COP's on 4.6L
 

What year did FORD start using COP's on 4.6L motors & stop using the pair of ignition modules mounted to front of cam covers?

Wow! Nearly 100 views & 12 hours, but none of those Ford Truck Enthusiasts know when Ford put COP's on 4.6 motors. No wonder I had trouble trying to distill that factoid from FORD lit.

1999 or 2000.

Look on Rock Auto, ignition coil, for E150 4.6. 1997 forward.

The 2000 coils are all COP's. 1999 interestingly has a mix of the old style coils and one or two COP listings. So I vote 2000 for sure but if you buy a 1999 look at the engine and you can see COP's from under the hood if they are there. (I changed #5 COP from under the hood.)

I doubt that many of us have owned a 4.6 from each year since they were made so it is not going to be a universal piece of knowledge.

The 1996 that I own does not have COPs.

Well of course not.

"The 1996" Econolines didn't even Triton 4.6/5.4 modular motors.

Good thing that "universal piece of knowledge" isn't necessarily linked to ownership. It's surprising how many Econolines are "owned" by folks who don't even know what motor is in the vehicle they're trying to sell.

I'd suspect somebody who has worked on a lot of '97 & up Econolines, or provided parts for a lot of '97 & up Econolines might have that "piece of knowledge" whether or not they've ever "owned" a single Econoline.

Tried looking at some online application searches & got mixed results. Some sites tried to put COP's on '97 & up 4.6L, another '04 & up.

FORD has probably documented which 4.6L motor S/N's got the 1st COP's?

From your comments perhaps the COP's were phased in separately on the Romeo & Windsor assembly lines?

I forgot they were not in the Econoline that year. Mine is obviously not in an Econoline.

Another quick look at Rock Auto shows 1999 F150's having primarily the old style coils in the listings (same as the vans) and the normal engine in the F150 was Windsor, whereas the vans got Romeos.

1999 Mustangs, which were Romeo engines, look like virtually all COP. I'm guessing that it may have been a wiring harness/car or truck model differentiation rather than purely Romeo/Windsor. (The van engines had a unique timing cover as well.) Hard to keep track of the players without a program, and even with a program, it's confusing.

I think you buy your particular van, and note what it has. I can't imagine COP vs non-COP is gonna make a buying decision difference...

Early Romeo PI heads also had a problem with rear cylinder valve stem cooling, just as a reminder. I got new heads for my '02 E150 under warranty based on a TSB that revealed the problem. I think they were revised by 2004.

I don't agree with your theory that people who work on 4.6's are gonna know offhand. They can look at the engine and order whatever coils or parts they need. Doubt they memorize years and details for each model of each brand. And it gets more confusing with the use of some Romeo engines in some pickups, etc, aluminum block Romeos in Mustangs, Explorers, and *some* Expeditions.

George