Possibly Bad Ignition Coil... Weird?

[Cali' Explorer]

Hey all. In my on going effort to get my 5.0 Explorer running right, I decided tonight to check my Ignition coils to see if there was a problem there (after some really noisy pinging sounds while driving today).

To my Dismay, when I checked my First coil I got no Resistance on anything. I tried multiple times and even busted out some test resistors to ensure that the Multimeter was working ok, it is.

What I'm wondering is, would the car still even run if the coil had no resistance? It was dark tonight so I'm going to try checking tomorrow again but I just wanted to get your opinions.

It would be nice if this was my problem and finally solved my bloddy knocking/pinging noise under load. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[jimbo74]

yup... the explorer uses a distributerless ign system... it actually uses groups of coil packs.. it is possible one of them wnet out..... i broke a top of one of mine, and the v6 still ran on 5 cylinders... but it was noisy under acc.... going slow i almost didnt notice it... but i had a flowmaster 40 dump... so i couldnt hear much....

 

[Cali' Explorer]

That sounds almost exactly like what I get. At idle I am getting a little noise, but can't tell if its ignition or the valves or what. Under acceleration, it still accelerates but its noisy as sin. The engine almost sounds like its growling in the cab with the windows up. Does it at any speed. If you are cruising, its fine, only under a load.

I'll check it again in the AM and if its still bad, I'll go buy a couple of MSD Replacement Coils, check their resistance, and if all good, in they go.

It would really be nice for this to fix it, woohoo!

 

[Cali' Explorer]

Well, some more news (not necessarily good or bad). I checked resistance on the primary and secondary coils for both Coils.

Primary Coils came up (3) 1.3 ohms and (1) 1.1 ohms. According to my Haynes manual, the range for the primary should be between 0.6 ohms and 1.0 ohms. It also says if its outside this range at all, to replace them.

Secondary Coils came up (3) 13.56k ohms and (1) 13.25k ohms. According to my Haynes manual, the range for the secondary should be between 6.5 and 11.5k ohms. This too is way outside the range.

So, to confirm that everything was kosher, I went and picked up a Borg Warner replacement coil and checked the resistances. Primary's Came up 1.0 ohms even on both and Secondary's came up 11.3k ohms on both.

Has anyone else checked the resistance on the coils, or could they? I just want to make sure that my numbers are as far out as they are (my multimeter is new and has proven to be accurate to within about 5%).

I researched pricing. Stock Motorcraft Coils are $114 from Ford, the lowest I have seen them for is $95.00 on Ford Parts Network. The other option is either MSD or Accel. Both sells aftermarket 4-Tower Coils for the Ford DIS systm. Has anyone used these before? I could get two Accels for the same price as a single Motorcraft or two MSD's for just a little more.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

 

[performancenut]

I run dual accels with an ignition boosting system. Works real well; was an exact fit and no wire connectivity issues. I'd recommend the accel based on cost, efficiency, fitment, and practical experience.

 

[Cali' Explorer]

Cool deal. Has anyone heard anything about the MSD? I personally have had more experience with MSD, but the Accel is about $10 - $15 cheaper.

Performancenut, what ignition boosting system are you using, or do you just mean that the Accel's run the higher power/voltage?

 

[performancenut]

:exp: Kenne Bell boost-a-spark and heavy gauge plug wires. Coupled with the KB Boost-a-pump and a lightning fuel pump it really improves fuel management and ignition efficiency- which translates into usable performance and horsepower. Mustangs have to take a second look; especially with a 125 juice shot.

 

[Cali' Explorer]

Well, bought the Accel's yesterday from Summit, got them in this morning, and this afternoon they are installed. The X definately runs better overall. I still have some exhaust leaks, but I've already got the gaskets for that, just have to find the time now.

This cured a couple of problems as far as I can tell, but I will have to wait until tomorrow to make sure. The problems I was experiencing was loud pinging, almost sounded like the Rockers were clacking and not getting oil. Since I've only put about 3 miles on the new coils, and I reset the ECU when I did it, I can't say which cured it for sure, but I at least know the coils are good now.

Tomorrow I am going to clean the MAF after I go get a Security Torx Bit and some new Torx Screws (I jacked mine up trying to get them off with the Needle Nose Pliers).