[dr.aviansh]

Help required for Ignition Coils

Hi everyone. My 2008 Honda City ZX i-DSi CVT had been giving jerky acceleration on rare occasions till a few months back, which have now become very frequent. Checked my ignition coils and 3 of 4 are showing signs of misfire. The A.S.S. quoted for Rs 5,500/- each. I contacted my local ones and they are not able to obtain them. So I placed an order for genuine Hitachi from China using AliBaba and throughout the shop representative had been in touch with me. Today, when I got the delivery, I checked that it was some local Chinese. I had asked the representative to make sure that genuine Hitachi’s were sent and now he is being all innocent about it.

Luckily I’d ordered just one, but it was disappointing for me. So, I’m not willing to place more orders from him.

Since the OEM would set me back by 15k on a car with 3 years’ life remaining I wouldn’t wanna spend that much especially when other running parts are due as well.

1.) What options do I have? If any Hitachi, Delphi or Denso seller is known anywhere in India, then let please me know. I have also checked BoodMo etc.
I dropped the idea of procuring scrap from Maya Puri (Delhi) as the coils can easily be polished to remove its misfire signs.

2.) How do I know that this particular chinese coil would be of any use to me? If I replace one faulty coil with this one, can I expect some change in misfire?
: One coil is perfect, two are misfiring at times and the fourth is this chinese one.

HONDA OEM part number : 30521-PWA-003



Since, I am a doctor I have to go to my work daily. Getting stranded midway during a pandemic would be the last thing I’d want for myself.

[vaasu]

Your car would have 8 ignition coils. Hope, you would have checked all 8 and not just 4?

4 Coils towards the firewall are the first to give up due to heat.
I had similar issues with my 2007 City (now sold). I had tried cleaning the coil contacts (which fits on top of spark plug). But, one of them was so corroded that it gave away on cleaning. Got it eventually replaced with genuine coil from Honda. Still the problem was not fixed entirely as others coils were also showing symptoms of being "weak".

Unfortunately, there is no other option other than to replace all affected coils.

Thanks.

[dr.aviansh]

Originally Posted by vaasu

Your car would have 8 ignition coils. Hope, you would have checked all 8 and not just 4?

4 Coils towards the firewall are the first to give up due to heat.

Yes Vaasu, it’s a known problem in the i-DSi engines. But it restricts only to the coils facing towards the firewall hence I did not check the front ones. The A.S.S. had given me an estimate of 18k/- which didn’t seem justified.

So I was looking for Bosch/Hitachi/Delphi/Denso retailers for the same. Are you aware of any?

[Jeroen]

How did you determine the coils are “misfiring”? Did you use an OBD scanner?

Have you tried swapping coils and see what happens?

Jeroen

[dr.aviansh]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

How did you determine the coils are “misfiring”? Did you use an OBD scanner?
Have you tried swapping coils and see what happens?

Thanks for the reply Jeroen. The mechanic at Honda was an old acquaintance who came to my home to inspect. He pointed out at some whitish chalk like marks on 3/4 rear coils at their neck area from where current might be ‘leaking.’ He said it’s a well known problem about the i-DSi.

I also own a scrap-worthy 2004 City GXi on CNG. With intentions of scavenging from this car, we checked her coils and found them to be in even worse shape. He asked if this car had the same problem which i said was unbearable in this one as reported by my driver.

And no, we didn’t try swapping the coils of the 2008 City amongst themselves.

Here’s a pic of the chinese product I received today :

[vaasu]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

So I was looking for Bosch/Hitachi/Delphi/Denso retailers for the same. Are you aware of any?

Sorry, am not aware of any Bosch/Hitachi/Delphi/Denso retailer.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

THe pointed out at some whitish chalk like marks on 3/4 rear coils at their neck area from where current might be ‘leaking.’ He said it’s a well known problem about the i-DSi.

Would you happen to have some images?
Was you car exhibiting any symptoms of misfiring at all, and if so what?

Thanks

Jeroen

[dr.aviansh]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Would you happen to have some images?
Was you car exhibiting any symptoms of misfiring at all, and if so what?

