[cheburashka]

My '03 A/T Forester X stopped running last week. It began stumbling and then it died. Now it's refusing to fire on 3 and 4. The coil pack was replaced about a year ago. Wouldn't you know it---I threw away the old one (which still worked) two weeks ago.

I figured out from swapping wires that it's either the coil pack or the wiring that leads to it. Is there anything that could go out suddenly like that and cause this problem? Perhaps a fuse that runs half of the ignition or a sensor that may have lost its engine pulse?

I checked the primary resistance on the coil pack and I'm getting no continuity between 1 and 2, and the continuity between 2 and 4 is in spec. This confuses me, since the lack of connection between 1 and 2 should indicate that the front cylinders aren't firing. Am I reading that wrong?


Thanks

 

[Real Lyte]

Spray water mist over the wire while running at night and look for any shorts.

 

[dave5358]

Spray water mist over the wire while running at night and look for any shorts.

+1.

If the coil pack is tracking or the wires are funky, it will put on a real show!

 

[cheburashka]

No light show. No spark at all.

Water mist didn't have any effect. I pulled the pack off of the manifold and saw a dark circle on the manifold and a corresponding ozone-smelling burnt spot on the bottom side of the pack. Looks like the primary coil for 3 and 4 shorted out.

I don't want to be paranoid, but I read a thread on another forum about a guy who went through six coilpacks due to some sort of non-diagnosable electrical problem. Eleven pages of posts and no answers. This was an 11-month-old Beck Arnley. What are the chances that it was just a bad coilpack? Are there any that work better? I'd hate to fry another brand new one if the problem is in the wiring.

 

[ryanlarue]

Water mist didn't have any effect. I pulled the pack off of the manifold and saw a dark circle on the manifold and a corresponding ozone-smelling burnt spot on the bottom side of the pack. Looks like the primary coil for 3 and 4 shorted out.

I don't want to be paranoid, but I read a thread on another forum about a guy who went through six coilpacks due to some sort of non-diagnosable electrical problem. Eleven pages of posts and no answers. This was an 11-month-old Beck Arnley. What are the chances that it was just a bad coilpack? Are there any that work better? I'd hate to fry another brand new one if the problem is in the wiring.

I never trust reconditioned parts, (even though I don't know if you bought one new or reconditioned.) You can run a dedicated ground wire to the coil if you'd like. Maybe an additional ground wire to the coil will help.