Ignition coil failed

TommyAtomic

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2 Days ago the my 2019 XLT FX4 threw a CEL and started bucking under ANY attempt at acceleration. I made an appointment and dropped it off at the service dept this morning and 4 hours later they tell me one of my coil packs failed. Has anyone heard of this happening on their Ranger? Coil packs tend to be super reliable. Its really weird for one to fail. The truck doesnt have alot of miles on it because of 2020 Covid restrictions and other than some very light usage of gravel roads I havent had a chance to do much offroad use. Basically no real wear and tear.

Such an odd failure.

Also because coil packs are super reliable the dealer didnt have one in stock. So it'll be a day or two. Very odd.

Makes me think about aftermarket hardware. On older WRX's there was plenty of quality aftermarket selection for things like coil packs. And not once did I hear about abject failures like you have to deal with with OEM parts.

If I take this truck overlanding do I need to pack a couple of spare coil packs to be safe?
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Porpoise Hork

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You are correct. For the most part ignition coils are fairly reliable and exceedingly rare for one to fail on a low mileage engine, but having owned two VW's prior to the Ranger taught me an invaluable lesson. Ignition coil packs can and will go out at any time they feel like so it's worth keeping a spare in the truck at all times.

I must have replaced all the coil packs at least 2-3 times on my MkV GTI over the decade of ownership. I tried Bosch OEM, cheap Autozone/Advance Auto units (when in a pinch) to aftermarket performance and none of them were any more reliable than another.

Best thing is to get a cheap OBD2 code scanner, use an app like Torque (Android) with a compatible OBD2 adapter or comparable iOS app so you can scan codes see what cylinder is misfiring, the appropriate tools if needed to swap it out and keep them with you so you're not left stranded.
 

Jrel209

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2 Days ago the my 2019 XLT FX4 threw a CEL and started bucking under ANY attempt at acceleration. I made an appointment and dropped it off at the service dept this morning and 4 hours later they tell me one of my coil packs failed. Has anyone heard of this happening on their Ranger? Coil packs tend to be super reliable. Its really weird for one to fail. The truck doesnt have alot of miles on it because of 2020 Covid restrictions and other than some very light usage of gravel roads I havent had a chance to do much offroad use. Basically no real wear and tear.

Such an odd failure.

Also because coil packs are super reliable the dealer didnt have one in stock. So it'll be a day or two. Very odd.

Makes me think about aftermarket hardware. On older WRX's there was plenty of quality aftermarket selection for things like coil packs. And not once did I hear about abject failures like you have to deal with with OEM parts.

If I take this truck overlanding do I need to pack a couple of spare coil packs to be safe?
Probably too early to tell... hopefully the dealer/tech can find a root cause and rectify issue. If they cant..... lol id wait awhile before taking it to the mountains.
 

dtech

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You are correct. For the most part ignition coils are fairly reliable and exceedingly rare for one to fail on a low mileage engine, but having owned two VW's prior to the Ranger taught me an invaluable lesson. Ignition coil packs can and will go out at any time they feel like so it's worth keeping a spare in the truck at all times.

I must have replaced all the coil packs at least 2-3 times on my MkV GTI over the decade of ownership. I tried Bosch OEM, cheap Autozone/Advance Auto units (when in a pinch) to aftermarket performance and none of them were any more reliable than another.

Best thing is to get a cheap OBD2 code scanner, use an app like Torque (Android) with a compatible OBD2 adapter or comparable iOS app so you can scan codes see what cylinder is misfiring, the appropriate tools if needed to swap it out and keep them with you so you're not left stranded.
In automotive history was there any auto worse than VW for eating ignition coils ? Having said that I learned to carry a spare DI ignition assembly in the trunk of my Saabs which used a capacitive discharge ignition system that sits directly on a hot engine, avg lifespan around 50 k miles. Never crossed my mind to get a spare coil for the ranger though.
 

Porpoise Hork

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In automotive history was there any auto worse than VW for eating ignition coils ? Having said that I learned to carry a spare DI ignition assembly in the trunk of my Saabs which used a capacitive discharge ignition system that sits directly on a hot engine, avg lifespan around 50 k miles. Never crossed my mind to get a spare coil for the ranger though.

