check the connector going to the coil pack as they are known to fail and also maybe the tps is acting up. do you have any cel codes?

 

When it reached the stage of the engine warning light comes on after its been driven for awhile(half hour or so) the engine would totally stop and would not restart until I replace another coil.

Check the connectors? Do you mean use a meter to check it? Not sure what you mean. When I installed the fresh new coil...I checked the strength of the spark plug wires and they all were outputing strong power to the 4 spark plugs....does this confirmed the connector to the coil is fine?

And what diagnostic method should I use to check the TPS?

X2, I replaced my coil pack twice before I realized the wires going to the connector were coming out.

Are you saying your wires to the connectors were loose?

 

X2, I replaced my coil pack twice before I realized the wires going to the connector were coming out.

 

What plugs are you using? If they're not gapped correctly that will kill coil packs.

 

I bought the spark plugs and wires from Canadian Tire. The Spark plugs come pre-japped for the car. I don't think that is the problem as the problem is same as prior to the changing of the original spark plugs and wires.

 

Spark plugs claim to come pre-gapped but only for a select few cars. you always need to double check the gap on new plugs because its very likely to be incorrect.

 

But the existing problem is still the same as when I had the original plugs and wires.

 

sounds to me fuel pump problem..?

 

May I ask why do you think it's a fuel pump problem? Have you had this same problem before? thx

 

yes
there is recall on 2000 focus, check with dealer and see

 

thanks...

I just called a local Ford they said the vichle is no longer under warranty since its not within the 10 year warranty.

I checked with the parts department at Ford and the fuel pump cost $400+ CDN. OMG! On ebay is only $40 and free shipping. But is this the fuel pump?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FUEL...tem5d2a1d5ca9QQitemZ400138525865QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Also, anyone replaced a fuel pump b4? Is it hard/big job? Any special tools required?

 

I think you should continue to troubleshoot before you just swap out the fuel pump

 

yeah, a dying fuel pump will have problems in the upper RPMs (3500+) and be fine down low.

how does the car idle? steady at about 700-800 RPMs? or jumping up and down?

 

when the car idle in Park mode seems to be running fine but when its in drive or reverse with brake pedal on or in low speed (10 to 30km/h) it makes a loud noise and engine vibrates. But the loud noise goes away when its in higher (60+ km/h) speed. Not sure if this noisy symptom relates to the ignition/coil/ (maybe)fuel pump problem or not though. Maybe something in the exhaust pipe is loose...not sure.

When driving and the engine warning light not shown and the engine dies I can restart.But when reached the stage of the engine warning light ON...and the engine dies it usually won't restart again until a new coil is replaced. And if it does restart during engine warning light ON it would have power/acceleration problem. It even hesitate or shakes when I press the gas pedal. The engine tends to vibrate a lot more too.

 

The fuel pump problem only usually surfaces when in higher RPM, as Striker2 says, or going around a right hand bend with hardly any gas in the tank....ask me how I know!

When CWCZX3 says check the connector, he means check the connector for corrosion, and more importantly, check the wires leading into the connector for breaks or 'pulled out' state...meaning pulled out of the connector.

As stated above, plug gap is important. Check it, just to rule it out.

 

when you replace the coil pack after the CEL comes on, are you disconnecting the battery? if so then it works because you are resetting the PCM, not because you are replacing the coil pack.

if you want to test the coil pack, take an Ohm meter and check the primary circuit resistance, secondary circuit resistance, and for shorts between them. I would put money that it isnt actually bad.

 

The other day, my neigbour told me to disconnect the battery (negative) for 20mins to reboot the computer and it was same, didn't restart, just cranked.

I am not sure how to check the primary and secondary resistance on it. Not sure how to hook the meter to it and the correct resistance reading from them. . If you explain it to me how to do it maybe I can.

The problem I have appears to be exactly the same as this person with a Mazda car:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/aut...motive-center/automotive-support/374938-01-mazda-tribute-cel-ignition-coil.html


Scorpion:
I checked the plugs and wires. With coil wires...the middle wire has a little hole which expose tiny bit of the metal inside the wire(can this cause a problem?)...the two outer wires looked perfectly fine and I don't see any corrosion on the connector.

 

for secondary resistance, go between plug towers 1 and 4 for coil 1 and 2 and 3 for coil 2.

for primary resistance, go between pins on the connector, 2 and 1 for 1 coil and 2 and 3 for the other.

to check for a short go between pin 2 on the connector and 1 tower from each coil.

IIRC primary resistance should be about .3 -1 ohms, secondary resistance should be about 12.8 -13.1 K ohms. it should be an open loop between primary and secondary circuits.

