I was thinking of changing my plugs 110k miles and wondered how often people rip the coil boot or ruin a coil. Should I pre buy a coil as a spare?

The plugs look easy except I have heard some people ripping the coil boots. And which coil for a spare OEM? Do you have to change all the coils or can you swap in a new one even though the rest are 100,000 miles old?

Do you guys torque wrench them or go by "feel" and do a 3/4 turn after the gasket washer first hits.

Thanks!

 

I did my coils at 204k as a precautionary measure, not a single one tore. Plus are easy with just one or two moderately awkward to get at. Honestly I would just do all the coils, not sure where you are located but Rock Auto has API coils for about $14/each on wholesale closeout. Myself and one of my friends bought a set. Not sure if he installed his yet. Except a couple, all of mine were labeled Delphi. Only bought because I have had great luck with API products, they seem to repackage a lot and this was apparently another case, so I saved a ton of money. I torque spark plugs to spec on cold engines. The coil bolts, those can be evil to remove and have been known to break. I had no issue. I put them back with a little anti-seize and snugged the bolts up, probably below spec but they are not really doing much anyway.

 

Thanks, did you happen to use dielectric grease on the inside of the boots? Prevents arcing.

Official coils are on sale for $476.95 are they that much better? I had heard some people having issue with non OEM coils dying within the first year.

That is why Im thinking to use OEM coils. Or I could just do plugs and leave the coils as is till 200k miles.

 

I had original coils on 7 cylinders at 196k. I had one fail at 155k tossed one in from advance auto no problems. I currently have 3 4.4 or 4.2 trucks and I have never torn a boot pulling a coil.

 

I'm about to do the coils and plugs too. Started having a misfire on #2 and #7. Now its all around (started 40 miles ago, and within 24 hours).