Earlier this week I took my expedition to the shop to get some coils replaced. I've replaced 2 already, and since I was getting a random hard misfire, but no codes, I just got 6 coils and said to replace the other 6.

Well, they did and didn't. They didn't know which ones were new, so they replaced one of my new ones and kept one of my old ones. My fault, I didn't tell them. Luckily the old one was #5, and they kept all of my coils so I was able to salvage the #7 which was relatively new.

So I swapped out old #5 with newer #7 which only has about 30k miles on it. Easy peasy - 5 minute job.

So looking at my records, my other "new" coil was #4, but it has about 70k miles on it so I thought id just replace it while I was at it and I had another brand new coil on hand.

Big mistake.

I had a heck of a time getting the electrical connector to come free, but I dis get it off. But, I dont have any combination of wrenches or extensions that will snake around the coolant lines and fit under the cowel. Well, no big deal, ill just live with it for now and put the clip back on.

Yeah right .... Now the clip wont go back on. I've pushed on it so hard my fingers are bruised but it wont clip back on. It is on, but I'm not sure it is going to stay. Just can't see in there or feel what is wrong but something is physically keeping it from going all the way on.

So, all of this at 6pm tonight 2 days before I drive 6hours to try and murder a turkey.

I called the shop and told them I was in a bind and need them to look at it tomorrow if at all possible. Thankfully they said they could squeeze it in sometime during the day.

So, in the end in going to have 7 new coils, and hopefully nothing else wrong with the harness side of the connector.

I really hate working on this truck......

 

I feel your pain. I made the mistake, about 30 or 40 thousand ago, of replacing most of my coils (one I left the original since I was tired of playing around with them, 2 others had been changed previously), but not changing plugs. Now my plugs are coming to 100k on them, and were misfiring.

I've got 6 of them changed so far - the back 2 on the passenger side, I have not gotten to yet. Hopefully this weekend, when I have a buddy over to help me out.

Incidentally, the last time I changed coils, I managed to break the clips on one or 2 of the connectors... They would not click home any longer, and could be pulled off without pushing on the button or whatever, but never came off. Hopefully, that's the worst case for your #4.

 

Wire ties (zip ties) are your friend.

 

That was "plan c".

Getting a new coil back there is going to make me feel better though. Just wish I would have done the plugs at the same time, but I was running out of money......

They've got 70k on them .. Should be good for another year or so, yes? Another 20k miles?

 

The longer you wait, they're more likely to break if they're the original 2-piece ones. If they have been replaced before with upgraded plugs, and with anti-seize, then breakage shouldn't be a concern anymore and you can probably use them until 100k unless you have misfires.

 

i had the plugs changed about 70,000 miles ago. the shop used the 1-piece champions, so there should't be any problems with breaking .... but today wasn't the day to take a chance.

so i drop it off this morning and tell what i did and to just replace #4 with the new coil i had. they said no problem and called me about 3:00 saying it was done. i was working about an hour away, so i finished up with that and went down to get it when i was done. got it paid for, another $50, and headed out. noticed a bit of a misfire right away, but sometimes it does that after running it for just a minute and shutting it off, so i head out.

misfire doesn't go away, so i turn around right away and let them know. they have me pull it in and the shop owner notices right away that the connector for #4 isn't seated properly. one of his techs tries to get it seated and then stops and tells the owner, i'm not pushing on it any harder or i'm going to break it. so the owner comes over and gets the clip to seat --- just as he breaks the connector off the coil.

so he calls NAPA and tells them get get a coil coming ASAP. pulls the coil and as soon as the new part gets there he starts hooking everything back up. the clip still won't seat, though. finally figured out that it was the rubber gasket that was keeping it from clipping onto the coil. at that point (closing time) about the only thing to do was pull the gasket out and see if that helps. it did and they got it clipped on there.

fire it up and ---- misfire still. WTH !?!? it was purring like a kitten this morning when i dropped it off. so one of their older techs (really good all around mechanic) hooks up the scanner and looks at the cylinder balance. #5 is showing random misfires.

so, #5 is now wearing the coil from #7 which only has 30,000 miles on it, so it should be fine, but as a shot at geting it to run right, we put the old #4 (70,000 miles old) on #5. still misfire on #5, appears to be worse than before. worse at idle in gear, better under load, so i quickly called the NAPA on the way home and had them set out a new coil for me and drove like the wind to get there before they close. $70 later i own another new coil and a new spark champion plug, just in case the new coil doesn't fix the #5 misfire, i could throw the plug on it in case it is a cracked plug.

