This car has a lot of history behind it (things i've fixed), but i'll keep it simple to start just to see if anyone else has has this issue or has any ideas on what could be causing it. 1 coil pack (i think it's #1 cylinder, farleft rear side of engine) keeps dying - no visible signs of anything wrong, just stops working. I haven't dug too far into it this time around except for replacing the coil pack to fix the issue. Last time this happened was over 2000 miles ago. Sparkplugs were replaced probably 3000 miles ago maybe less... I guess i already know the general answer "something is wrong with that cylinder, diagnose it", but i'd like to see if anyone has had a similar issue and what their experience was? Compression, sparkplug, electrical issue, pcm? Any tips or advice before is start digging?

Thanks

 

Where did you get your coil? Also what spark plugs are you running?

 

Replacement coil packs (i think this is the 3rd one i've replaced) were from a junkyard vehicle. As for the plugs... I can't remember, but i "think" they were whatever Autozone recommended (before i knew much about TL's) - i'll have to check. I havn't looked at the plug yet this time around, but the last time i checked it looked ok, the gap was right, and it was getting spark. Wondering if maybe bad compression on that cylinder could cause the coil to slowly fail until it dies? I verified all the injectors were working the last time I was in that deep (2000+ miles ago).

 

Junkyard parts are always a crapshoot when it comes to electrical parts. Are you sure the coil is bad? Did your Check Engine light come on with a misfire code?

A new NGK coil is $50 at AZ with a lifetime guaranty or order from Rockauto for less.

Whatever coil you buy, swap it with another cylinder so the "bad" cylinder uses another old coil and see what happens.

 

OEM ignition coils are crap and should be replaced with cheap aftermarket ones, in a set of six....

 

Interesting advice.

 

That's some $600 dollar advice right there! oof!

 

317K miles on my original crap coil packs!

 

Dude, how do you figure; most OEM coil packs easily exceed 200,000 miles of use; cheap aftermarket units often don't last a quarter of that distance.

 

Aftermarket AND OEM ignition coils are all crap, but the crap*dollar factor is better on the aftermarket ones since they're 1/6 the price yet last 1/2 as long. Keep spares!

 

So the time to replace coils is just not counted because? Do you just keep extra crap parts in your trunk so when you're misfiring, you just pull over and swap? Sounds like a great plan to me..

 

The only spares you need to keep onboard are a main relay and a couple of ignition coils. But they shouldn't be "crap parts."
(Chasing random misfires codes right now....)

 

Might I suggest a DENSO/OEM Coil pack

 

Sorry, experience says otherwise. The coils in my TL are factory original at 160,000 miles, five of the six coils in the V6 Accord I just donated had over 200,000 miles on them. My experience is not even remotely unique.

Simply buy Hitachi or Denso coils and call it a day, errr, unless you like pissing your money away on cheap coils you need to replace more often than spark plugs.

 

My spark plugs already went way further than one or two of my oem coils: 152k v 111k.
But I will reconsider better coils, as I'm usually a strong proponent for oem parts. The Wells brand coils I put in at 111k now seem suspect at 156k...

 

Update:

Since I posted this and replaced the coil pack, it hasn't died yet. I'm starting to think it dying may have something to do with one of the radiator fans... it looks like one was has been replaced as it is noticeably bigger than the other and has splices in the wiring harness.When the fans kick on the RPMS *can* change to a higher idle and feels like the car is misfiring a little... doesn't seem to effect anything while driving though. The only other thing that i know is wrong with the car is its throwing codes for both o2 sensors (probably catalytic converter is bad) - but i don't think that would cause this issue.

 

RPM's will fluctuate a bit as the car goes into a different load state and the Idle control adjusts your system to maintain proper RPM's. Car's (like humans) tend to compensate for something missing, broken or not functioning properly in strange ways, I would look into getting the o2 issues addressed to clear out any CEL lights and get your car running in it's intended state.

 

Thank you for the advice!