Daughter drove out the 10 miles on Mothers day and when she got here she said her truck was running very badly and "shaking". Check engine light was blinking. Knowing a blinking CEL needs immediate attention I pulled the codes and got a Cyl 3 misfire.

Pulled the #3 coil (coil on plug) and it had a hole blown the rubber boot and the plastic insulator just above the plug end. Pulled the plug and it was worn badly and 10k over spec on the gap.

I closed the gap to just below spec and filled the burnt hole in the coil and boot with dielectric grease and wrapped it with as many wraps of a good electrical tape as would still fit in the hole... about 10 or 12 layers.

It worked...

I figure the combination of lowering the electrical resistance by closing the plug gap and taping over the blowout was just enough to stop the arcing.

New coil and plugs ordered... but the Procrastinator in me is tempted to see just how long it will continue to work.

"A permanent fix is a temporary fix that worked"
Feel free to share your emergency fixes that became permanent.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
New coil and plugs ordered... but the Procrastinator in me is tempted to see just how long it will continue to work.

I wouldn't. High resistance means it'll find another path and probably very soon. Plus you already spent the money, get the benefits.


Good on you for the repair. Fixing stuff for $0 plus knowledge and ingenuity. I love this sort of stuff and it is very satisfying when it works.

Had a friend years ago with a similar problem. Had the basic Chevy truck (1970’s).

“Runs great except when it rains”. “I put new plugs and wires in it, sometimes it just stops when it rains, can’t start it.”

So we’re out on an errand, in the rain. Truck goes through a big puddle. We stop. I lift the hood. “OK, try to start it!” I see exciting, blue colored sparks flitting over the engine block. “Stop!” I pull a plug wire... easily.... too easily. They weren’t pressed tightly on to the plugs. Water had grounded everything. Pressed all until they clicked in place. Problem solved.

It won't fail......until she's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay away from home.

There are cheap wire sets out there that are just junk to begin with.

I have heard of and personally experienced this.

I had symptoms and problems that seemed ignition related. I had changed cap rotor and wires plus new plugs and the symptom remained. Finally I started the car in a closed garage with the hood open and the light off.
It looked like a light show. I spent the premium on the factory replacement cap, rotor & wire set and voila. No more light show and symptom gone for good.

About 4 yrs ago had a coil go out on my Chevy. It was late in the afternoon and coming home from work so pulled into nearest repair shop to have it fixed. I think it was about 2-300.00 dollars. Paid it since it was my only transportation. Got home and ordered 6 new coils and plugs from Rock Auto. Went with Delco products since everyone is saying what crap the other aftermarket pieces are.

Replaced all except the new one. This past winter, the repair shop coil went out but I had the Delco spare.

Good way to ruin a catalytic converter. Cylinder does not fire, raw fuel into the cat.

When it glows red you'll know.

At 11 years and 162,000 miles on a 2009 Toyota Corolla, my coils are fine, but are starting to get worrisome. I just know one will take a dump 100 miles from home.

A little trivia about coil on plug: two wires on the connector are a hot and trigger; three wires are hot, trigger and ground; and four or more are because each coil has its own ignition module in it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

I’m impressed. Congratulations.

From the title, I thought you had a random car mechanic who didn’t rip you off for the repair.

Yea, I will change the parts as soon as I can get with my 18 year old grandson, a high school senior. I actually walked him through the trouble shooting and changes I made and will actually let him change the parts under my supervision... teaching moment for him. Win Win.

In the meantime the truck is running perfectly. No misfires and no codes thrown so far.

I spent a weekend tracking down a P1494 code and was able to fix it with $60 worth of parts from a junkyard.

This goes back to somewhere around 1972 when I was a mechanic/pump monkey for SOHIO. Had a jeep come in running like death warmed over. Checked the wiring against the firing order figuring it was some swapped plug wires, it wasn't the wires were connected properly. For some reason I still can't explain I decided to flip the lights off in the service bay. Holy cow, that distributor was lit up like a neon sign with blue arcing all over the surface. Seems that cap was just a bit dated, like 15 or 20 years old. Fortunately we actually had one in stock so installed the new cap and that four banger ran like a purring kitten.