On the way to work this morning, I began to feel the shudder associated with a coil pack going bad. I had the #1 pack go bad last year. And unfortunately, each of the three Ford dealers around New Orleans would not be able to even look at the truck for 2 weeks. What is the easiest way to determine which coil is bad? How difficult is it to replace these as I may do it myself rather than wait? Are there any directions online somewhere? Also, should I go with a Ford part or are the aftermarket ones form Napa and such good replacements? Any help is appareciated.

I've got a 2001 Supercrew w/ a 5.4L.

Darren

 

Very easy to do yourself. Do a search on this site for c.o.p. replacment. They are cop's, not coil packs. Stands for coil on plug.
Go to someplace like auto zone and they can do a free check of your onboard computer to check for a fault.
Have you gotten your engine real wet lately? That can cause a cylinder to misfire until it drys out. It can sometimes take a long time to dry out by itself.
bullseye670...................
Tons of threads on this topic here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks. Yeah, its rained here a lot in the last few days and many of the streets have been flooded where I have to drive through. Maybe that could be the problem? I'll have AutoZone check the computer but is there anyway to speed the drying process?

Thanks, Darren.

 

How many miles you got on her Darren?

 

Assumming your not afraid to do some wrenching, you can start removing the cop's and checking for water in the plug recesses. Its not really hard to do. It does look rather intimidating at first.
There is one 7 mm bolt holding each cop in place. Remove the bolt, dissconnect the cop wire connector and pull the cop up and out.
Not a bad idea to apply a generous amount of dielectric grease to each one when you reinstall them.
You will need to remove the power steering fluid resv. bracket (3 bolts). to get at the front drivers side.
Some say to remove the fuel injector rail but its not really nessasary. I do unplug them to give me more room.
If you find water, I would use compressed air to blow it out. If you don't have compressed air try using a screwdriver and push rags down to soak up the water.
Last time I did this it still took about 5 miles of driving to really get it dried out and running good with no missfires.
bullseye670............

 

The Service light came on today so I stopped at AutoZone to get the codes read. It indicated a misfire on #3. I've got the COP and will replace it in the morning.

I've got 73k miles now and had the #1 COP replaced last year at about 60k. At that time the plugs were all replaced. Should the plug be replaced when I change the COP this time? Thanks, Darren.

 

I suggest you change out all your COPs. Reason being , once they start failing , it won't end, like domino's . Your coils are weak and there cheap to purchase on eBay - $100 for all 8 , you can't beat that . Your performance and milage will suffer until your ignition system is equalized.

Modulars are picky motors when it comes to your COP's system - At this point I wouldn't recomend replacing one or two at a time with your milage and vehicle age. It will run better changing them all out at the same time so individually they will be working the same without having a weak link.