Ignition Coil Fails - 4 In A Year!

[Alan R]

Folks,

I have a 00 1.4 Corolla vvTi and have had ignition coil problems. One went about 1 year ago and was replaced. 3 months ago this same one failed. Last week another failed and was replaced and this morning another one died. I'm not sure if it was the same one as the others previously failed.

Is there any reason why this would be happening apart from the age of the car? I've been told that it's unusual for 1 to go...let alone 4!

Alan.

[Captain Willard]

Hi...same problem here....have you had any luck. my management light comes on from time to time as well.

[Alan R]

I think so, yes. And it sounds like an amateurish problem too. I found that my engine was burning oil so my oil levels were low. Too low. So I reckon the engine may have been over heating or some impact of the low oil level was blowing the coils. I've kept it topped up now to almost top level and no problem since.

Hope this is of some help to you.

[avensisd4d786]

are you replacing with aftermarket or genuine parts?

[Alan R]

Aftermarket. All is well now though.

[mcorban]

Would think it is causing the plugs to overheat and then causes the coil to burn out.

Also it is fairly important to torque your plugs. This helps with heat dissipation from the plug into the head.

I changed the engine in my 00 corolla for a later engine, out of an 06. Not a drop burnt since.

Had to put two cats into it though before hand, and then two lambdas.

[avensisd4d786]

Aftermarket. All is well now though.

Try genuine or even used aslong as working, may last longer.

Would think it is causing the plugs to overheat and then causes the coil to burn out.

Also it is fairly important to torque your plugs. This helps with heat dissipation from the plug into the head.

I changed the engine in my 00 corolla for a later engine, out of an 06. Not a drop burnt since.

Had to put two cats into it though before hand, and then two lambdas.

All Toyota VVT-I 1.4, 1.6 & 1.8L engines (1zz 1.8, 3zz 1.6 & 4zz 1.4) made from 2000 to mid 2005 may suffer from excessive oil consumption of 1L/600miles. The cause was insufficient oil capacity, poor piston and piston ring design. This led to the oil-ways sludging up, eventually causing hardened oil around the rings to misshape the bores. The use of poor quality or overly thick oils (thicker than 5w30) increased the likelihood of the issues above occurring. The fix was re-designed pistons, rings and short block - some were replaced under warranty; after about July 2005 the fix was applied new build Toyotas.

[mcorban]

It never caused coil packs on my car to fail, but following what he was saying, about oil being topped up, perhaps.

I do know that overtightened or incorrectly seated plugs can cause overheating and coil pack failure, due to the current draw being too much.

My own engine, had been dealer serviced all its life, and was told "sure they do burn a bit" until it was out of warranty and had a engine managment light on for post cat efficiency.

They refused outright to replace the 1.4, saying it was a 1.6 issue.

That said, a later engine sorted it for me, and thankfully i had the where whit all to install a replacement engine myself.

The amount i've seen in breakers yards with duff engines is unbelievable, and to this day cannot believe toyota just buried their heads in the sand.

Rant over now over the oil consumption