Judging by the previous posting dates. I think I will be here pounding my Pud for a long time waiting for a responce? Please help me, I am 53 and can not pound the pud like I used too
Junior Member 5/1/11 @ 4:20 Pacific Time, Ford F-350 misfire Problemo

 

I had this problem, and being a cash strapped pensioner looked for the easy way out. I bought a set of 10 ignition coils of eBay, Chinese of course but then the genuine Ford coils are probably made there and rebranded at ten times the price. Any way, these were $110 total for the 10, including shipping. I fitted them which wasn't easy as accessability is a problem with the van type body. Voila! The misfire was gone.
Good luck.

 

I had both the same, and similar, problems. Solved them all with some simple steps. I didn't buy new coils, since I believe they don't go bad as often as everyone thinks...they never have on my Jeep, or any Euro cars with COP I've had.

I started with a plug change, which is actually pretty easy, if you take your time, keep things clean, and pay attention to torque values...I used 13lb-ft on my plugs, since I've found both 12 and 14 lb-ft referenced. Just split the difference. The heads are no different that aluminum heads on, say, VWs or Audis...just take your time.

I replaced all the boots and connector springs. I had a radom misfire on bank two, as well as an intermittent lean run condition on bank two. Once I did the plug change and put in new boots and springs, the misfire went away.

As for the lean run, I simply zip tied all the injector connectors down. I didn't crank them down, but made sure they don't move. Lean run went away.

Pick away at the simplest things first. My lean run was simply a lack of fuel due to poor contact in injector connectors. My misfire was due to two corroded springs that conducted electricity when they felt like it. The new plugs were a bonus, and I got to know my way around the engine. If you do that and still have issues, then fool with new coils, but I've read enough accounts of guys putting in a whole new set of coils and the issue still persists.

Anyway, that is what I did to correct the issues I had. I spent a lot of time wondering if I needed new this and that, and finally went back to what I know from other cars with similar management systems, and it's always been something really simple...a wire, a plug, a boot, a seal. Rarely something major. I've been running strong since I did the above fixes, no issues, no lights, runs smooth as silk.

 

Unfortunately the Ford coils do go bad as often as people think and in fact it's worse than most people think! The real problem is that the things generally test good by standard resistance checks but tend to fail under load, once installed. The easiest way to check for this problem is to use a new coil to check the cylinders one at a time until the bad one is found and often it turns out to be more than one. It is NOT a case of bad plug/coil boots either since that is the first thing I and most people replace, I keep a few new ones on hand to test with since new boots come with the new coil. Since starting this thread and finding what was wrong with my truck I have since had to replace another one and several more for two friends of mine, I have collected a box full of these POS coils and I GUARANTEE each and every one of them will cause a miss-fire if installed! Ford has an extremely poor design here and it is not unheard of for people to be out over $1000 just for ignition problems that should not occur at the un-real rate they do, Ford really blew it on this one!

 

I believe there is a moisture problem getting to these coils and the resulting corrosion is raising he** with their function. Have you noticed any connection as to where the coils you replaced were located and could water have managed to get into the well where the coil is connected to the plug by weather stripping not keeping the water from getting in there? It would be very interesting if this were to be the case . I believe there is a recommendation when installing a new coil to use a good marine grease to keep this from happening .

 

My corroded spring connector was on Cyl #5, and a bit of corrosion was found on Cyl #2, so there isn't a clear path for other than atmospheric/condensation moisture, but since I live on the Oregon coast it's not a stretch to assume that a poor boot seal against the head would allow it in. There are a number of cars out there with deep plug wells in the heads which have no problem with debris or moisture because of good sealing. I'd hazard a guess and say a large percentage of what look like bad coils are sealing problems. It doesn't take much corrosion to cause havoc.

I have not had any issues since I took care of the boots and springs, and the connectors. No codes, no rough running, nothing. If that starts again, I'll do plugs, boots, and connectors first thing.

 

I can not say with certainty that moisture may or may not be causing the coils to go bad, although I seriously doubt it considering the fact they are baked every time the engine runs. But the problem is the coils ARE BAD regardless of the cause, it is not a simple moisture problem and of the three trucks I have worked on it seems to be a random problem.

 

I have no doubt that these coils go bad, I just wonder how often. I'd like to see who the actual OEM is for them, and look at other applications for the issue. The should be made to withstand the head and vibration of the environment they are intended to live it, but we all know the bottom line is usually the deciding factor in production, not quality or longevity. If Ford uses these coils in other vehicles, or the OEM puts them in service in other uses, there should be good data on failure rates.

As for moisture getting in, I think it's a given. Get some hot, humid air down in that plug tunnel, then let things cool off and we're bound to get condensation. I think the fact that we're all advised to blow all the junk out of the plug tunnels before removing the plugs shows they are not sealed well. And the tunnels are in a sort of valley which just funnels stuff in. I never had this problem in my 5cyl Audi, and the tunnels were just as deep, but the boots sealed out garbage, and the connectors were not springs, but extensions of the plug wire, so they never had the exposure.

I am sure they go bad, every coil eventually will. I'm doing some research to eventually replace all mine ( I don't like the idea of doing it one at a time, like a slow domino fall) at once- I've looked at a couple of options, but certainly will want to go aftermarket. I wish I had a good, fool-proof way to test them at home.

 

On the coil pack: put the ohm meter on and heat it up with a heat gun as you watch the reading. If it has a crack, the heat usually shows it up.

On the maf sensor: if the boot on the bottom of the air intake (1999 f250 10 cyl triton) is not seated properly, the engine will run rough.