Ignition Coil, Bad Battery or Worse?

[PunkChachi]

So I have an 04 Liberty 3.7L V6, bought it in 2012. Since then I have had maybe 5 ignition coils go bad. None of them went bad at the same time, sometimes it would go a year without one going bad. (Also they always tend to do it it cold weather). Well last month the check engine light went on, got it read at AutoZone and once again a coil went bad, #2 cylinder. I went to try to start it up later that day and the engine started shaking from missing on that cylinder and wouldn't start. I have been dead broke so I didn't have the money to buy a new coil (I know they are only $20 but I didn't have it) so my Jeep sat for about a month. I bought an ignition coil today, put it in and the batter was dead. I hooked up to my GF's Nissan Versa and it wouldn't start. I cleaned the terminals to clear off the corrosion (got a better connection) and I could hear it want to start. Now and then it would rumble for a second but never turn over. So I gave up and took the battery to AutoZone and the meter showed it at 11.85 Volts. He said he could charge it overnight and test it tomorrow.

Does anyone have any input that might give me a head start? My first step is going to try cranking it with a fresh battery. If it starts, awesome but if it won't turn over what could it be? I'm going to pull the plugs tomorrow if it doesn't start up. Thanks in advance.

Also on an unrelated note, someone stole my antenna. There are scratches from the pliers when the ******-canoe stole it.

 

[ltd02]

I'd stick to your plan for now and see how it goes. Was the code just for a misfire on #2 or an actual injector code?

 

[HoosierJeeper]

x2. Get the battery charged and see what happens.

As for the misfire, what brand of coil packs are you using? Mopar ones are the best, although LibertyTC on here has "Standard" brand ones in his and they seem to work fine.

 

[J33Pfan]

once the battery is good, remove air cleaner and spray a little starting fluid towards the intake opening in the air filter box.

How cold is it where you are? maybe you have a frozen gas line? try some dry gas for that if thats the problem.

 

[PunkChachi]

Thank you all for the rapid replies!!

For the code, it said that the ignition coil was bad, I've had the code a few times but I can double check on what the actual code was and its description.

The brand of coil I use is which ever AutoZone/AdvanceAuto has in stock. I know a couple of them are Duralast.

I forgot to mention the starter fluid. I have a K&N Cold Air Intake, I popped the cone off and sprayed a liberal amount of fluid in, pushed the filter back on and tried and still had the same outcome. I tried that about half way through the process. I am down in Mississippi, so nothing has frozen. I did notice that when I moved down here for college that my coils didn't go bad as often. That is how I figured out that they would go bad during cold starts/running. I am from NY so when I make winter trips, if they were to go bad, that is when it would happen.

 

[PunkChachi]

Well good news, bad news post. Got the battery back and it was fine, fully charged. Popped it in my Jeep and could tell a huge difference. It took a couple tries to get it to start but it finally did. It cranked fine but the engine would start for a second then rumble out the next second, until I got it to maintain.

Bad news is it didn't run well. At first for like 5-10 seconds it barely puttered by and shook some. Then the RPM's got to idle speed but I could still hear/feel it missing somewhere. So I let it run for about a minute. Then my GF came around from the back and said the exhaust was nasty. Got back there and thick white (appeared to be white, it was dark) smoke was coming out the exhaust. Way thicker than I had ever seen it and the smoke hung there for a sec. I smelled it and it was a nasty smell too, my GF said it smelled like burnt popcorn, I couldn't put a name to the smell.

I cut the engine off and I died on the inside some. I know there are a few possibilities of white smoke but I have a sinking feeling that is a bad coolant leak. Is it possible though that maybe it was just bad gas from sitting or something?

I'm going to check the plugs tomorrow in the daylight and see if the other ignition coils need to be replaced. I have a mechanic buddy that I'm gonna try to get to come over and look at it, he has an engine reader. Thanks for any help guys, my Libby is too young to put to rest.

 

[ltd02]

Did you check the coolant level? Is the CEL still on? I'd try to get the actual code number if you can.

I'd also be curious to know if the coolant is bubbling or "boiling" when it's running. If you have a bad headgasket leak or cracked block, the coolant may flood the combustion chambers when the engine is off and that may burn off, but when running it should push gases from the cylinder into the coolant, as there would be way more pressure in the cylinders when running.

 

[LibertyTC]

I'd want to check the oil too to see if it is bubly/contaminated.
Then pull each spark plug marking cyl location. Look for one or to two to be possibly fowled.

 

[J33Pfan]

get a cheap spark tester to test your coils

take pictures of the plugs

treat the old fuel with dry gas

put fresh plugs in with .040 gap

 

[PunkChachi]

Good news, I pulled all the plugs and one of them was broke. It was missing the center point. So I guess the coil on 2 and the spark plug on 1 broke. Together the two cylinders wouldn't fire. I changed the oil, and it looked good, old but no discoloration, foaming or anything. No bubbling in the coolant either. Got the new coil and new plugs in and it runs great. Hooked it up to my friends vehicle tester and passed every test we ran it through. Thanks all for the help!

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[uss2defiant]

Hope you used the ngk copper spark plugs

 

[tommudd]

Good news, I pulled all the plugs and one of them was broke. It was missing the center point. So I guess the coil on 2 and the spark plug on 1 broke. Together the two cylinders wouldn't fire. I changed the oil, and it looked good, old but no discoloration, foaming or anything. No bubbling in the coolant either. Got the new coil and new plugs in and it runs great. Hooked it up to my friends vehicle tester and passed every test we ran it through. Thanks all for the help!

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Hope you bought the right spark plugs and not like the ones that were in it

 

[PunkChachi]

How are those not the right spark plugs?

I didn't put these in, I got new plugs when I had work done a while ago, a shop did it.

 

[uss2defiant]

There's a sticker on the radiator top cross member and it is also mentioned in your owner's manual.

 

[PunkChachi]

I just put the part number printed on the plug in google, checked CarID, Amazon and some other random parts site and it said this plug fits. Bosch Platinum +2 4308

 

[uss2defiant]

Fitment is one thing but the oem plugs are highly recommended here.

 

[J33Pfan]

Good news, I pulled all the plugs and one of them was broke. It was missing the center point. So I guess the coil on 2 and the spark plug on 1 broke. Together the two cylinders wouldn't fire. I changed the oil, and it looked good, old but no discoloration, foaming or anything. No bubbling in the coolant either. Got the new coil and new plugs in and it runs great. Hooked it up to my friends vehicle tester and passed every test we ran it through. Thanks all for the help!

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both are broken! thats why you need to choose a different plug.
everybody here likes the copper spark plugs!

 

[LibertyTC]

The Jeep runs great with...
58550[/ATTACH]"]

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gap .040

 

[J33Pfan]

The Jeep runs great with...
58555[/ATTACH]"]

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gap .040

im not a fan of the V grouve

 

[LibertyTC]

Ok so what are you running then?