[Cthulhu]

Okay, so here's the story. I had a check engine light for about a week. I've been really busy at work and stuff like that so I didn't have time to get it checked out. At first there weren't any problems, just the light. Then anything over half throttle would result in sputtering for lack of a better word. Idle was a little strange as well. I was going to have it looked at after Christmas. Well, Christmas eve it got worse. NO power, smell of gas, very rough idle... I knew there was an open recall on the O2 sensor, so I thought maybe that might have something to do with it. I took the car in yesterday and they call me at work with the news. It needs a coil pack and spark plug wires. Turns out the end of the wires were corroded and it was only running on 2 cylinders. That would explain the lack of power and the smell of gas. He gives me the total.... $402.86 The coil pack is 160.67 and the wires are 37.70. 180+ bucks in labor. Uhm....no.

So my questions are, if any of you have read this far... What would have caused this in the first place? Normal wear and tear? Are there any of these parts I can get cheaper? How hard would this be to do myself? Anyone had any experience with this kind of repair? They are going to go ahead and replace the O2 sensor for free due to the recall. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[HondaH8er]

Why isn't the repair being covered under warrenty? And how many miles do you have on the car? I know if something like that happened to my 2000 RS, I would think there was a serious problem, as I think the wires and coil pack should be able to last more than 3 years before having a catastrophic failure like you had.

 

[RS25.com]

Coil pack = 4 screws, you can do it yourself in like 5 minutes.

Wires = no screws, you can do it at the same time. Dont mess up the order. Labor? I don't need no stinking labor!

 

[Cthulhu]

Why isn't the repair being covered under warrenty? And how many miles do you have on the car? I know if something like that happened to my 2000 RS, I would think there was a serious problem, as I think the wires and coil pack should be able to last more than 3 years before having a catastrophic failure like you had.

Well, it's not covered under warranty because I have 49k miles on my car. I bought it in October of 1999. So no more warranty for me.

 

[Subie Gal]

i had the coil pack go bad on my 01...
thankfully before i hit 35k....

i think they just go poo sometimes...
not that anything you did or any mods would have caused this..

but YES! you can totally install these items yourself...
and use an internet oem site to obtain the parts...
you'll save a TON of $$$....

*cough* www.allsubaru.com *cough*

let me know if i can help at all.
jamie
www.subiegalracing.com

 

[DoorKnob]

I think that the coil packs corroding is a real problem. I know that there are a handful of people, including myself, that has found corrosion. It's not always serious to the point of which Cthulhu's failed, but I've had some weird sputtering problems and a strange incident where the car stalled after pulling away from a stop.

Subaru won't warranty it unless it's specifically causing a CE light, I tried. So I'm living with a slightly corroded pack right now with a little dielectric grease added to stop further corrosion.

What got me was the tech guy said that the wire shouldn't need to be replaced. BS corrosion on the coils is gonna be on the wires too. Then he tried to blame my problems on my SS brakelines. I'm not going back there anymore... :monkey:

 

[Subie Gal]

Then he tried to blame my problems on my SS brakelines. I'm not going back there anymore... :monkey:

yikes.. i wouldn't either!!! what a moron....

good luck to ya...
Jamie

 

[HondaH8er]

To you guys and gals who have had the corroding coilpack problem: do/did you have your hoodscoops open, with the plate either spaced or removed? Could water getting to the top of the engine that much easier possible lead to this problem?

 

[Peaty]

I've seen more than one car with a wire or two corroded up at the coil pack, myself included. I check mine often now. Also, it's a good idea to put a good dose of Dilectric Grease up at the connections to prevent it from happening.

Make sure you need a coil pack.

Have a look here:

http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/elec/FtIgnitionDiagOpS00.pdf

If you need one get one from Subie Gal and install it yourself. If it takes more than 15 min you did it wrong

Clean up the wire ends an put the grease on and it may all be fine.

Peaty

 

[Cthulhu]

To you guys and gals who have had the corroding coilpack problem: do/did you have your hoodscoops open, with the plate either spaced or removed? Could water getting to the top of the engine that much easier possible lead to this problem?

Nope, my scoop and vents are virgin... Never been opened.

Thanks for all the info. I appreciate it.