HELP!!!....Cops problem?

[MerlotBlue]

I think my luck just ran out at 26,000 miles.

A beautiful day here in New Hampshire and a ride to North Conway with plenty of hills and enough traffic to cause more than a few accelerations from zero to highway speed.

I noticed a skip as we first left home.......thought nothing of it.....rough pavement maybe?

.........then it happened again.

On the way home notice it several times under light acceleration.

Sure seems like an ignition problem........once home and safely within distance of the house and on a deserted piece of black top.......A hard acceleration to the red line in each gear revealed some stumble at the higher rpms in third gear and in the mid-range of 4th.

The car still idles smoothly, no check engine light and it hasn't thrown a code that my scan tool will read yet but I'm thinking I may be experiencing a Cops problem.

On the bright side this is the '04 and not the '02 (knock on wood with nearly twice the mileage still no problems there)........

My question?

After reading "THE LETTER"........... it states pretty clearly Ford will pay for this on a verifiable bad cop.......any hints would be appreciated on how I get 'em to see things my way.

Anyone experience this and it was something else other than bad cops?

Any suggestions or hints sure would be appricaiated......too late to call the local Ford dealer tonight.......but I'll probably be calling tomorrow.

[bronzebird]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

Steve:

Depends on how the dealership folks interpret the letter.

Some claim the engine light must come on before they replace or even check to see if the coil pack is kaput.

Others (like mine) interpret the letter to mean if they check and it throws a code, regardless of the check engine light in play, they will replace it.

Good luck and join the crowd.

Bronzebird

PS: See my little poem I just posted

[Icebluebird]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

Welcome to the COP Club!

I had two COPs go bad on my 04 and I took it to the dealer and they replaced both, free of charge under the extended warranty.

The first one the wrench lite was on and the second one it was not. In both cases they did the diagnostics and found the failing cops.

There is no charge for this service.

In both cases, my car started running rough and then started missing and bucking on acceleration.

[SUSIEQ]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

I just had this problem, car in shop today. They replaced Coil 1,3, and 4. Right side valve cover gasket and 2 coil boots and plugs, NO CHARGE

[MerlotBlue]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

Steve:

Depends on how the dealership folks interpret the letter.

Some claim the engine light must come on before they replace or even check to see if the coil pack is kaput.

Others (like mine) interpret the letter to mean if they check and it throws a code, regardless of the check engine light in play, they will replace it.

Good luck and join the crowd.

Bronze bird

PS: See my little poem I just posted

I have an OBD II code check tool.........checked it when I got home. Nothing recorded my tool will pick up but honestly.......I've dealt with annoying ignition problems in old GM HEI distributors and more recently in the OPTI-SPARK on an LT1 Corvette engine.......this is EXACTLY the same.

Ignition problems seem to always show up just as this is presenting now. this is why I'm so certain about what I'm dealing with here.

Car ran like a CHAMP on Cruise control all the way home today when not under load.......but when ever pushed to accelerate an intermittent stumble was there no question about it.

Then that hard run from zero to about 70 mph revealed plenty of stumble in third gear.........this is new........I never beat on my cars, especially the T-Birds, but I do accelerate hard enough to notice this as soon as it shows.

Damn if today wasn't the first time.

The irony here is in the fact I was really starting to question if this wasn't a HIGH TEMP problem experienced most often by those folks in more Southern climates. But today was a mid 70 degree day......so much for that theory.

I like everyone I've posted back and forth with here so don't take this personally but honestly........joining THIS crowd........the "my car has COPS problems" crowd was one I'd really hoped to never join.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

Welcome to the COP Club!
I had two COPs go bad on my 04 and I took it to the dealer and they replaced both, free of charge under the extended warranty.
The first one the wrench lite was on and the second one it was not. In both cases they did the diagnostics and found the failing cops.
There is no charge for this service.
In both cases, my car started running rough and then started missing and bucking on acceleration.

It will be interesting to see if they'll be willing to get into it without seeing a code first. Some of the stories about cars just quiting in traffic really do fail to inspire much confidence right now.

[Sweet T]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

It took mine an entire year of running like that to trip a code. Mine's an '02, paying for it myself, and they still wouldn't do any work without a code.

I wonder if the car will start if one COP became, somehow (lol) 'disengaged'.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

It took mine an entire year of running like that to trip a code. Mine's an '02, paying for it myself, and they still wouldn't do any work without a code.