At times, the car coughs up on being accelerated especially when you’re trying to overtake. So I thought maybe my CVT is giving up. But on showing at two different A.S.S.’s I was relieved that the CVT is working fine. They said if CVT were an issue, then the car would have jerked every time right when we pressed the accelerator to get it moving from being stationary and would stay for longer durations.

No l didn’t click the pics of the coils.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

At times, the car coughs up on being accelerated especially when you’re trying to overtake. So I thought maybe my CVT is giving up. But on showing at two different A.S.S.’s I was relieved that the CVT is working fine. They said if CVT were an issue, then the car would have jerked every time right when we pressed the accelerator to get it moving from being stationary and would stay for longer durations.

Ok, good luck with it. As an an afterthought; always get your car hooked up to a proper OBD scanner/analyser as it is likely to pinpoint the problem much more precise. An experienced mechanic is a big help, but your symptoms could be due to any number of reasons. I hope the new coils help.

But if they don’t, find a mechanic that knows and believes in modern diagnostic techniques. And that always, always means hooking up a car to an OBD analyser If anything, just to confirm that his/her gut feeling is indeed correct

Jeroen

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

So I was looking for Bosch/Hitachi/Delphi/Denso retailers for the same. Are you aware of any?

You might want to give these people a call and ask: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/delhi...new-delhi.html (Metro Spares & Ghai Motors (Savitri Nagar, New Delhi)).

[dr.aviansh]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Ok, good luck with it. As an an afterthought; always get your car hooked up to a proper OBD scanner/analyser as it is likely to pinpoint the problem much more precise. An experienced mechanic is a big help, but your symptoms could be due to any number of reasons. I hope the new coils help.

Yes, I’m considering a full diagnostics by this week as her 120k service is around the corner. Thanks.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

You might want to give these people a call and ask: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/delhi...new-delhi.html (Metro Spares & Ghai Motors (Savitri Nagar, New Delhi)).

This seems reassuring. Thank you so much.
It appears Arun is a very busy person and also I’ll need some genuine advice on buying Chinese coils or branded ones. So what reference should I give him, if at all?
Planning to call him before going to a crowded Malviya Nagar area.

[sandeepmohan]

I would go with Jeroen's recommendations, that is, get a diagnosis run through an OBD scan too. You can walk into Honda and do this too. I doubt if they will charge you for it.

Check the condition of the high tension wire leads to the spark plugs from the ignition coil. I had experienced premature failure of these leads on my 5 year old Fiat Linea. Identified by a unusual ticking sound from within the engine bay. The car started, idled and ran well for the most part. It is only when I lugged it did I feel a sort of fuel or air starved response from the engine.

[shankar.balan]

A while ago perhaps last year around August ish, my Gypsy also was behaving like this. It would jerk about quite a bit and hesitate like the blazes too.

Then I did a simple test. Started it and moved off in 2nd gear, then moved to 3rd gear and let it run without touching the accelerator and then moved to 4th gear and did the same. Did this up a slight incline, crossed a speed breaker or two and on a flat area as well.
It continually coughed and hesitated and jerked.

So I went straight back to the garage, took an opinion from the mechanic. Then we changed out the ignition coils to the latest brand new ones, changed all the spark plugs to lovely new NGK Iridium ones and hey presto, on repeating the above test as described, the Gypsy chugs along beautifully and fearlessly without a moment of hesitation!

[2000rpm]

Friend, I think the investment of getting this job done from the Authorised ASS will be much better than saving 5 grand using chinese parts. You will never have faith in the car on long drives. Go ahead and get it done from Honda and it will save you a lot of time like this Chinese order back and forth. Do factor in the value of time invested in the whole exercise.

[balenoed_]

Most likely it is the ignition coil. I had this similar issue on by '04 Baleno where the car used to jerk as I pick up speed from 1st and 2nd gear. Resolved after replacing the coils. Though I go with OEM brands with most other parts, for the coils I went ahead with the MGP parts itself. I guess coils are something that should not be compromised. Suggest you go with original ASS ones.

And 3 years of life remaining is reasonably long to still invest on it. And you never know, you may decide to extend it beyond 15 years as well.