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Mechanics spent 1 hour and can not figure out what's wrong. Did you fix yours problems?
My van was sitting outside garage in 3 days rain, then it happened. So must be shortcut. Another issue is driver side sliding door remote control not working, but manual power door works fine. The day head light flashing sometimes. The Tech said Ford and Mazda has similar issue due to some electrical module failed. I am not sure about that.
A few days ago, also while I am travelling, the MPV had a cylinder #5 misfire CEL, this time repeatedly and with loss of power. We had the #5 coil replaced, as well as all the spark plugs. Driving the van back home (10 miles) was fine. The next morning within a mile of starting the van, the CEL is on again and the van is losing power. I haven't had the codes checked again yet.
Can anyone comment on the claim by 'buzzk' that the factory coils have a vent which permits water to short the plugs?
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f1025bf/54#MSG54
This explanation would account for the fact that our failures have occurred while travelling and on holidays (when our car is not stored in a garage) and after rainfalls and in the morning. Others have also observed these things. Thus, I am convinced that moisture is the problem, though I am not sure what part of the vehicle is at fault.
I have already paid to have one coil replaced and fear repeating the same exercise endlessly. I am away from home and cannot do the repairs myself. My questions are
1) For those who have gone ahead and replaced all 6 of the original factory coils, has the problem been solved?
2) How can I identify which coils to buy to avoid this moisture problem?
A hearty thanks to anyone who can help!
Update
Yesterday morning, I couldn't touch the accelerator without the check-engine light flashing (with loss of power and rough riding). Today, I waited until 4pm when it was over 90 degrees outside. I let the MPV warm up for 5 minutes, and then I drove it around and couldn't make the check engine light flash once. It does look like something is getting wet.
most assuredly IS there. I dug out one of the factory OEM coils that I replaced, several years ago,
with after-market units. I am looking at it as I type. The vent is about 21 mm long & is
rectangular in cross-section, loosely about a little over 3 by 1 mm, on the inside. However, at the
top, which is outside & exposed to atmospheric conditions under the hood, it only has a small
opening you could easily miss. It’s round & easily allows passage though of an acoustic guitar
wrapped 4th string - about 32 to 36 thousandths of an inch. Not big, but HUGE where water vapor
molecules are concerned. Until we fixed this, driving in, or just after, a heavy rain could be quite
exciting. Some wag said [I thought somewhat dismissively], that the vent is “one-way.” The
vents in the coil units that came from the factory on OUR 2004 MPV are most assuredly NOT
“one-way.”
Re piece-meal repairs [one coil at a time]: I doubt seriously that it’s good practice. In fact I
wonder about repair dishonesty. In my partly mis-spent youth I worked in the shop for a
Motorcycle & used-car dealer. If I did such a half-baked repair the owner of the shop would
probably not have been happy. The usual better practice would be to replace the whole set, but....
If everybody’s replacing these with OEM parts, AND if the OEM design has not been modified
to fix the problem, [or they’re using up old stock before buying an improved design] you gain
little & will be back reliably for more repairs [& it’ll cost a bundle; the whole set of after-market
coils I got from ebay were apparently less than what our dealer wanted for ONE OEM coil]. I can
understand the dealer could well feel pressure to use only “genuine” factory parts, but a savvy
independent should do better.
You need a coil that has NO vent whatsoever and seals the spark-well effectively & reliably. I’ve
worked with many similar spark-well designs over the years & never encountered something like
this. It really takes the cake
Cheers, BK
Yesterday, we were able to drive the MPV 3 hours in the hot afternoon without a problem. Today the misfiring recommenced immediately upon starting. We got the codes checked and now it's cylinder #4 misfiring.
I've ordered a set of coils and plan to replace them all myself or pay to have a mechanic do it. Any idea if these have the venting defect?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PV0XRM
I figured I'd see when they arrived; the cost savings is so great it's worth a try.
I'm just a guy whose been around the block a few times, used to be a well-trained Navy tech, did some mechanic work [still work on my own], etc, but this vent business seems just plain whacky to me..
Good Luck & let us know for sure, OK?
BK
One of the unpleasant jokes some sailors [usually techs] thought of as fun was to lightly run the tip of a sharpened lead pencil to draw a line down the side of the usally black distributor cap [acts as a conductor] from a plug wire to the base of the cap - it was claimed [many swore that] it would cause an impressive mis-fire..
good luck, BK
With the new coil, the minivan worked fine on short trips for three days. Then 70 miles into a long trip, the CEL came on again. However, the van still seemed to be operating fine. In a few miles, we stopped at an O'Reilly's. This time the error code is P0431 'warmup catalyst efficiency below threshold (Bank 2)'.
We stopped at a local garage and were advised that the problem could be an oxygen sensor, a failing converter, or just a bit of bad gas. Also, that if the CEL was not flashing and the car had plenty of power, then it was probably safe to drive it. So we did. 400 miles later we arrived at our destination without incident. The CEL never flashed a second time. We are visiting some relatives and are still 500 miles from home. I wonder if we are taking a big risk by trying to drive more on our MPV prior to any repairs?
Cheers, BK
3 of my original 6 OEM coils failed within 5 years. 3 years and no problems with new coils.
Cheers, BK
http://www.mpvclub.com/tsb.php?id=115
This should fix your problem. If not check fuel cap/seal area, or pressurize the evap system and sniff for leaks.
Good luck. I can be reached at dglsdxn@yahoo.com
This should take care of your problem.
dglsdxn@yahoo.com
Recently the low beam headlights have started turning off, somtimes they wont come on at all and others they will turn off while driving. The high beams work with no problems.
Do any one have any advice on where to start looking for the problem or has anyone had this problem?
Thanks
A fix for MPV misfires and coil problems... After several episodes of fouling plugs and/or bad coil packs, usually after rains, I began to look for causes and tried an experiment by leaving the black plastic shroud off when I replaced the plugs and coils. I suspected it was trapping moisture and humidity and forcing it down into the plug wells. Amazingly, my MPV has been misfire free for close to three years now. The longest I had gone previously was 12-15 months...when the van was new! It may just be coincidence but it worked for me!