Intermittent Coil Failure

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Protege5
A Protege5 5 speed popped up on CL a couple days ago for really cheap. I went and had a look at it today knowing it had some issues, it seems to smoke a bit when the engine is cold, and is throwing an O2 sensor code and PO300.

When I arrived I started it up and the engine ran just fine.. After idling for 5 minutes the Check Engine light was flashing and the car was running very rough. I pulled the plug wire from #3? cylinder, and it wasn't sparking at all. Pulled the injector plug for each cylinder on that coil and neither were firing. That coil was dead.

After idling roughly for 5 or 6 minutes, that coil came back online and the car was running perfect again. I'm thinking bad coil. Do you guys agree? It just seems a little odd to me that it would up and start firing again.

The car is cheap enough that I'm not too worried about these issues. Even if I have to rebuild the engine I will still come out ahead of blue book value. The car is in great shape.

As long as the car passes inspection without any issues I will buy it and bring it home next week. I will probably throw a coil in it real quick before I take the 90 mile trip home.
 
These cars are notorious for bad coils. Replace it!

If the coil doesn't fix it I would look at the integrity of the connection and the wires, as I have seen 1 instance where the wires were bad.

All cars have common issue, this is one that this car sees. Other than that, I think the general public will tell you that these cars are very reliable for what they are worth.

Post up some pics of your car when you get it :)

Cheers,

Phil.
 
These cars are notorious for bad coils. Replace it!

If the coil doesn't fix it I would look at the integrity of the connection and the wires, as I have seen 1 instance where the wires were bad.

All cars have common issue, this is one that this car sees. Other than that, I think the general public will tell you that these cars are very reliable for what they are worth.

Post up some pics of your car when you get it :)

Cheers,

Phil.

Do you guys have a preferred brand for the coil? I'm not fond of the Chinese coils from parts stores.. After thinking about it I will more than likely just trailer the car home in current condition rather than drive it. The fuel cost is the same compared to driving two cars, and I don't have to worry about any issues during the long trip.

Here are some of the dealer photos of the car. I won't be paying anything remotely close to the sticker price. It's got a clean carfax, 3 owners, and dealer maintenance up until 100k.


 
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No preference, just get what you can, i would imagine that in this day and age they all come from China anyways. I personally am the second owner of my car and according to the previous owner, the coils have never been replaced... I keep an extra set of coils in the back of my car just in case, but they have not failed me yet. See if you can buy it from rockauto, along with any other parts you may need.

Towing the car sounds like a good idea, save your catalytic from frying.

Your links to the pictures are broken. Probably because they are not shared to public.
 
I will pick up a coil from Autozone/Oreilly's then. I prefer to get stuff from Rockauto, but I don't have enough time to order and ship it.

I fixed the photos.

Also, what brand is the best for a timing belt/water pump kit?
 
I think just stick with name brands like Gates for timing stuff, but once again at the end of the day they probably all come from the same factory :)

That is a really clean looking protege5.
 
I think just stick with name brands like Gates for timing stuff, but once again at the end of the day they probably all come from the same factory :)

That is a really clean looking protege5.

Probably looks really good compared to what rolls around in your neck of the woods. :D I'm really glad to not be in the major rust belt.

The dealer is supposed to call tomorrow and tell me whether it passes inspection or not. If it passes, the deal is done and I will pick it up later this week. If not, we'll go from there. We don't have emissions testing here so I don't see any reason why it wouldn't pass.
 
Probably looks really good compared to what rolls around in your neck of the woods. :D I'm really glad to not be in the major rust belt.

The dealer is supposed to call tomorrow and tell me whether it passes inspection or not. If it passes, the deal is done and I will pick it up later this week. If not, we'll go from there. We don't have emissions testing here so I don't see any reason why it wouldn't pass.

I need to move to your state :p

Although, these cars typically have no issue passing emissions. It is usually safety due to wheel bearings or rust that they fail to pass.
 
i have autozone coils in mine and have not had any issues with them. as the poster above stated theyre all made in china these days i think mine actually say made in mexico on the box, so a little better
 
The one I bought today says made in Poland. I had an O'Reillys coil leave me stranded a couple months ago, not a COP coil though. That's why I don't like them.

The car passed and is mine. Paid 1800 for it, gonna try and pick it up on Thursday.
 
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That's a steal! Congratulations on the purchase, what's wrong with it besides the coil?

It was throwing a PO421? and an IAC code, needs tires, and it smokes a little when its cold. I'm guessing the precat is fried, which is just an excuse to install a header.

The suspension is good though, along with the interior.
 
It was throwing a PO421? and an IAC code, needs tires, and it smokes a little when its cold. I'm guessing the precat is fried, which is just an excuse to install a header.

The suspension is good though, along with the interior.

IAC code might just be due to a rough idle. But I would clean it all. You can go with a more popular 205 tire as the 195 is rather rare. Might be burning a little oil, hence the smoke. (Excuse to rebuild with forged internals? :))
 
IAC code might just be due to a rough idle. But I would clean it all. You can go with a more popular 205 tire as the 195 is rather rare. Might be burning a little oil, hence the smoke. (Excuse to rebuild with forged internals? :))

That's what I figured with the IAC code too.

I've got a set of 205-55/16 already, so hopefully they will fit. I also have a set of 18's on my current car that may fit, with a 225-40/18 tire.
 
It was throwing a PO421? and an IAC code, needs tires, and it smokes a little when its cold. I'm guessing the precat is fried, which is just an excuse to install a header.

The suspension is good though, along with the interior.

Just went through these same issues last week (code p0300 and code p0421). I installed a header then replaced the coils and that seemed to take care of everything.
 
That's what I figured with the IAC code too.

I've got a set of 205-55/16 already, so hopefully they will fit. I also have a set of 18's on my current car that may fit, with a 225-40/18 tire.

Both should fit, but thats based off what I read online, never tried it myself.
 
A bigger tire will help to bring the highway RPMs down a little. I read that they're around 3500 at 70mph with stock tires.

The offset will probably be the determining factor.
 
I had this same issue over the summer. Replaced with coils from Autozone. Runs like a champ now. My knocking also seems to have subsided and I can now run regular 87 gas in it again. Unfortunately, I think I permanently fouled one the sensors as my CEL stays on all the time now, but it has run fine since replacing the coils.
 
I had this same issue over the summer. Replaced with coils from Autozone. Runs like a champ now. My knocking also seems to have subsided and I can now run regular 87 gas in it again. Unfortunately, I think I permanently fouled one the sensors as my CEL stays on all the time now, but it has run fine since replacing the coils.

Might have hurt the cat. They don't take kindly to having raw fuel dumped in them.

I have another question for you guys. Do all P5's come with keyless entry standard? Cars.com says they do, but my car is missing the key fob. That'd be great if they did, I'll just buy a remote and program it.
 
Might have hurt the cat. They don't take kindly to having raw fuel dumped in them.

I have another question for you guys. Do all P5's come with keyless entry standard? Cars.com says they do, but my car is missing the key fob. That'd be great if they did, I'll just buy a remote and program it.

I haven't heard of a protege5 that didn't come with keyless. I got a couple of fobs at the scrap yard and am happy myself. Relativley easy to program too.
 
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