[Shop-talk] ODBII trouble code P0316

[Bob Spidell]

Agreed.  Any sort of miss or stumble and the coil gets replaced because it's an easy job and people don't want--or don't 
know how--to diagnose ignition problems.  Also, fancy 'sports coils' get installed with little or no improvement to the 
engine's performance (and maybe worse performance if the rest of the system isn't upgraded).

But, COPs are definitely causing problems in a lot of cars.  'P303',' I believe, is a miss in #3 cylinder.  I'd replace 
that one and if the problem goes away I'd replace the other coils.  I found a website where a pro mechanic had a similar 
problem to my dad's and did a very thorough diagnostic with modern computerized equipment.  He found a bad coil would 
cause a voltage spike on the primary ignition wiring which caused the ECM to shut down.

Bob


On 9/16/2011 5:08 PM, Douglas Braun wrote:
> I bet that over the decades, at least 50% of all coil replacements actually
> replaced a perfectly good coil, with no effect on the car's operation.
>
> Doug
>
> On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 5:25 PM, Randall<tr3driver at ca.rr.com>  wrote:
>
>>> The original coil on my 1967 Austin-Healey, OTOH, has been going strong
>>> for 45 years and 170K+ miles.
>> The original coil on my 56 Triumph did about as well; but the "Lucas"
>> replacement only lasted 2 years.
>>
>> Too many components bought from the lowest bidder, I'd guess.  The ignition
>> coil on my 95 Buick (which may have been one of the last American cars to
>> actually have a single coil&  distributor) has already been replaced twice.
>>
>> --
>
>


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Bob Spidell           San Jose, CA            bspidell at comcast.net

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