Ronr255

So my 2012 has had problems acceleration when cold from when I got it. Afte 5 minutes or so, it's fine, but I only drive the car short distances, and I want it right. I've brought it in numerous times to have them tell me they couldn't replicate the problem. Check engine light came on a couple of months ago and I was hoping that would help them fix it, but they said no, it just needed a software update.

It got worse a couple of weeks ago and they finally determined that two coils went bad and they replaced those and three spark plugs.

It runs a heck of a lot better, but I still had it happen one morning. I'm really sick of having this in the shop only to have it coming back with them not finding a problem.

I'm thinking if three plugs were bad, there were probably at least three coils bad. At this point, I'm so sick of dealing with it, I'm willing to spend $300 on a set of coils and just replace them myself.

Is this a common problem, and does my thinking make sense on this issue?

I may as well change the plugs if I'm going to get in there, too, right?

Thanks for any advice.

P51C

Definitely not a common problem. I drive mine lots of short hops too, often in cold weather. On the stock tune, the car would occasionally hesitate a bit as it warmed up. After tuning it, it was much better.

It is an 11:1 motor that can run pump 87 so, engine management is a delicate and complex arrangement. Cold holes and high compression do make for driveability issues. Without the massive computing power and 100% closed loop operation of the Copperhead ECU, this SOB wouldn't even start, much less run and drive.

Ronr255

I complained to ford and they are supposed to have my case reviewed and a manager will call me Monday. They told me not to install the new coils (may void warranty) and let the manager talk to me.

I'm not sure what harm I'd do with better coils that help burn fuel more efficiently, but I'll listen.

Also don't know why ford wouldn't design something different if these aftermarket ones really are better, so maybe these aren't better? I just figured if two were replaced, something isn't right- maybe I got a bad batch.

cruisin5268d

If your car is still under warranty then you need to go through the motions with the stealership or risk voiding your warranty on the parts you replaced.

Stick with it. Be firm, but polite.

jwog666

its kind of hard to fix a problem if the tech cant duplicate it, if the problem only happened 1 time in the morning, you cant be too hard on them for not finding it. if they are good techs they wont guess. another thing, the only way installing aftermarket coils could void your warranty would be if the after market coil caused harm to a ford covered part, so unless your new coils are filled with C4 you will be fine.

Ronr255

I'm not too hard on the tech. I like him. He finally figured out I had a coil problem. It runs night and day better than before, but I've now had it hesitate twice. He kind of hinted to me that if I was sick of dealing with the runaround, what I was thinking would probably fix it. He said if it doesn't test bad, he can't replace it, and he's probably going to have a hard time getting it to test bad if it only happens once in a while.

He also said if I did the coils myself, I wouldn't void the warranty- just if something comes up related to a coil or spark plug, it's not going to be covered.

So, he answered all my questions. Just a matter of if I want to keep going through the motions until we get it fixed, or throw what's on my kitchen table under the hood.

If they would keep offering me the 2015 mustang as the rental, I'd be inclined to keep bringing it in, lol. I had to take a camaro last time though. Not bad, but not as fun.

jwog666

lol good deal

Ronr255

I've gone through the motions about 8-10 times now. They have found four coils that have gone bad and were replaced, while most of the time they test the car and hand it back the next day because they can't reproduce the problem. It still has problems from time to time.

They've paid for car rentals 8-10 times now at a cost of about $100 each time, and replaced four coils. You'd think they'd try to replace the other four coils instead of pay for the rental cars, but no... They leave both me, the dealer, and the car, unhappy.

It wasn't even a week after they replaced the last coil that the car hesitated pulling into traffic again.

I'm not too impressed.

Ronr255

80 mile road test and 5 days later they hand me back the car and tell me they could not reproduce the problem. I have it one day sitting at work, get in it to drive home, and I could not make it NOT hesitate.

Here's videos of the problem. https://drive.google.com/folderview?...0U&usp=sharing

jz78817

I'm sorry, but those videos don't make it clear what problem you're having. all I see is you accelerate up to about 40 mph or so while pointing the camera at the steering wheel.