So been lurking and doing some researching/searching, and have a question. I understand that for the most part there are negligible gains in an aftermarket coil pack vs OEM. I also, are of the understanding that the factory coil packs fail fairly soon and/or cause lots of problems. With all this being said, is it better to get an aftermarket one that will last or change the oem pack with each spark plug change or change it sooner? Cost/effort what a better choice? I have a 2004 ZX3.
Coil Pack Aftermarket vs OEM Longevity
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Both OEM coil packs lasted over 100,000 miles and about 10 years on both my Mk1 Foci. For coil packs, that can be considered premature especially considering that it's almost a guaranty that it's going to fail sometime in that range. I replaced both with entry level packs from rockauto.com since the reality is at least for me, I don't expect that either car will make it to the next 100,000 miles so I don't expect to ever need to replace the packs again.
It's up to you on how long you expect to keep your car or how many miles you plan on putting on it, but I'd advise against installing super high quality parts if you only would be planning on using them for half there expected life spans. Don't forget, are cars are already over 10 years old and nearing the end of there life expectancy.
Lastly, at least from my experience, when the coil pack fails, one or more cylinders will start missing. Yes, this is a major issue and you can't run the car long at all when it starts skipping, but it won't cause any long term issues if fixed right away. In other words, it's much more economical if you wait for the coil to fail before replacing it rather than swapping out a potentially good pack every so many miles.
It's up to you on how long you expect to keep your car or how many miles you plan on putting on it, but I'd advise against installing super high quality parts if you only would be planning on using them for half there expected life spans. Don't forget, are cars are already over 10 years old and nearing the end of there life expectancy.
Lastly, at least from my experience, when the coil pack fails, one or more cylinders will start missing. Yes, this is a major issue and you can't run the car long at all when it starts skipping, but it won't cause any long term issues if fixed right away. In other words, it's much more economical if you wait for the coil to fail before replacing it rather than swapping out a potentially good pack every so many miles.
I was having a slightly rough idle issue that I thought might be due to the cracks I was seeing on my coil. I ordered a Herko coil from eBay for $18. It didn't fix my idle issue which I later tracked down to the plugs. However, I left the Herko coil on there and no issues with it...works just like the OEM.
My first one lasted about 320 000kms before failing, and the aftermarket replacement has done another 146 000kms with no problems. And I redid the harness at the same time, which was likely the real culprit all along.
I can't see any benefit in changing it as a maintenance thing...wait till it starts misfiring, then inspect and change.
I can't see any benefit in changing it as a maintenance thing...wait till it starts misfiring, then inspect and change.
Or get the Escort/Contour coil bracket as well, only maybe five more dollars at the yard. You must change wires too as the coils have different towers on them. I too think that earlier coil has more longevity and should be better as the additional bulk on the bottom is clearly more coil windings.
I am an escort/ZX2 guy, so I already had a shelf of coils, brackets not so much.
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I'd stick w/ a oem coil pack.
Think i will stick with the oem. Car has 111,000 on it and I would like to keep it for a very long time. I recently got the car and don't know the history of it so I'm doing all the little things to rule out failures and what not. Car does has a slight miss so just kinda eliminating the easy things. Already did plugs and wires and after some research I'm thinking egr or dpfe (think that's what it was). Either way is a good way to learn the car and make it better at same time.
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170k miles. Factory coils. COP systems last longer though, but I'd still recommend getting a Motorcraft part for a Zetec or SPI.
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