quick car question...

[MajesticMoose]

I just replaced the coil on my civic because my (former) mechanic uses only the cheapest parts. This thing lasted less than 6 months, the cap/rotor he put on lasted 3.5 minutes, and the cv boots were probably spilling grease the minute i started rolling. Now i'm just waiting for the timing belt he installed to go. Anyway, how long should an ignition coil last? How about distributor cap/rotor?

 

[Electric Amish]

Jeez....they should *last* for a very, very long time unless there's something wrong with the motor.

Changing every year or 2 wouldn' hurt them, though.


amish

 

[db]

I've never replaced one (coil), and my current Accord has 265xxx miles. And never on the other three Civics I owned.
Cap need replacement maybe 2 or 3 x per 100,000 miles.
If the cap is being chewed up--more specifically if you see red 'dust' inside the distributor--it's not the cap, the distributor bearing is worn out.
A cap that has some pits on the contacts can just touch up the contacts with sandpaper to remove the peaks.

 

Ignition coils should last a lifetime.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: Roger
Ignition coils should last a lifetime.

True. They call it a coil for a reason: It's just a canister of oil with copper wires wrapped in up in a coil, acting as a transformer. No moving parts. Distributor caps and rotors, however, you change once in a while, but that shouldn't need to be done that often.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Roger
Ignition coils should last a lifetime.

Actually, the coils used on F22 and H22 engines are known to be troublesome. They are located under the cap in the distributor. Maybe its the extra heat they're exposed to? I thing a lot of civic motors have similar setup.

EDIT: The one on my F22 died after 11 years and 125K miles.

 

[MajesticMoose]

The old coil i swapped out today has visible cracks in the casing, i guess from the heat and it being cheap. The way i figure it the distributor wore out the first time due to normal wear and tear and i didn't know to change it since i had just gotten the car. The rotor died because it was cheap and creating large amounts of shavings very quickly. The cap, which lasted longer, also went for being crappy. The longer of the two electrodes had broken off inside it. Maybe now i can go alittle while without dumping more and more money into this car. I want to cry when i think about how much has been spent on this car due to cheap parts and regular maintenance

 

[MWink]

Originally posted by: MajesticMoose
The old coil i swapped out today has visible cracks in the casing, i guess from the heat and it being cheap. The way i figure it the distributor wore out the first time due to normal wear and tear and i didn't know to change it since i had just gotten the car. The rotor died because it was cheap and creating large amounts of shavings very quickly. The cap, which lasted longer, also went for being crappy. The longer of the two electrodes had broken off inside it. Maybe now i can go alittle while without dumping more and more money into this car. I want to cry when i think about how much has been spent on this car due to cheap parts and regular maintenance

Well we won't get into how much money I haven't spent repairing my Ford Probe. But if you ever need some EXPERT advice I know where to get it.