can car run with a disconnected coil pack?

[PaulKim]

I am not going to leave all specifics as i dot want dealer to find this post.

i have a late model vehicle still under powertrain warranty. I have codes for cylinder 1 misfire, air fuel imbalance, running rich, and bad coil pack on cylinder 1. My symptoms are rough idle and feels down on power but i cant tell i dont drive it hard with this problem.

After a whole day at dealer they call saying the coil pack wire was disconnected and they need to do a 260$ “flow chart” (diagnostic?)

I asked if it was disconnected why dont they just connect it. I also aaid what he is telling me doesnt make any sense.

Anyway i did t authorize any more work yet and will talk to them tomorrow.

Does this make any sense? Would car even start or run with a disconnected coil pack?

Full disclosure to you guys i replaced that coil pack with a brand new oem one two months ago when i had just the bad coil pack code.

Whats going on here? I dont want to be jerked around like im a walking charity

Topic

[Douglas Haynes]

Yes, it should run with one coil pack disconnected but I am confused; why did you replace the coil yourself if the car was still under warranty?

Which also kinda dovetails into the question of why the dealer is going to charge you for diagnosing something when the car is under warranty?

I think they should just be able to reconnect the wire or are they saying it has a open in the wire?

[PaulKim]

I did it myself because the coil is $80 and 10 minute job. Well worth my time instead wasting it like this dealing with dealer. And at time it only gave the 1 code and no symptoms. when i replace it check light was gone.

And i dont know. The guy was being a jerk trying to make me OK this 260$ job. I ask why he wont just reconnect it and he dodging trying to get me spend the money. Then he says he will talk to me tomorrow. Asshole.

If he act this way tomorrow i will call the corporate number and ask what is going on.

But i just wanted to know, is it possible what he said is right? Why would wire disconnect after 2+ months all of a sudden? Would that explain all the codes? And why is he being a jerk…

[Kris]

Wait wait,so you have a missfire in cylinder 1 with a suspected bad coil? Is the coil pack a single module or are they individual coils over plug with individual connectors? If individual move the coil and see if the missfire moves with it, while it’s out check for cracking, tracking obvious damage, and while your there check the plugs

The car will still run if 1 coil is unplugged but it’ll obviously be spraying raw fuel into the exhaust which can damage your cat and 02 sensors, ( expensive ) and not advisable..

Have you checked the fuel quality? Is it a consistent ? Or just sometimes?

[PaulKim]

Its not the fuel. I had to drive 200 miles home after the code popped. I use 93 from shell sunoco type stations

It is coil over plug

So all my codes can be explained by a disconnected coil pack? If so why is he not just reconnect it and see if fixed?

[Kris]

If it is disconnected it’ll be miss firing consistently no matter what your driving conditions are , and there will be a reason why its unplugged itself if that is the cause weather the connectors been molested on either side or misaligned connector pins etc

My best advice, take it to someone with diagnostic equipment for your vehicle make, and don’t mess with it if its still under warranty, that’s what techs get paid for..

If a dealers being difficult take it to another one

[PaulKim]

It is at the car dealer.

It is missfiring consistently.

I replaced it more than 2 months ago and its 1 quick connect that clicks in place. How could it come undone suddenly?

Im just trying to understand and also understand why they want to do more diagnostic if he found a problem already?

[Joseph]

[quote=”PaulKim”]I dont want to be jerked around like im a walking charity
The guy was being a jerk trying to make me OK this 260$ job.
Asshole.
If he act this way tomorrow i will call the corporate number and ask what is going on.
[/quote]

Pardon for saying so, but it seems as you are the jerk. It’s customers like you that walk around with a chip on your shoulder and act like every trained technician is out to rip you off, or otherwise stick it to you, that causes these situations. The technician may be jaded from having to deal with 10,000 rude customers like you everyday, and your attitude doesn’t foster his wanting to engage in a conversation to explain every little detail because you would probably just argue with him about it anyway. If I was that technician, I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way for you after being treated as you did. They are professionals and should be given the courtesy of being such. They work on these cars all day every day and you don’t. They know things that you never will. If they recommend a service to be done, then you should consider that it’s probably a good idea and that they know what they are talking about. Maybe this diagnostic they want to do is to verify their fix and to confirm there aren’t pending issues that would cause a future service issue or leave you stranded somewhere, or worse.

