hello to all
COps seem to be the weakest link with these engines.
reading here it seems like they go out all the time. I only have 1 engine that has them and haven't had any problems yet other tan breaking a retainer screw on #3.
DO these coils go out more often than the old traditional coils. it seems to be constaint problem. are they made in cheaper quality or is there another reason for this.
Also what is the definition of a modular engine?

thanks

 

Modular means that it is built in a plant capable of producing a few different engines on the same line. Truck Modular Engine Plant, TMEP is what we called it in Windsor where I worked. Both v-10 and v-8's, each with variances capable of bieng assembled on a single line.

Now as far as the coil on plugs, really no different than say spark plugs with wires and a cap and distributor. It's not uncommon to replace the wires and cap after a long time, yes? I think the boot on the coil weakens causing what we've commonly seen here lately. As far as the coil part, probably still good.

Also, like anything else lately, cheapest material and manufacturing is the way of the future, chinese metal (plastic) and cheapest labor equals poor quality amung other things like making the plastic pieces so thin as well. It's a race for the bottom that hopefully people are getting the hint. With the knowledge and technology today combined with materials and designs of the past would create a great product.

 

I was curious
i have seen alot of post <alot> on here that have symptoms of to much egr and mostly told it is cops. can someone point me to an archive that might define the different symptoms. I have looked quite abit and have not found any clear answers. I did see alot of people waste alot of money throwing parts at a job looking for a silver bullet to cure all.

thanks

 

I am one of those that has been told the COPs need to be replaced (see 5.4 misses thread). I am also the one that found a hole in one of the egr lines going to the dpfe. I replaced that hose and the miss continues. So it doesn't seem like my problem is a egr problem. If you think it is, please let me know what I should do to remedy the problem.

I bought a single cop and have been trying it in different location. Currently, I have tried five different locations the problem is still there. I'm hoping that I have muliple bad cops and when my set of 8 cops come in my problem is solved. I figure for the 104 bucks for the cops shipped to my door, it's a simple tune up that would of been needed for trucks with distributers and wires anyway.

I'll post on "5.4 misses" once I get the new cops and plugs installed. Hopefully that will happen this weekend.

 

Ford swapped the COP boots in 99 . That was mistake - don't know the reasoning behind it . I use my 98 boots on a set 2000 Factory COPs - (the Yellow labled COP's). The older style boots are twice the thickness in material , the insides are solid brass and copper with a shorter stainless spring.

They prolly cost allot more to replace, hard to say , they don't make them anymore. I found a spare a an older Mustange crate motor that was parted out - haven't needed them yet. There sweet tho - Those COPs and boots were $26 on ebay for all eight lol. Always looking for more of those- very hard to find.

I have a pic of the boots-





They came on the Green labled COP's which also included brass bushings -

 

COP's have three enemies:

1. Moisture - typically kills 'em right quick
2. Heat Soak - consider where they 'live' - this kills 'em slow-like
3. Overly-large spark gap (as in worn plugs) - typically causes overheating due to energy storage and also dielectric breakdown - kills 'em slow too

bubba

 

Thanks for the reply
I noticed on jeisters post you were talking about if one cop is bad it afects the signal to the rest. did i understand that right ?

 

Hi.

I think, given each COP has it's own dedicated driver in the PCM and it's own 'mini-harness', that this is unlikely. I suppose though, if the failure causes the supply rail itself to be affected - say a failed COP taking out the driver, which in turn could conceivably affect the others within the PCM - that is possible, albeit in a rare, catastrophic, sort of way.

Rather, I believe conventional wisdom suggests that, if one is failing, the root cause will likely bring on the demise of others as well eventually, so just replacing all of them would be prudent. This is for normal usage-based attrition ( e.g. aging). If it's traced to say a coolant leak pissing one one, though, this would not apply - just the replace the directly impacted unit.

bubba

 

Considering when you have coil packs and wires, maintenance costs are very similar if you use Global COP's - they don't necessarily last longer than COP's. The only real difference is there is not a separate coil pack for each cylinder - the V6's have a single coil pack and the V8's had one for each bank.

 

The newer boots go bad before a COP will and can be the root cause of a COP failing IMO. It's doesnt take long for the dielectric to break down as said - Newer , thinner and weaker boots open up at the bottom due to heat - been there done that..You really have to keep up on the grease.

 

so its maybe the extra heat on top of the head verses the coil pac mounted remotly

 

Yeah - certainly a factor - especially @ shutoff - no airflow/coolant flow and the temps rise quite a bit.

And "~Oh Jbrew~" is absolutely correct as, usual - you can never have too much Lube

bubba

 

"~Oh jbrew ~"

I forgot all about that ...Till now..

 

A friend came by earlier to code scan his truk. I saw a message i haven't seen before with one of the codes a caption saiid "large leak". it had 8 codes. oh yea 4.6 l < so it didn't take long to find. the large hole on back was sucking lots of air. That vaccum line lock more like a/c insulation. anyway pluged it back in and he's on the road angain

 

what year did the 4.6 go to cops? i was told the one i just looked at was a 98 and it still had coil packs on front of the heads. i thought that was changed in the 97 production, my 97 was born april 24,1996 first time i took it to a mech he looked at it kinda strange. said the my engine was a 96 model.