I lost my 3rd Coil after a rain storm in my 01 s-crew. They all have Dielectric grease on them but enough water makes it down there to short it out. It is always after the rain has stopped. Maybe the heat/cool cycle sucks in the water or something. I got tired of Paying $50 at O'riley so I ordered an ebay one to keep on hand.
I checked my plugs for the first time since I got the truck and they were replaced at some point. Autolite DP's. Looked like new, so I'll forget about those for a while at least or I hope I can. Gap was a little small, around 45-48, which was strange. Maybe the PO didn't gap them right or something. Does gapping the DP plugs mess them up at all? I know the Iridiums are supposed to be left alone or so the box says. It runs great now so Im forgetting about it.
Thanks to this site I got out the torque wrench and slowly torqued the plug up to 28 ft lbs. Funny the plug doesn't move at all from about 20 ft lbs on up. I torqued it to 15,20,25,28. Just to be sure.

 

You have to watch those Autolites, they can play games with yuh. It happened to me. They can over heat and turn colors. I had to pull mine since two cylinders wouldn't fire with them anymore. I reinstalled my old Motorcrafts just to get by, until I had time to purchase a new set of those.

 

Make sure your splash guards are in place in the wheel wells. You shouldnt be getting that much water up near the coils by driving in the rain. Unless you are blazing through 2' of water all day.

 

Thats part of the problem. It is a prerunner with fiberglass fenders, 35" tires..... I know it is getting more water in there than stock.

 

Bummer, I guess I still have to worry about them somewhat. They looked basically new so I guess it will be a test in progress. I will definatly just go Motorcraft when I swap them.

 

Then make your own splash guards somehow. Maybe use your old ones and modify them so they still look good an function a bit.

 

Thanks for the idea. I'll see if I can do something with out looking too ridiculous.

 

What looks ridicules is seeing a dirty engine thru that huge gap in the wheel well. So, I think you'll be alright.

 

Hey baja, last Jan my 2002 v10 starting misfiring during and after it rained. Ford said a coil went bad and charged me $325 to fix. It's now march and my v10 is misfiring during and after it rains. Do you know of any links or sites I can get instuctions on replacing a coil, also you think a coil bought on ebay will be reliable. Thanking you in advance, Ray

 

Water gets in cracks on the top of the coils. The potting material breaks down as they age. If they are still the stock ones it is time for new ones.