 

For testing, we just installed an old partial working coil(spark plug 2 doesn't put out strong responds) to it and the engine started up. I start driving it and the samething just happened. what do you think the problem is now?

 

I would start checking out the wiring that goes to the coil pack. check for shorts and exposed wiring.

 

I rechecked the connector to the coil, again, visually I don't see much wrong with it..no corotion. Only the middle wire has a tiny hole in it which exposing the inner wire metal a bit(could this be the cause of the problem?). I couldn't visiaully inspect all three wires from end to end as the other end goes deep into engine components and into the firewall. Mostly I checked connector to the coil and as far as I can go.

Not sure what you refering to when you say "tower 1, 2,3,4" and "1 coil and 2 and 3(where's that at?)". I assume "tower", you are refering to 4 poles on top of the coil pack which connects to spark plug wires, right?

I totally don't know what you mean by:

"
Originally Posted by striker2
for secondary resistance, go between plug towers 1 and 4 for coil 1 and 2 and 3 for coil 2.

for primary resistance, go between pins on the connector, 2 and 1 for 1 coil and 2 and 3 for the other.

to check for a short go between pin 2 on the connector and 1 tower from each coil. "

and what do you mean by "go between"? When I do these tasks is it with or without battery cable disconnected?

 

to do those checks you need an ohm meter. the towers are indeed the pieces on top that the plug wires connect to. tower 1 is where the plug wire for cylinder 1 goes. tower 2 goes to cylinder 2 etc. so to check the secondary resistance you put one lead touching the metal in tower 1, and other lead doing the same but in tower 4. record the reading for that coil and then repeat the test for the other coil using towers 2 and 3.

if you unplug the wiring harness connector that goes to the coil and look inside the the coil pack where the connector was, you will see 3 metal pins. pin 2 is the middle one. pins 1 and 3 are on either side obviously. you need to take the leads of the ohm meter and put one end to pin 2 and the other end to pin 1 and read the resistance measured for that coil. then do the same for the other coil using pins 2 and 3.

to check for a short between the primary and secondary circuits put one lead on pin 2 that was used for the primary circuit test, and the other lead to tower 1. it should read as an open loop or infinite resistance (depending on how your meter reads). repeat the test using tower 2 instead.

these tests are done with the wiring harness disconnected from the coil pack so leaving the battery connected is fine.



to check the wiring harness, you will again have to use the ohm meter only this time on the connector on the wiring harness. check between the negative battery terminal (with the battery connected) and the 3 pins in the harness connector. also check between each pin on the connector and the other 2 pins.

 

Ok, here are my results. These testes are done with the coil pack which couldn't start the engine, not with the partial workign coil pack. Ohm meter set to 200 Ohm for the test.

1. Test of the towers with wiring harness connected to the coil and battery connected.

1 and 4 = infinite
2 and 3 = infinite

2. Test of 3 pins inside the coil with battery connected

2 and 1 = .05
2 and 3 = .09

3. Test of the harness connector with battery connected

pin 1 = infinite
pin 2 = 30.5Ohm
pin 3 = infinite

4. I checked if there is a short between the primary and secondary circuits use tower 1 and 2 and pin 2, both gave infinite readings.

What do you make of these results and what should I do next?

 

redo the 1st test of the secondary circuits (between the towers) with the meter set to 20,000ohms as they should have a resistance between 12,500 and 13,100 ohms.

the primary circuits do seem a little low.

can you also repeat part of the 3rd test. this time with the key on, check for voltage at pin 2.

 

can you also repeat part of the 3rd test. this time with the key on, check for voltage at pin 2.

So, test pin 2 only(one lead to 2 and the other lead to negative battery) on the harness connector, but instead of checking for resistance check for voltage this time?

 

correct, just make sure that the key is in the on/run position (the position right before turning it to the crank/start position)

 

Ok, these are the new readings

1) Meter set to 20K ohms

1, 4 = infinite
2,3 = 10.50Kohm

2) from the harness connector to the neg battery terminal with key ON position (before the cranking position) got 12.13V

 

ok, so its getting good power to the coils. it also appears that both coils are bad, with 1 being completely dead. this is honestly the first time i have seen that happen on the Zetec coil packs.

do you still have one of the other coil packs that you replaced because it seemed to be dead? if so do those same tests on it and see what you come up with. if its also dead then something very strange is happening to cause you to blow multiple coils.

 

I still have the very first coil. I just checked 1,4 and 2,3 on it with 20K ohms meter without installing into my car and both 1,4 and 2,3 got infinite reading.

So, what do you think I should do next? what do you think its wrong?

 

Strike2 and others

my car is fixed! It was the battery ground!

First, I want thank Strikes and others for helping me out! Strike2, u put a lot of effort and patient walking me through step by step on the diagnostic tests. Thank you again and everyone!