I wonder if the car will start if one COP became, somehow (lol) 'disengaged'.

No chance of that what-so-ever........ I won't let it become an "on-going" problem.

I have no less than 3 dealers in the immediate area, one, Portsmouth Ford is a HUGE Ford dealer who was alloted so many T-Birds back in the day he was blowing 'em out the door in '02 at MSRP, no discounts but no mark-ups either. I bought a new truck from him in '02 and they had 4 Thunderbirds in the showroom at the time.

I'm going to call my local dealer in Rochester first this morning but I'll also call Portsmouth for guidance. I figure they must have dealt with this already, probably often given the number of T-Birds they sold.

No matter what though.......I will get to the bottom of it.

I'll also be calling parts stores today checking local availability of COPS themselves. If this is a part not readily available you can just bet I'm going to be ordering in at least 4 and maybe a full 8 for a drawer in my Garage. (my delusions over beating this when so many others have not is over now. I can't help but believe I'm living on borrowed time now with Sue's '02)

How-ever, This WILL NOT become a reason to hate the cars......letting it fester for an extended period waiting for it to "throw" a code..... leaving me with the feeling I can't trust the car on trips away from home isn't acceptable to me.



I'm determined on that one.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

Welcome to the COP Club!

I had two COPs go bad on my 04 and I took it to the dealer and they replaced both, free of charge under the extended warranty.

The first one the wrench lite was on and the second one it was not. In both cases they did the diagnostics and found the failing cops.

There is no charge for this service.

In both cases, my car started running rough and then started missing and bucking on acceleration.

I'm curious about the 2nd that went away without throwing a code.

They can find the bad cop without reading a code?

How does that work?

[FUN X 3]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

I had a cop go out last year, and they replaced it, I paid $100 deductable on extended warranty [2002, so no letter from Ford]. The next day another went out. They replaced at no charge. Neither occurance had a check engine light. For the second one, they hooked up a laptop computer under the drivers side dash and had me drive the car with the tech. It had a line graph on the screen and clearly showed which cop was out.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

I had a cop go out last year, and they replaced it, I paid $100 deductable on extended warranty [2002, so no letter from Ford]. The next day another went out. They replaced at no charge. Neither occurance had a check engine light. For the second one, they hooked up a laptop computer under the drivers side dash and had me drive the car with the tech. It had a line graph on the screen and clearly showed which cop was out.

That sounds pretty good.

I'm confident it WILL miss on a test run but with no codes you do have to wonder how they know which of the 8 to R&R.......... I suppose I could argue to have 'em all replaced but it's hard to imagine they'd go for it.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

Well, guess I'm going into my local dealer here in Rochester tomorrow morning at 9:30AM.

Relieved to hear the service guy tell me that they don't need to see a code to find a bad coil.

Not sure how they do it, he didn't say and I didn't ask.

It's going to rain tomorrow.........that'll be PERFECT to suit my mood over this little annoyance.

It's a mixed emotions thing........I'm on vacation this week so it's great that I can get this taken care of........but it's not exactly how I wanted to spend the day tomorrow.

[sauernote]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

I had a few minor misses for the first time in 7 years. Engine light (not wrench light) started blinking. Took it to Star Ford in Glendale, CA, and they replaced all 8 COPs, no questions asked, under my extended warranty. They evidently didn't replace anything but the coils, as that's all that's on the service ticket. Boots and gaskets must have still been good after 57,000 miles.

[bwlewis]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

My "other" car (daily driver) is an '01 Crown Vic with about 140K. Service records indicate a compaint of a miss or stumble since 40K...no one can seem to find the problem. It usually shows up when it's damp or raining and with a slight strain on the engine. I feel its a cop problem (no pun intended) but the mechanics don't see it that way.

[Sweet T]

Re: HELP!!!....Cops problem?

Relieved to hear the service guy tell me that they don't need to see a code to find a bad coil.

Not sure how they do it, he didn't say and I didn't ask.

They hook it up to a diagnostic machine, shows how all the cyclinders are working. I remember when my first one went, they let me out in the repair bay to show me the car was running perfect after the COP replacement....right before our eyes, a second one failed.

If at all possible, have them replace all four on whatever side yours is on....or at the very least, I have them replace the boots and add dielectric grease to the ones they won't replace while the bank is open.