I hear yuh jethat and agree, - same has happened with Accel's, Granitelli's. I'm not sure what they do different, but they screw them up some how lol. Typically COP coils fail due to moisture intrusion. Heats a killer as well, can lead to thermal breakdown. The windings can fail from a large flow of amperage, surge or whatnot. By design, they convert low voltage signals (from the PCM) to pulse. Their all basically made the same way now, -still consist of Neo (neodymium? I think that's the proper lol) cores for a the mag field. The dielectric epoxy that's sucked into the housings has been altered somewhat from the past, to a less porous end product.

Over the years I've used the cheap Gamma coils on ebay. Coils that haven't been stepped on by any reseller. Although some report problems with those, you have to take into account whether or not they're being installed correctly and consider the fact that there's allot more people using these vs those high cost coils. For one the high dollar part is hard to afford, two, they're not any different/better than cheaper product that can be had.

What can be approved or upgraded is your connectors. No springs, just a solid connector. I know Granitelli has connector kits, - I believe WeaponX does as well.

 

Just some random thoughts jbrew, I have a set of the solid connectors that I have tried on the OEM coils...no differences. Also have a set of uneeks coils, still had the very low grade misfire, also went real stupid and tried the Weapon-X, (which I will probably try to sell) didn't help. Like I mentioned above, not one CEL at all, and no 'pending codes' either. These MSDs and the Champion plugs have done the trick so far anyway. I too have many years behind the wrench, but, 30 years military have taken away the edge on the new technology in the auto trade. I know you have the 2v in your truck, do you think the 3v configuration (and the plug design) has a part in this ?? just thinking with the keyboard.............

 

What do you mean "no differences" ? What were you expecting, a miracle cure ? Not sure what your trying to prove or accomplish. I've never used any of the Coils your referring to, so I can't comment on those. Champion plugs are about the very worst for the 3 valve. Seen plenty of problems after going that route. Honestly, I'm not sure if you know what running good is lol. What it sounds like to me is,- you finally got it firing on all 8. I'd stick with Motorcraft plugs , as the good book says for the three valve. Right now, - it's just running lol.

 

Correct..running strong and smooth !!

 

 

OK so Im not a big motor guy (Yes I respect and bow to Jbrew). The guy has been awesome with advise when I had head gasket issues in the past. I would point out that I have a 03 S'crew with 300, 000km and the orig OEM coil packs. This weekend, running empty on the hwy I passed a semi and I did feel one of the packs start to fail (long story). I would go back to OEM packs in a hard beat (unless Jbrew said otherwise).


I am not alot and dont BS....... but my reading skills are up to speed!

 

Im bumping this. 05 5.4 3v - I replace my plugs with motorcraft almost a year (20k mi) ago. My stock 147kmi COP's are starting to go. I ordered a set of 10 dg511 COP's from ebay and im having trouble with them. Life time warranty or not, I absolutely hate doing things twice, im pulling these out asap. Im looking for a permanent solution. Does anyone have any more experiences with MSD COP's?

 

All you have do is, - do it right the first time. Search would of got you there in a hurry. You can always ask, doesn't hurt, -from what I can recall.

Unfortunately Alanis is out of Visteon and Motorcraft. Just ran out of the Motorcraft. The eBay and Amazon deals are the best, BUT, you have to know which ones. Or you'll get screwed most likely.

They're still out there. Any 511's will work. A quick eBay search and I found some, -

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trks...at=0&_from=R40

Yea stick with Visteon/Motorcraft and you can't go wrong. The cheap eBay coils have weak thermal barrier issues.

 

Search is what got me here in the first place. Search yielded everyone suggesting uneek or global COP's for the most part. Worked great for a week. I ordered 10, 4 are now bad, still have a low grade misfire. (verified with a COP checker) http://www.sears.com/waekon-wa76562-...SPM1085924201P (great tool!)

Dealer wants an arm and a leg for COP's. Online, I see motorcrafts and the MSD's are similarly priced. Looking to see if one is better than the other and why

 

Good luck. I've already provided the answer. Maybe more will chime in. Yea your search must have uncovered some old info. It happens. It use to be that way, in the past. Because there really wasn't much of a choice. You either could pay a dealership $800 plus for a set or third part $600 plus. Thankfully, it's not that way anymore. So don't waste time and money on anything but the real deal and you'll be okay. Sometimes it takes 3 times for certain people.

To explain further, the cheaper coils use a single build magnet wire that results in poor radio frequency interference suppression and shorter service life. VERY much shorter. Cheap eBay coils can't survive thermal shock tests correlated to the service capability or Visteon/Motorcraft coils.

I've done enough, it's up to you now.

 

Here's a bit extra lol,-

Those tools have been around for awhile and only show you what your on board computer already knows. A dead hole always shows up after the misfire monitor count, and then DTC. What they won't show is a low grade misfire which is much harder to determine without dealership diagnostics and mode 6. That's because they fail at certain loads. Loads that are only present during the drive cycle.

There is yet to be a low dollar device that you can plug into or interface during the drive cycle. You need a scanner that reads the KAM after the fact. = Cylinder History, - each cylinders misfire history. That is what mode 6 designates.

 

Well the tool is picking up my current low grade misfire and my computer is not. So it's good for something. It follows the coils as I swap cylinders to other cylinders. I know it's working.

I appreciate the info you have given me. But you have not provided the answer to the question I asked.
"Dealer wants an arm and a leg for COP's. Online, I see motorcrafts and the MSD's are similarly priced. Looking to see if one is better than the other and why"

I will probably buy motor crafts in the end, but I would also like to know information on the similarly priced msd'a before I make a purchase.

 

I think MSD makes a decent product. Are there coils "better" then the stock ones that lasted you over 100000 miles? Who knows. Motorcraft is the sure thing. Try Rock auto and see if they will sell them cheaper like they do everything else.

 

Summit Racing has the real thing (Motorcraft DG511) for $39.95 each. That's 9 bucks less than Rock Auto.

 

I disagree, I HAVE answered your question. I'm not sure how I could simplify much more than I have. Maybe you'll like the other guys answers. Good Luck, all the same.

BTW, I've never seen a low grade misfire @ idle. So you mean, that tool will diagnose a misfiring coil when it isn't misfiring? Or that it's sensitive enough, it can pick out a low grade misfiring coil before load? I suppose that may be possible. Then why did you replace all your coils? With that probe, you surely could tell if a coil was completely healthy. Do tell, I don't want to waste any cash on it, if all it does is detect current. With the older type quick probe versions, you had to strap it to the coil, run a couple wires from it into the cab, attach a LED to the wires and go for a drive and find the low grade load. They've come along way!