so i pull the #5 and i take a shot at pulling the plug. it moves but makes a sound i didn't like and i start thinking "what the hell are you doing, you've already effed it up enough" so i snug the plug back up and put the new coil on and tell myself "it is as good as it is going to get, and it ain't going to be any worse than it has been for the last several months"

by all appearances, it is running as smooth as it ever has, so i think i had a series of coils that just didn't like the #5 plug. but the new one seems to be fine, so it will get me to the hills and i can worry about the plugs sometime that is NOT one day before i have to leave.

so .... here's where i am, in rough numbers.
6 new coils = $250
1 new wheel bearing = $280
installing 6 coils and wheel bearing = $250
one more coil = $50
installing one more coil = $50
one more coil and plug = $70
installing one more coil = FREE (SCORE!!!)

so ..... i've got about another $900 into keeping the truck
which KBB says is worth $1800 on trade.

sigh ....

but a replacement is between $15k-$20k to get anything newer with less miles ....


sigh ...

 

Mike, Rockauto is your friend:

2004 FORD EXPEDITION 5.4L V8 Ignition Coil | RockAuto


Also, these trucks are easy to work on. Save yourself a lot of money

 

If you own a stepladder and have long arms.

 

Clearly, peoples definition of "easy to work on" varies .

I've tried to work on it, and quite frankly, every time has been a failure.

JMO, but this is easily the my least favorite vehicle to try and do simple repairs. Second only, perhaps, to our Subaru outback H6.

I will say though, #5 isn't too bad to work on. The rest, though, his everything is too tight.

 

I recently traded my 2005 Navigator with 160k miles on it for a black 2006 Navi' with 87k. I started to change the spark plugs on Sunday. The trick to removing the coil packs on the passenger side rear (3 & 4) is to remove the computer (PCM). It's a 5 minute job for the 'puter.

Cylinders 1 & 2 had new coil packs, the rest looked original. I got Cylinder 1 plug out, it was the new one piece design. Everything went downhill from there. The rest of the plugs must be original from 2006. 2 of them snapped off. The other 5 are in various states of removal (sprayed with PB Blaster and soaking) while I wait for a new Lisle 65700 Ford 3V Spark Plug Extractor kit to arrive. I'm hoping to minimize the breakage and related time to repair.

Update: 2 more plugs successfully removed after soaking with PB Blaster for 2 days. So the count is 4 plugs successfully removed. 2 remain very stubborn (Cylinder 4 & 8). 2 broken off and the tips still stuck in the head (Cylinder 2 & 3). My Lisle Plug Extractor is happily sitting in the office waiting for duty.

 

Finally got around to changing the number 5 plug. Its been running ok with only am occasional misfire at idle in gear. If it was misfiring any other time, I couldn't detect it.

It's not as bad as I thought, but it looks like they are all due. I let it idle in gear a while and it felt better, but time will tell.

I didn't measure the gap on the new one, but the old one measured 0.058"












Both platinum tips almost completely gone

These have about 70k on them. Might do them one by one as time allows. We will see. The easy one was easy but the rest are going to be a bear.

 

You didn't check the gap on a new spark plug before installing it?

 

wow...did my plugs wires and COIL PACKS...no c.o.p.

my plugs looked way better then that. i had about 40,000. my problem was wire on 3 was ruined,burned. changed everything anyway...

 

No, I didn't. I figured they are specifically for the trition so they should be close. I'm thinking I'm going to do them all here as time allows, and ill probably go with the motorcraft since I was never really happy with the champions. But as a stop gap to buy me the time and money to get it done, I just threw it in.

Honesty at the time I didn't even think about it, and I'm not even sure what the gap should be. I was just hoping to make it run better and it seems to be for now.

I have to admit, I was a little surprised how much wear the plug had. These are supposed to be a 100k mile plug. But it is beginning to look like that is under ideal conditions. If you actually use the truck, it looks like 60-70k is a better interval.

 

In theory you're correct. However, there's always that one day at the spark plug gapping plant, where that one guy who's wife of 30 years walked out the night before and moved in with his best friend...