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Ignition coil question


'97ventureowner
02-08-2005, 09:13 PM
My 1990 Lesabre has started exhibiting the symptoms of a faulty ignition coil as I have read on this forum. The car only has a little over 42,000 miles on it and I just put it back on the road this past fall after being in storage for 4 years. Even before that the car was barely driven from about 1996-on. This winter I tried starting it on cold mornings,( temp about -18) and it would just turn over but not start. I waited a few days until the temp rose above 10 and it started up without much problem. I'm thinking the coil is probably failing just because of it's age, (original equipment,) . I was quoted a price of $49 for the coil at my local Autozone, and was wondering if anybody has bought their coil at Autozone and if it has worked all right for them. I have read on this forum that other people have paid more at other stores, so I'm just wondering about the quality of the coil. I have purchased most of my parts for my vehicle at Autozone without any problems, except for a reman. alternator for my father-in-laws 95 Chevy pickup. I ended up going to 3 different stores over 2 days and exchanging 4 alternators that were defective,( must have been produced on a Monday morning or late Friday afternoon LOL.) So I'm just cautious when it comes to electrical components. Anybody have any experiences they'd like to share concerning their coil purchase if they got it at Autozone?

gbeeley
02-08-2005, 10:11 PM
I bought a Wells coil for my '91 at Autozone about a year and a half ago. It solved the problem I was having (an occasional miss - the old OEM coil was showing too high of a resistance on one of the three secondaries - but very different from the symptoms you mention; not sure I would suspect the coil from your symptoms, but I could easily be wrong).

I have had mixed luck with Autozone, though, regarding electrical parts. I went through a couple of blower motors from them for a different car (at least they were lifetime warranty), and recently had an 18-month-old set of Autozone (Ultra Spark / Double Silicone) plug wires go bad. But, so far, the Wells coil has seemed to work fine (I do check the resistances every now and then too). I was in a hurry to get the part when I replaced that coil, and so a Delco part was out of the question then.

(btw, a quick search on partsamerica.com shows that the OEM coil is actually made by Magnavox not Delco, and lists primary as about 0.7ohm, secondary about 12.3 k ohm).

gbeeley
02-08-2005, 10:45 PM
I should add that recently I had some trouble with my car that was probably attributable to the aforementioned bad plug wire(s), but I haven't totally ruled out a different cause (haven't had it act up since the new wires, but also haven't had it running under quite the same conditions again yet).

'97ventureowner
02-08-2005, 10:54 PM
I bought a Wells coil for my '91 at Autozone about a year and a half ago. It solved the problem I was having (an occasional miss - the old OEM coil was showing too high of a resistance on one of the three secondaries - but very different from the symptoms you mention; not sure I would suspect the coil from your symptoms, but I could easily be wrong).

I have had mixed luck with Autozone, though, regarding electrical parts. I went through a couple of blower motors from them for a different car (at least they were lifetime warranty), and recently had an 18-month-old set of Autozone (Ultra Spark / Double Silicone) plug wires go bad. But, so far, the Wells coil has seemed to work fine (I do check the resistances every now and then too). I was in a hurry to get the part when I replaced that coil, and so a Delco part was out of the question then.

(btw, a quick search on partsamerica.com shows that the OEM coil is actually made by Magnavox not Delco, and lists primary as about 0.7ohm, secondary about 12.3 k ohm).
My engine in this vehicle is also experiencing a "miss" which led me to believe a faulty coil. I haven't driven it much yet since putting it back on the road, so I haven't quite cleaned all the cobwebs out of the engine yet. When our weather gets better, I plan to replace the plugs and plug wires and see what that does. I have a bottle of Lucas fuel system cleaner in it now to clean any gunk in the fuel system that accumulated while sitting idle all this time. I don't expect everything to run smooth until I tune it up and drive it for awhile.

buickmastermind
02-11-2005, 11:42 AM
The only coils I have found to work great are the Borg-Warner ones (got at Autozone for ~$45). The Wells coils were only lasting about 15,000 miles for me. The Borg-Warner ones since have far outlasted the previos ones.

As for the fuel system cleaner, I would use Kerosene instead.

highlandlake
02-12-2005, 10:37 AM
As for the fuel system cleaner, I would use Kerosene instead.

I've heard once before about kerosene being a good fuel system cleaner, but have never tried it. How much is enough to add? Any experience to compare against Chevron Techron, which is what I have been using?
Thanks

Smith1000
02-14-2005, 07:58 PM
One thing about Autozone is they will hook up their OBDII reader and check your codes for you for free. Last time I had a miss, the reader said cylinder #6. I checked and the plug wire was a little loose. I don't know if they do this everywhere, but it is handy.

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