93 Ignition Coils

[Tmauer]

A little history. My car is running rough, and has no power. A friend looked atit and said I needed to replace the plugs and wires. I did this and it didn't help. So I pulled the wires from the coil posts individually and two were not arcing. I figured that the coil/s were bad and replaced them all. No improvement. I tried the pulling wire test again and the original post was still not arcing, however the other non-arcing post was fixed. However one of the good posts on the one good coil I had is now not arcing. So I am still not arcing on two posts. I'm starting to get frustrated. Any further ideas or should I just take in to the shop and let a real mechanic look at it?

[GTP Dad]

The coils are probably bad and need to be replaced if they are not providing spark. It could also be the ignition module but doubtful since part of the system is currently working. You didn't indicate what size engine you have but if it is a four cylinder you will need two coils and for the v-6 you will need three. To change simply unbolt the old coils and reinstall the new ones.

[Tmauer]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear in my earlier post.
I have the 3.3L v6 engine. The oddesy started when I replaced the plugs and wires. Then checked the coils for spark. On two of the coils one of the two posts wasn't arcing regularly. That is to say they arc but super intermittantly. Figuring that the coils were bad I replaced all three.
After replacing them I still have one post on two coils intermittantly arcing. Though one of the three coils that I replaced is working and the one that was good now has an issue.
So I am wondering if the control module may be bad, or if it could be the cam position sensor?
I am amazed at what the friendly local Pep boys wanted to install these coils. When I called and asked I was quoted something like $42 dollars each. For a job that took me about 15 to 20 minutes to do... I hope its not a cam position sensor as I don't think I can do that myself.

[Tmauer]

I've been sitting around stewing over it for some time. What about my timing? Could this be a timing problem?

[GTP Dad]

There are two items that I would suspect. First the ignition module may have a bad contact that will not allow the one coil to fire properly. This is directly under the coils and should be very easy to change. The other item is the Crank Positon Sensor. If it is not sending a proper signal to the ECM then you will get an intermittant spark. The CPS on the 3.3 is located behind the harmonic balancer on the front of the engine so you have to remove it to get to the sensor. May be a job for a mechanic if the ignition module doesn't correct the problem.

As for your timing question, I doubt that is the issue since the car will start easily. If the timing were off you would have problems with starting and idling. If it is spark then the two items I mentioned should solve your problem. The only other item I can think of other than the Cam Position Sensor is the ECM but I doubt that is bad.