Ignition coil on the SOHC

[Mike Tonon]

How often should it be changed?

 

[RonD]

Never, unless one of the 3 coils in the coil pack has a problem.

You can test them with an OHM meter, but coils use such low OHMs on the Primary side its hard to say a cold coil won't have a problem after it gets hot

 

[Mike Tonon]

Never, unless one of the 3 coils in the coil pack has a problem.

You can test them with an OHM meter, but coils use such low OHMs on the Primary side its hard to say a cold coil won't have a problem after it gets hot

I changed the old single coil one on my 87 Ranger, when it had around 150,000 miles and the engine just seemed like it had more power and idled smoother. I was wondering if sometime after 100,000 miles or so, if it’s a good idea to change it?

 

[RonD]

The old single coils were older technology and it fired 3 times per revolution on a V6
Each of the 3 coils in the coil pack fires 1 time per revolution, so each coil, in theory, should last 3 times longer

But really up to you, certainly won't hurt, and I have read good reviews of some 3rd party coil packs

 

[adsm08]

On paper the coil pack should last the life of the vehicle. I have found most failures don't occur until 150K miles or more, so that's when I would look at replacing it.

 

[Mike Tonon]

I tend to be a motorcraft/ford only type of person, but maybe it’s worth upgrading to a high performance coil pack?