Our luck ran out on the '02......

[MerlotBlue]

......... fired up both cars this week after 3 months in the garage for the winter.

Drove my '04 around town a few times and my wife ran her '02 to work a couple of times and then it finally happened...... at 61,000 miles on her ride home from shopping in Portsmouth yesterday.

She got further along than most I guess.

Anyway.

A picture tells the story better than words.






I've kept 8 new coils and plugs on a shelf in the garage for when this finally happened......for those of us who own '02s we're on our own here so it just seemed prudent.

Yesterday marks 9 years and 61,000 miles before the first coil went out......all in all.......probably not much to complain about over it.

Since it didn't throw a code the best I could do was hit or miss.

Unfortunately after changing the passenger's side the miss and stumble was still there so in the end I did the other side and all 8 have been replaced.

I'm mixed on how I feel about it the job couldn't have been easier, the car runs GREAT again. It took approximately 2 hours total for both sides and that included some cleaning up of dirty plastic that I had neglected.

I guess I'm glad to know we're starting from "like new" again, seems like after that first coil goes others are soon to follow.......but it's a shame the car has to fall on it's face almost completely before it'll throw a code.





I was amazed at how badly it stumbled yet still wouldn't indicate a read-able problem.

[mexibird]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

Steve,

Just curious. Did you replace the COPs with Ford OEM? Seems like we have a couple of other options with Borg Warner and Weapon X. I've seen other threads where replacement Ford COPs went bad, but I haven't seen anyone complain of problems with the BWDs, and of course the Weapon X COPs are just becomming available.

-- Bob

[ThunderBubba]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

Yeah I'll second that question. What did you go with for the replacement COP's? Also did you look down in the plug wells for oil? If not, you'll be back in there again. I had to have the gasket replaced after finding oil in the front 2 plug wells.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

Yeah, everything looked good. No sign of contamination.

I used the motorcraft part. Got 'em from Rock Auto a couple of years ago in preparation for when "the day" inevitably came along.

If any of these fail again in anything that seems like an unreasonably short time......then I'll consider a different coil manufacturer.

Interestingly enough, I bought this car nearly 6 years ago, I did notice that all the original coils seemed to still be in place so I'm confident in saying this was the first failure of a coil in this car.

I'd go in for the weapon X coil if they are priced right and we get an indication of their superiority but the fact is I'm leery.

If I had a nickle for the problems I've experienced in the past with "performance ignition systems" ......... well not to exaggerate but I bet I'd have at least 50 cents to a dollar! I can only remember but one stock ignition system in any car or truck I ever owned over the years that had a problem......and that happened ONE TIME in 12 years of owning the car.

More seriously though...... the effort to get a Hotter, fatter spark doesn't always seem to translate well on the road to better reliability.

For me the verdict is still out on Weapon X.

[BirdofPrey]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

I'm at the same stage as you are with nearly 59000 km's on the odometer. I'm replacing all 8 coils next week. Number 2 was replaced last year in the spring and when I stored the car last year, another coil was giving me issues. I don't want to play this game so they're all coming off and I'll save # 2 as a spare. The coils from my local Ford delearship are $83.95 each. When Weapon X are available and proven to be reliable, I'll switch.

By the way, the igniton cover on the drivers side is a real pain to remove. The passenger side is easier to do but only if the intake is removed first.

[mexibird]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

The Borg Warner coils are about $50 ea. at Advance Auto -- apparently cheaper than both Ford and Weapon X. I'd be interested in anybody's experience replacing all 8 with the Borg Warners.

-- Bob

[04birdman]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

see post #53...PCM problem....enough said.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

I'm at the same stage as you are with nearly 59000 km's on the odometer. I'm replacing all 8 coils next week. Number 2 was replaced last year in the spring and when I stored the car last year, another coil was giving me issues. I don't want to play this game so they're all coming off and I'll save # 2 as a spare. The coils from my local Ford dealership are $83.95 each. When Weapon X are available and proven to be reliable, I'll switch.

By the way, the igniting cover on the drivers side is a real pain to remove. The passenger side is easier to do but only if the intake is removed first.

Actually the drivers side and passenger side were about equal on time. I can't say one side was any harder or more time consuming than the other really.

The pictures I put up were before I really got into it. The passenger side is already open and if you look the air intake pieces already disconnected just enough to get he clearance I needed.

On the driver's side the only issue was the Vapor management valve. Removing the plastic cover and unbolting the two bolts that attach it to the support allowed me to manipulate it into position that gave me enough room to work in. Like the intake assembly on the other side there was no need to disconnect it completely. Pushing it up and out of the way a few inches was enough to get the room I needed.

Again this really is a VERY simple job. The only REAL problem is found in the idea that with out a code....... it's hit or miss.

Unfortunately I picked the wrong side to do first and wound up doing all 8 before finding the defective coil on the driver' side.

Truth is I still don't know for sure which one was the culprit or if it was more than one. The car did seem to run a little better when I took it out after changing just the passenger's side.

Wasn't back to normal and running perfectly 'till I'd done all 8.

Tomorrow I'll be looking at the weapon X and Rock Auto both. Gotta put replacements on a shelf again.

It kinda sucks but I just chalk this little expense up to part of the T-Bird experience.

The '04 has both an extended warranty and the Ford 10/100,000 game going on but on the '02 it's my problem and I'm determined to NEVER take this car to a dealer or shop for this repair.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

The Borg Warner coils are about $50 ea. at Advance Auto -- apparently cheaper than both Ford and Weapon X. I'd be interested in anybody's experience replacing all 8 with the Borg Warners.

-- Bob

Rock Auto's price is still under $50 two years later after I bought the set I just installed. $45.79 for the Motorcraft DG529.

This is the updated version of the coil from Ford (At least that's what I was told, 2 years ago, when I asked why they still have both the original part number for sale and the new number at slightly different prices)

Are these actually better?

Hey, only time will tell.

[ThunderBubba]

Re: Our luck ran out on the '02......

The Borg Warner coils are about $50 ea. at Advance Auto -- apparently cheaper than both Ford and Weapon X. I'd be interested in anybody's experience replacing all 8 with the Borg Warners.

-- Bob

They also come with a lifetime warranty so if they fail you can get them replaced at no charge.