TekMan05

Quick question. So I did my spark plugs recently to get rid of a hesistation I was experiencing. Well when doing it I stripped the rear drivers side thread for the coil plug bolt. I took a washer and new bolt to put it in there and call it good. Not too long later I started noticing a tickin/chirpin sound syncing with my exhaust only under lower rpm load. It eventually got more noticable after startup. First thought is an exhaust leak. But after going over the exhaust it's fine. So maybe it was a spark plug not torqued right so I moved the rear one forward and still the same noise and now its tickin un-rythmically with the exhaust spontaneously at idle and missing big time even though it's cammed. Now I noticed that the thread is stripped even worse than before so the coil plug boot whill not sit tight and the thread will have to be tapped out. You think this could be the source of the problem? The sound always came from that area of the engine bay as well.

Derf00

if the coil isn't secure it isn't grounding correctly and will either have a weak spark or no spark.

You also need to make sure the replacement bolt you use is conductive otherwise it will cause the same problem.

TekMan05

What exactly do ya mean by conductive? Thanks for the advice!

Derf00

Conducts electricity.

Different metals conduct electricity with more or less resistence. Typically the more corrosion prone something is, the more conductive it is (Brass, copper, lead). The more corrosion resistant it is, the more resistance it has (less conductive) (Aluminum, Gold, zinc etc).

not the best reference but you'll find stainless and zinc are some of the worst.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electri...d_conductivity

Many nuts and botls at hardware stores have some sort of zinc coating on them to keep them from rusting or are stainless steel. Not the best thing for electrcial conductivity either.

tx_zstang

The coil packs do not ground through their supports. The conductivity design isn't really there for it. Sure, there's a metal insert in the coil where a bolt goes through, but it does not stick past the plastic and cannot guarantee connectivity with the bolt.

Plus, look at the wiring diagrams: the coils get 12v shared to all of them, then each one is grounded through the pcm to cause the spark. The secondary circuits are grounded across the spark plug gap.

I have paint on my coil mounts under the coils and never had any issues.

TekMan05

Yeah last night I was messing with it , put a new screw bolt in with a nut underneath to finally secure but it's missing even worse now.I don't understand. Before hand, it was only ticking not neccessarily missing. Ever sine tried taking it apart and putting it back together it's missing, back firing, and burning rich as hell. My friend used a volt meter to test the current to the electrical plug ins. He was getting current through them so it HAS to be in the coil pack. There is 2 codes now P0368 ignition coil H and P-357 ignition coil G. I'm stumped on what this could be I pulled the plug again this morning and it doesn't look fouled out at all. Hrrmmm

TekMan05

Do you guys think I have a bad COP?

scottybaccus

The ticking noise my actually be the ignition arcing across to ground from a leak in the coil pack or boot. Go look at it in the dark and see if you see a spark, maybe pull the weather boot if you can. Also, pull the coil pack and look it over and look in the hole for any discoloration. You might see black or brown marks from the actual burn, or you might find a white residue from the ionization at the arc site.

tx_zstang

Did you plug in the wires to the right plugs? They're not in order on one bank. One is like 123, and the other 465, something like that. Sounds like you got some wires crossed.

TekMan05

Would that indicate a bad coil or just the boot itself if indeed this is true. I'm going to go try that out here in a short while. And like I said earlier, I've swapped coil plugs and it still seems to be the back cylinder on the driver side that's causing the headache.