Replacement coil reliability

[Orlandouser]

I have 4 coils (according to the dealer) that are failing, but have not yet failed so do not register on an Acctron scanner. The other 2 have recently been replaced. Dealer cost per coil is $170 each (left and right bank same price). Local parts house has them for $65-$75 each with the left (rear) being the more expensive. Online I find the prices to be anywhere from $20-$25 each to more than $100 each depending on manufacturer. The lowest priced coil has a 12 month unlimited mile warranty, as good or better than most others.

Car is 2000 I30 with 156K on the odometer and 69K on the engine. If the lower priced coils are reliable I would simply buy 4 to replace those that have yet to fail and hold them until they individually fail. I really hate to replace the coil if it is still functioning, but maybe replacement has some performance benefit.

Has anyone had experience with reliability on replacement coils, especially at the lower price level?

 

[Trickplay461]

Coils

I'm not sure if you already addressed this. I have plenty of experience with these coils. I would not pay one red cent to a dealer for them or installation. They are very simple to install. My only advice on this is to make sure you buy the JAPANESE version of these coils. The Jap ones are the original equipment and you can find them on EBAY from $60-85 dollars. I THINK they are made by Hitachi? some asian sounding name close to that. I found them on other sites too. The original japanese versions of these coils have a grey dot on them. They are super reliable as these are the original equipment. I made the mistake of getting the cheap ones and they failed right after install. A common problem is for one of them to start acting up. You will get the check engine light, tranny slip lights coming on at once...The engine will run rough when this happens. The problem is that the coil will occasionally misfire as it degrades. Since it will work intermittently until failure, the error codes will not directly point to the bad coil. You will start the car plenty of times and find it will run fine until the coil acts up again. The dealer will recommend to change them all as the only sure cure...bastards make the money off the parts and crazy install price. It is not necessary to fix this this way. All you have to do is be patient. Any time you get a "check engine" light, hook up a code reader and read the code. You should eventually get a code that will tell you exactly which coil is misfiring. If it doesnt tell you which one then the coil hasnt misfired enough. Use the code reader to "clear" the check engine light and just wait it out. Eventually you will get the light and you WILL GET THE CORRECT code. Google the code you get to make sure u figure out which coil it is. It will say right or left bank coil - once you look it up. Then you buy the coil and replace...no big deal. Takes a screw driver and a ratchet set. I have replaced 3 coils in the 9 yrs I have had my 2000 I30 and know I will eventually replace them all. First time I dit it I paid out the ass for a coil. Then I found the right threads on the net and learned how to do it. GL............