Sorry if this offends anyone, I’m just calling it like I see it.

[PaulKim]

I am jerk because i dont take his word as gospel.

I asked for a little more detail. He said a wire is disconnected. Am i wrong to ask why he didnt reconnect it? He didnt say so. He just kept saying he needs to do some flow chart and its gonna cost 260. Not giving any explanation. Not say if they reconnect the wire or not. Not say that this “flow chart” is to verify a repair, not say if they even attempted a repair, or say if they connected the wire and still having problem.

And he abruptly say he will talk to me tomorrow and hang up. Because i ask him legitamite questions.

And by the way you say recommended service to the customer but call it upselling to your coworkers.

Anyway the cost factor is moot car is under powertrain warranty. Another reason im not sure why he keep throwing the 260$ number at me. I understand they have to say it because if some reason they try to not cover under warranty but he not once mention warranty either.

[PaulKim]

I went there today and service manager also has an attitude. Anyone who wants to know what’s going on is a problem customer I guess…

Anyway I spoke to the TECH, who was very nice. And he gave me the answers I needed right away no bs. And he said what they need to do is compression and leakdown. Which makes sense and what I was asking. I’m going to write the manufacturer they should promote him he has better customer service skill than the people behind the desk.

[Douglas Haynes]

I feel like there is so much more to this story than you are telling us…

People usually are not rude to you unless you have given some reason to be so I do have to wonder with what kind of attitude you are approaching the service department. While there are exceptions to the rule I find people usually receive back the attitude they present to the service department. Food for thought.

There is also the whole issue of the car being under warranty but the dealer trying to sell you services; if the car is under warranty you should present them with the issue and they should solve it. End of story. Why are they charging you for stuff?

It is also really impossible to tell you what is going on with the coil or connector with no info on what the car is.

[PaulKim]

The whole story is

3 months ago I got an isolated P0351 with no symptoms other than check engine light
sorry i mean single code, reproduceable by heat like WOT
I replaced coil pack with OEM one 3 months ago
Then I got check engine light and misfire now, 3 months later. P0351, P0301, P2097, P219A
Bring to dealer

What reason I gave to be rude.
I went to dealer. I ask to speak to service adviser because I wanted clarification of what he told me on the phone.
So guy wasnt there but tech was
So I spoke to tech and ask him what’s going on with the car because from what the guy told me on the phone all they did was connect a loose connector and the car has been there 2 days.
Then the lady interjects telling me i should fix it myself

Anyway, the problem seems to me the adviser/manager don’t seem to know the technical aspect of what is going on. So it seems to take it personally when I ask for more detail that they can’t provide. So the adviser is telling me some “flowchart” but what it really is a compression and leakdown test.

Either way the car is fixed. I got the explanation of what was done. I still don’t know how a connector can come undone 3 months later but whatever at least it was an easy fix and they did the compression and leakdown to make sure it wasn’t anything more serious.

And the advisor call me to apologize for the way she acted because I really didnt do anything to provoke anyone but ask for an explanation.

Im sorry if I offend anyone on here but this the reason I started working on my own cars. I might not know a lot but I try. I have a performance shop I trust and always very nice and tell me exactly what is going on, but since this was a warranty thing and a very bad misfire I just wanted to use dealer. The tech there was great and he did the appropriate work, it was just the middle man miscommunication.

[Mike]

Couple of things I noticed reading this:

1) A disconnected wire/connector is not a manufacturer defect, and therefore not warrantable. That is why you were presented with a cost.

2) $260 to determine a coil pack is disconnected sounds like a tech lost their ass on it, like diagnostically putting the cart before the horse.

3) If a car under powertrain warranty has a issue related to compression, that is not something the customer is typically charged to diagnose.

4) As far as I can tell they told you the point of failure was found to be a wiring problem. The idea that compression/leakdown testing needs to be done to verify a wiring repair sounds quite idiotic based on the information we have.

[Author]

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