Help me! Coil problems!!!!

Well, I was supposed to drive to Seattle for the weekend, but I got about a half hour out of town and the check engine light came on. This had happened to me the other day, and the ECU didn't throw any codes, and as soon as I turned the car back on, it went away and didn't come back all week. So, I figured it was something unimportant like the O2 sensor or something, and while driving today, just figured I'd keep driving. Well, about 10 miles later, the car took a shit and wouldn't start again. So, I pop the hood, and I don't see anything bad. Figured maybe my rotor had fallen off inside the dizzy, so I removed the cap, and this is what I found:

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/907433smFriedCoil01.jpg

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/606756smFriedCap01.jpg

The coil is fried to shit, and the cap ain't far behind...

So, caught a ride with my roommate who was following behind, and she gave me a ride to the parts store. I picked up a new coil and a new cap, then drove back out to my car, installed them real quick, and the car started right up. So I was like "weird... fuck it! Let's roll!"

Started back on the trip to Seattle, and about 10 miles later, the check engine light came on again. Pulled over real quick, took off the dizzy cap, and everything looked alright. Decided it would be a bad idea to continue the trek, so we turned around and headed back. Every time the check engine light came on, I would have to pull over, let everything cool down for about 10 minutes, and then continue driving until the check engine light came back on... Fucking frustrating.

So, does anyone know what could be causing this? The original coil was fairly new (within the last 7 months), as well as the ignitor unit, cap, and rotor.

The guy at the parts store said that it might not be grounded properly, but I checked it out, and I see no reason that it wouldn't be...

Please help!

Even if your grounds are hooked up maybe they are shitty and old or something. Try sanding down the area to bare metal and seeing if that gives everything good contact.

yea id agree, you might be getting voltage spikes to it causing it to burn out, definatly check your grounds.

Originally posted by crxlvr
yea id agree, you might be getting voltage spikes to it causing it to burn out, definatly check your grounds.

Which grounds? Isn't the dizzy connected directly to the engine? Shouldn't the engine be grounded pretty good? Or are those the grounds I should check?

yea its attached to the motor, but the motor has the grounds too, check em all, maybe u knocked one loose when playing around in the engine.

Originally posted by crxlvr
yea its attached to the motor, but the motor has the grounds too, check em all, maybe u knocked one loose when playing around in the engine.

Good idea. I'll do that. thank you.

Any other ideas, just in case?

could be ur ecu sending the wrong signal to the coil causing a higher voltage, could be a short in the dizzy cap also.

Originally posted by crxlvr
could be ur ecu sending the wrong signal to the coil causing a higher voltage, could be a short in the dizzy cap also.

New cap though... doubt its a short in the cap.

EXACT Same thing happened to my little bro's car a little while back... his mechanic had just replaced the coil in his car not 3 months earlier. So this time I did the work myself... found that the wires were all rusted over and dirty... cleaned them off real good, installed a new coil... has been running fine now for over a year.
As for the check engine light coming on when the car gets hot... my brothers car was doing that too but after I replaced the engine distributor it stopped that... still not quite sure what that problem was...

One thing I've noticed since yesterday, is that every time I get out of the car, I shock the shit out of my hand on the door frame... This happens all the time, but the zap is much more powerfull now... maybe it's a related problem?

lmao that sounds far fetched mike, and watch someone will say "well actually yes....."

Well, it appears that I fixed the problem. The battery ground was kinda loose in the hatch, so I tightened it down... Noticed that the 5th rim/tire was resting right on it, so that probably didn't help... Anyways, drove the car around a bunch, and the check engine light didn't come on at all where usually after about 5 miles or more it would come on.

Originally posted by XxLuckyLisaxX
lmao that sounds far fetched mike, and watch someone will say "well actually yes....."

Oh yeah, and the car doesn't shock me anymore. :thefinger

It sounds like a good way to rig up an alarm system, though..
Flunky

Originally posted by 4-Door Flunky
It sounds like a good way to rig up an alarm system, though..
Flunky

Yep... Of course the shock wasn't that bad, but if you could hook it up that way effectively, it'd work pretty good.

Although, it'd be my luck that I'd be at the grocery store, and some old lady would put her hand on my car to steady herself and it'd fry her pace-maker. :bloated:

Originally posted by ci5ic

Although, it'd be my luck that I'd be at the grocery store, and some old lady would put her hand on my car to steady herself and it'd fry her pace-maker. :bloated:

I work at a grocery store, and let me tell you.... old ladys are far more likely to just plain fall straight down then to lean on someones car to steady themselves... they usually just colapse all at once. Is pretty rediculous.
I've actually thought about rigging up my car to shock people before too ;) I think it'd be funny if people ever tried to steal my shit.

just put a sticker that says "Danger : High Voltage". My bosses friend won a case in court that way. Someone try to steal his BMW that he had the door handles shock you when the alarms on but had that sticker.