2014 f150 ecoboost. Anyone experience going through ignition coils? It seems to be worse while towing at higher elevations but not always. FORD IS OF NO HELP!

 

Sure it's coils?? Ecoboost has a nasty track record for spark blowout. Do you have the 1/16" weep hole in the intercooler? What spark plugs do you have, what gap are they, and when were they last changed?

 

Im thinking its the coils because when i get a cylinder misfire code i replace just the coil and its fine until a different one goes out. I do not have the 1/16 dia weep hole in the intercooler? supposedly i have the latest updated intercooler. I have had the spark plugs replaced several times with stock plugs. I will try the weep hole but wonder if it will make difference because i thought it only affected the spark plugs? I was thinking that it overheating would cause the coils to fail. I have a new duel core radiator to put in to hopefully stop the over heating problem and a new MSD coil pack plus plugs to try. Any thoughts?

 

I don't think I've ever heard of someone going through coils like that, I think you're misdiagnosing the problem. How many miles are on the truck?

Moisture in the CAC isn't your problem if the issue is towing at high altitudes. Times like that you're operating under heavy boost, and moisture gets blown through the CAC as fast as it can enter. You mentioned overheating problems as well?

 

Tom i am kind of at a loss as to what is causing so many coils to go bad. Almost all of the time it happens is when vacationing out west in colorado towing a motorcycle trailer or snowmobile trailer at higher elevations. I am not one hundred percent sure which happens first,the miss fire or over heating. They both seem to be related. Unfortunately because of the way the temperature gage is set up i can't catch the over heating until its already happened. Then it goes into limp mode. Thats when it seems like i get miss firing cylinders.

 

This is definitely your problem. Drill the 1/16" weep hole, drive for a few miles hard, then change your plugs. Get new Motor craft sp534 gapped .030. keep in mind these need changed every 30k miles.

 

Are you getting a misfire code? Sounds to me like failsafe cooling is operating as designed.



I don't think you're even in the right ballpark. If he's moving enough air to overheat, there's absolutely no way that water is accumulating in his CAC.

 

Please be more descriptive about truck, odometer reading, work load, etc.

Is this all happening right now in the winter time? How are you diagnosing your coil failures / misfire events?

Is the cooling fan cycling as it should?

Is the thermostat functioning properly? Could it be stuck partially open and not allowing enough coolant to flow? Has the cooling system been recently flushed, an air bubble perhaps? Is your transmission temp rising as well?

I've never heard of spark blowout on an ecoboost.

I've never even heard of an early V-10 going through coils like this let alone an ecoboost.

 

I would look at your coil connectors and see if any of the red tabs are broken.

 

Really? There is a ton of feedback across all the forums discussing the ecoboost misfire which come from intercooler condensate blowing out spark under boost. This is what prompted a government investigation into the misfire and Ford's multiple tsb's to address the problem. Ford could not fix this design issue within their means, so owners figured out that they needed to keep the condensate out of the intercooler. Only way was the 1/16" weep hole that all ecoboost platforms have adopted. Ford could not make this true fix due to the EPA... Can't discharge an oily mix to the ground as a manufacturer. Vehicle owners can do that.

 

OK, I found some references to your description. I've never heard it called spark blow out nor have I ever read that on here. The spark plug blow out that I found on two different sites were referring to tuned engines. I have to agree with the 1/16th weep hole in the cac, it'll mitigate any moisture related misfire events.

The main issue that I'm having with this thread now is that the OP hasn't responded to any questions or comments.

 

Sorry about the slow response. I have 120k on the truck now. Ever since it was new i have had problems with it over heating and ignition coils going out. All scheduled maintanense has been preformed at the dealer. I have read about the 1/6 die hole but the dealer said i had the latest inner cooler update which should fix that, also I thought that the moisture from the inner cooler took out the plugs and not the coils? Just before my a snowmobiling trip in February I purchased a OBDII tooI to monitor the coolant temp. This is what observed. Pulling a 6000 lbs snowmobile trailer traveling from Illinois to Wyoming i could see the coolant temp fluxuate between 185 degrees to 215 degrees. I assume the thermostat is working properly? At around 8000 feet above sea level going up a slight grade the coolant temp would start to rise. At about 212 degrees i could here the low speed fan turn on. At about 228 degrees i could here the high speed fan turn on. The coolant temp would continue to rise until an over heating condition. At some point some of the cylinders would miss fire. The misfiring would continue until those coils were replaced later that day. This has happened to me in the summer time,winter time,at 55mph,or at 10mph. Pulling at higher elevations is when it over heats. My thought is that under higher demands the turbos are generating more heat then the cooling system can get rid of?

 

Are you towing in 6th up the hill? Does your scanner tell you how much boost you are building? Is your truck tuned?
After you had an over heat condition, does the truck miss fire as your driving nice and easy or more aggressively?

 

6th,5th,or 4th gear it does not seem to make a difference. The scanner shows that it is producing boost up to 15 lbs or so. Stock,no tune. The truck will continue to miss fire under even under slight load.

 

AFAIK,
Excessive heat will kill coils.
As will excessive plug gaps.