Follow up on the CEL thread.
What experience do people have with spark coil life?
Is there an age they should be replaced even if working?
I am at 100K and to the best I can tell on original coils.
Thinking of replacing with the
next
set of plugs (at about 120K), but looking for advice.
I imagine one of the longevity variables is heat. So perhaps a shorter coil life if the car is used in a hot climate or on track.
I replaced mine when my car was 10 years old and had 52k miles. Part of my rational was that there is zero labor involved if done when changing plugs. But the other side of this is that coils can last a while under typical operating conditions and it’s not usually catastrophic if one of them starts failing.
I replaced mine along with plugs in my 2009 2.9 last year at 107000 mlles. Idle was improved and buttdyno was happy. I had no "symptoms" beyond a lumpy idle and no codes.
Honeslty I've never been dissapointed installing new plugs and coils in any car I've owned around $100000 miles.
I think I'll order some for my 120000 F150.....now that I mention it!
Do you think your plugs were original at 100K?
How "Stuck" were they?
Did mine at 70k (shortly after buying the car), and they were tough.
Recommendation is 60k.
120k will be 50 on this set.
Idle is a bit unsteady, so maybe they are reaching end of life.
I am still on the original coils in my
2007 Cayman S
, ~72,000 miles. Runs great, smooth idle, no cracking on the coils. I have replaced the plugs - normal wear and they weren't stuck.
Big note though that this is a SoCal garage-kept car, so a pretty gentle climate year round.
I have seen them fail as early as 35K miles on a VW and
BMW
and have a Mazda and Honda with over 200K miles and the original coils.
On average, I think on German cars they fail around 85-105k miles. Most of my cars are German, VW,
BMW
,
Porsche
, however, it seems tha that my Japanese cars went easily into 120K-200K miles with them. I don't know if just coincidence. My Sentra SER sold with original coils at 125K miles, my Subaru Legacy sold at 100K with original coils. Mazda 3 original coils until 212K miles, I replaced preemptively since swapping plugs anyway. Honda CRV 200k with original coils, also replaced preemptively.
I was asking about experience with a
987.2
, or at least with 987 cars.
from my 10 years reading threads here (OMG its been that long?) ... the general consensus is that they need to be checked regularly during every service after you hit 8-10 years of age or about 60k miles. You can treat it as a condition based item or a preventative maintenance item depending on how you use the car. They are made of plastic outer shell so they will crack over time.
see this thread for the early signs including cracks that will appear on the coils:
https://www.planet-9.com/threads/9a1-100-000-kms-60k-miles-water-pump-belts-and-tensioner-and-more-condition.239661/?post_id=2161661#post-2161661
