ti'l he posted. I laughed myself after I read it.
 
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