I can't say that the VW's are/were worse for coil pack failures, Mine just happened to be one that had long term issues. Others I know with the same gen. never had a single issue. It may just be a fluke that the his coil pack failed and there's really nothing to worry about. Only time will tell, but to me keeping one handy is never a bad idea.
 


dtech

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I can't say that the VW's are/were worse for coil pack failures, Mine just happened to be one that had long term issues. Others I know with the same gen. never had a single issue. It may just be a fluke that the his coil pack failed and there's really nothing to worry about. Only time will tell, but to me keeping one handy is never a bad idea.
goes back a ways but VW at one time was replacing coils for free - to avoid a safety mandated recall.

http://www.vwproblems.com/ignition-coil/
 

Big Blue

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You are correct. For the most part ignition coils are fairly reliable and exceedingly rare for one to fail on a low mileage engine, but having owned two VW's prior to the Ranger taught me an invaluable lesson. Ignition coil packs can and will go out at any time they feel like so it's worth keeping a spare in the truck at all times.
Agree, biggest problem with all the electronics in today's vehicles. Mileage/age really has nothing to do with failure. May fail the day after you drive it off the lot (infantile failure) or may last as long as you own the vehicle. Just luck of the draw. Some vehicles may have an inherent flaw causing the problem, like the VW issue. For the most part it's a crap shoot. Can't realistically carry every part that might fail, the one that breaks will always be the one you don't have.
 
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TommyAtomic

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Got the truck back today. Service sheet reads Coil replacement and sparkplug replacement. Seems like they also did an ECU reset so now it runs-like-I-stole-it (very aggressive throttle response). I assume that will level out as the ECU does some relearning.
 

Porpoise Hork

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goes back a ways but VW at one time was replacing coils for free - to avoid a safety mandated recall.

http://www.vwproblems.com/ignition-coil/
That campaign was for the Mk IV's. Both my Mk IV and V had issues with the coil packs. VW replaced them for free but still had issues even after that. Thus why I started keeping a spare in the back with the spare.
 

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Ah yes the VW coil pack days. That got my dad to design and build his own electronic ignition module. This was before any auto maker had them or any available in aftermarket. Now I’m going back aways here. Late 1960’s or so. He was pretty proud of himself knocking that one off. That bug had some serious get up and go afterwards too.
 

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2 Days ago the my 2019 XLT FX4 threw a CEL and started bucking under ANY attempt at acceleration. I made an appointment and dropped it off at the service dept this morning and 4 hours later they tell me one of my coil packs failed. Has anyone heard of this happening on their Ranger? Coil packs tend to be super reliable. Its really weird for one to fail. The truck doesnt have alot of miles on it because of 2020 Covid restrictions and other than some very light usage of gravel roads I havent had a chance to do much offroad use. Basically no real wear and tear.

Such an odd failure.

Also because coil packs are super reliable the dealer didnt have one in stock. So it'll be a day or two. Very odd.

Makes me think about aftermarket hardware. On older WRX's there was plenty of quality aftermarket selection for things like coil packs. And not once did I hear about abject failures like you have to deal with with OEM parts.

If I take this truck overlanding do I need to pack a couple of spare coil packs to be safe?
Experiencing this same issue currently with mine. There’s a TSB out about water getting into the spark plug and shorting out the coil. Ford could have saved money by installing the engine cover, but now they’ll have to eat the costs of replacing plugs, coils and installing a cover.
 
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TommyAtomic

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Experiencing this same issue currently with mine. There’s a TSB out about water getting into the spark plug and shorting out the coil. Ford could have saved money by installing the engine cover, but now they’ll have to eat the costs of replacing plugs, coils and installing a cover.
That tracks with my experience. I live in the cold and wet. Need to add engine cover.
 

tfisher15

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Experiencing this same issue currently with mine. There’s a TSB out about water getting into the spark plug and shorting out the coil. Ford could have saved money by installing the engine cover, but now they’ll have to eat the costs of replacing plugs, coils and installing a cover.
The engine cover does not provide a total solution. I have one and still had water get into the spark plug well and short out the plug.
 

Extreme01

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How in the world is water getting down there in the first place, are you guys washing and hosing down the engine bay..
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