My pop just bought a 2000 F150 4x4 7700 series for 5k with 150k miles from the original owner (I personally believe he stole it at that price).


Well the domino effect is had a misfire out of nowhere, plugged in my 80 scan tool from harbour freight (man I love that tool! It has helped me alot!) found out it was a cylinder 3 misfire. I have had alot of experience with this (worked in mechanics shops and now own my own mobile mechanic business) we pulled into auto zone, bought a coil slapped it on problem fixed for then.

Dad called today saying the truck started acting the same way as it did when cylinder 3 went out, the CEL flashed, went off then all was well.

I honestly think that one may be caused by bad fuel or and plugging fuel filter but it may be a domino effect of the coils which is known to happen.

So my question is, best place to get coils other than motor craft? I know motor craft is the best OEM part to go back with in this case but we are looking bang for our buck!

i have found a few sets of coils (all 8) on Amazon for anywhere between 45 bucks to 75 bucks, that is the route we are leaning towards.

Has anyone had any luck with them?

Please let me know yalls opinions!

I greatly appreciate it in advance!

 

Ol Blue (My 84) and pops 7700




I figured I would include a couple pictures of the truck since I'm making a post about it.

Again thank you in advance!

 

You may not think this as help but you need to begin to do a better job of diagnostics on later model vehicles.
Get your self a good "Scanner" not a reader, if you don't have one.
One that can look at live data, at the least and understand the descriptions.
Don't go with any kind of domino effect or similar thinking because it leads to waited time and parts investments.
Service for the problem indicated by a Scanner and codes.
That requires a knowledge of the code descriptions beyond just the wording.
.
Now to your issues; what is the code or cylinder involved?
For ignition failures, it's not always the coil.
Codes 30x are secondary side failures involving the coil 'boot' and spark plug.
Codes 35x indicate the primary side of the circuit all the way back to the computer coil driver. This includes the coil, the connector, the harness, the computer main plug and the driver.
.
Changing a coil for a boot failure would be over kill unless you want to do it that way. Be sure to use dielectric grease on the boot tip and inside the tip a short distance.
Coils: Go with OEM Ford, GM etc. Do not go with cheap sets such as ACCELL.
A coil can show up as intermittent misfires in Over Drive and low throttle and still not set a code. For this type failure you need a good Scanner to look at the misfire monitor counts for the cylinder with the high counts.
.
Part of the above will impact on your reputation as a mobile service if you don't do the best you can do and use reliable parts and service..
.
Find out what the failure type is, understand it, then service for that failure.
Since you cannot project what will fail next, going beyond is questionable unless the customer agrees.
All the above is based on your first post as I have no other info on your experience levels.
Good luck.

 

I've used the cheaper coils in 3 different trucks. they seem to work fine. for how long? I put the first ones on about 9 months ago the second truck about 5 or 6 months ago and I put one on my truck maybe 2 months ago.
I believe I got the $45 set off Amazon.
I'd buy them again. I know some think it's nuts but I have plenty of spare time and they're not that hard to change.
I also tend to not keep vehicles that long.

 

thank you for answering my question! I didnt respond earlier cause i refuse to be talked down tol as in im ignorant and dont condone that sort of behavior.

The reply is appreicated

 

75three90....... I don't think Bluegrass was talking down to you. He happens to be an excellent resource, I believe factory trained... His knowledge comes on a little strong sometimes, but he means you no disrespect.. You would be surprised the number of guys that come no this site and say they have put on $500. worth of parts, never fixed the problem, and really never checked the codes to determine what was wrong.
---
........ that being said, I also have bought 3-4 sets of the $75 coils on e-bay or other in the past 10 years. Original equip normally goes 150K miles before you loose 1-2 coils. With the cheapos , I loose one every 25K miles .. I only drive 12K per year so I loose one every couple years. I keep a full set in stock. Only takes 10 minutes to switch one out. I have done this on 3 different trucks. If you don't mind doing a little maint, you can save some $$.. If your driving 30K per year, it might be better to have factory units.

 

Thanks steve, i have had "domino" effects in the past with customers cars (which both in mechanic shops and my own business, i own a mobile mechanic business) after the cylinder 3 miss fire and i replaced the coil (my thinking if its a boot the coil is already off) the CEL would flash then the truck would hick up then go back to smooth running, never a pending or stored code, it was all at random. I left my scanner plugged in and ran 1/2 a tank out and it never happend again, filled up with fresh gas, drove about 150 miles, no flashing CEL no hick ups, changed the fuel filter (for good measure) filled it back up and still no problem, i have chalked it up to bad gas

 

To be sure, no criticism intended.
On intermittent issues and trying to run a business you would want to cover as many bases as practical to protect yourself and repair the customer issues.
Often it makes decision based on time, customer preference and other considerations.
Intermittent misfires can be due to moisture in the plug well, pin holes or splits in the boot, internal boot spring hung up inside the boot, spark plug porcelain cracks, coil defects.
.
A good check running the motor after repairs for enough time after a code clear is to look at mode 6, test 53.
This allows viewing the misfire monitors for each cylinder.
This should allow any issue in the above to be seen as a proof check it is cleared or still present.
Note that not every cylinder will always be free of misfires but will tell you if an unacceptable limit has been reached even if you can't feel it or have a CEL/code registered.
Good luck.

 

Might be a little late, but I've been running (8) "amazon" coils on my grand marquis for ~ 4 yrs and ~50k miles. They've all been good, except one boot cracked and caused an intermittent stutter. Luckily I kept all the old coils/boots and swapped the bad boot out. All has been good since.

 

You are correct, your Dad stole that truck.!I am envious - I have the same truck, same color, 2001, body has seen a lot of New York State winters , no where near as clean as that one.

Good luck with it!

John