Blowing up Coil packs! HELP!

darkiller_666 · 11-07-2008, 12:37 PM

So im going through my 4th set of coil packs and transistors. I have had a coil pack litteraly blow up one went out on cylinder 3 and 4 and the other one on 1 and 2. I have put 3 different power transistors in also. I cant afford to drop 40-80 evey month or two on new transistors and coil packs, not to mention how bad it sucks trying to get home on 2 cylinders.
Can any one give me any ideas on what might be causing this. I took apart the wiring harness and checked every wire from injector wires to TPS sensor wire to the wires out the back of the Transistor, i wrapped every wire individually in electric tape then tape the ones that belong together in a group, took me about 2 hours for all the checking and taping. There was no cut wires shorts touching wires nothing. Please help diagnose thus.

beezwax · 11-07-2008, 12:41 PM

Have you tried replacing the PTU?

darkiller_666 · 11-07-2008, 12:42 PM

no, im not even sure what the PTU is??

beezwax · 11-07-2008, 02:23 PM

Power Transitor Unit...I believe it gives the coil packs the power to ignite and relays info to the ECU.

a while back I fried a CP and replaced the PTU and it fixed the issue. I think NEW they run about 150-180

darkiller_666 · 11-07-2008, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkiller_666

So im going through my 4th set of coil packs and transistors. I have had a coil pack litteraly blow up one went out on cylinder 3 and 4 and the other one on 1 and 2. I have put 3 different power transistors in also.

your saying a PTu is the same as a power transistor?? well then yes i said in the orignal post ive changed it several times......

darkiller_666 · 11-07-2008, 03:14 PM

what could be causing both the PTU and the Coils to go bad????

Timechg · 11-07-2008, 07:07 PM

I thought my PTU and my ignition coil packs were going bad, because I would always be getting a misfire on cylinder 2. I changed them out twice and realized that there was another problem. I unplugged my front o2 sensor to see if the misfire went away and it did. I had a faulty o2 sensor so I replaced it and didn't have any problems after that. I wouldn't leave the o2 sensor unplugged for a long time because it will dump fuel into your cylinders. It doesn't take long to unplug it and it may eliminate you problem.

Tim

rich3389 · 11-07-2008, 09:55 PM

Replace your spark plug wires.

darkiller_666 · 11-07-2008, 10:10 PM

spark plug wires are brand new, and i know my o2 sensor is going bad my narrow band reads full lean all the time during all driving conditions and i only get 12 mpg and a black residue around muffler. A new o2 sensor was next on my replace list until my coil pack blew up.

Timechg · 11-07-2008, 10:35 PM

Just try unplugging the O2 sensor to see if your misfire goes away, it is very unlikely that your 4 coil packs have "blown up".

darkiller_666 · 11-08-2008, 10:08 AM

i dont think you guys are quite understanding, its not like i could simply unplug my o2 sensor and fix my problem. my coil pack litterally blew up, like boom. There was atleast 20 melted and shredded pieces of plastic all over in the hood. I was very lucky seeming how its so close to the fuel line. now once i have my new PTU and Coil packs, are you guys suggesting my o2 sensor could be causing such a bad failure, ive had 1 blow up, 1 go out on cyl 3 and 4 and one go out on cyl 1 and 2. the life span of the new coils is lasting about a month or two. I noticed this last time that i was seeming to have flat spots under WOT. all i have is Safc and a narrowband. i run minimum boost and dont even mess with the Cor on Safc. i did notice that during the flat spots the karmen reading in the graph mode was a very jumpy upward climb with the Rev, especially jumping below the line where it felt like it had flat spots. I also noticed a seemingly gradual loss in power, until compltete coil failure 5 miles from my house. i was forced to drive home on 2 cylinders. the next day i went out and started her up and u could see and hear arching coming from the coils to the IM and surronding medals. The car was obviously running on 2 cylinders and to check i unpolugged each spark plug wire one at a time, when i unpluged 1 and 2 nothing changed, 3 and 4 the car got worse. i proceeded to cut apart the wiring harness and wrap each and every single wire individually in electric tape then wrapped the grouped wires again together in tape. the PTU is now so dead the car wont even turn over. I hope this is a more specific decription of my problem and leads to more helpful answers and conversation.

darkiller_666 · 11-08-2008, 10:52 AM

I was doing some searching and read high temps can cause the PTu to go bad, this sounds dumb seeming how its mounted between the block and IM. Sence i added my SS tubular mani and o2 dump my engine bay temps have been rediciulous. Is there ne thing else besided high temps to make these go bad?

Sp1kE · 11-08-2008, 11:06 AM

Well the next thing in line is the ecu.

I beleive it goes cam/crank sensor, then to ecu, ecu sends signal to transistor pack(transistor pack also has your tacho unit built in), transistor pack then goes to the coils.

I'm guessing your problem is somewhere along the line there.

darkiller_666 · 11-08-2008, 12:04 PM

is there ne way to check the different parts of the ignition system to see which part is malfunctioning. Like can i check voltage with my multimeter or look in the ECu for bad caps or something...

habitatguy187 · 11-08-2008, 01:09 PM

I kept going through coil packs on my old chevy lumina, at least one a month. Come to find out my maf and my tps were bad so I changed those and the coils stopped messing up. I know that my car was running extremely rich before I changed the maf but I don't really see how that could cause coils to mess up.

darkiller_666 · 11-08-2008, 01:55 PM

i appreciate the similar instances and words. Keep the ideas coming, i am looking for a new PTU and coil pack and front o2 sensor on the classifieds. I have a feeling that a bad o2 sensor would not cause my pack to blow up. I don't see how a TPS or MAS would cause this either, i was suggested that the MAS might be part of the reason for my flat spots during acceleration and bad gas mileage also. i am planning on swapping it out for a known working one. I am also contemplating ECU just in case that is the source of my problem. One question regarding ECU, can i use a 98-99 on my 95 with lil to no mods? i read a lot about EvoFLASH and EvoScan and how well they work with 98-99 ecu. I would love to use this as a cheap counterpart to AEM EMS or DSMLINK. I have someone offering me a 98 plastic ECu that supposedly can be re flashed to permanently change factory setting, along with EvoScan and a laptop make quite a formidable tuning device. Keep the good stuff coming guys i cant wait to get my baby running right with out blowing up coil packs by my fuel line.....

beezwax · 11-08-2008, 09:33 PM

anychance you have a datalogger to log your car when this happens?

that could tell you abunch of things right there.

darkiller_666 · 11-09-2008, 11:25 AM

i do not currently have a data logger. Im dishing out 65 for a new PTU and Coil and 110 for a new 98 ecu and 50 for a new upstream o2 sensor. I am only 20 have a 1 yr old and another one on the way. Money is to say the least tight for me. Any other ideas?

casperfast · 11-09-2008, 12:47 PM

boost leak test, wires, plugs packs and ptu's and an 02. that will kill your problem. if the coil fires and has nowhere to go it releases its dwell( charge) wherever it can. usually inside it self and can cause a pack to burst or explode. this can be cause by faulty wires, shorted plugs. or even a faulty ground. if one of the wires is open it can cause this effect after some time. ohm out you wires. they should be under 10k for the entire length if they are good and also good quality 20k is for resistor wires.
another easy way to find a secondary ignition short is with a water spray bottle at night. lightly mist/ spray your wires in the dark while the engine is running. if there is a problem you will see a lightning storm.

darkiller_666 · 11-09-2008, 01:20 PM

wow! the last post was very helpful, i actually have done many boost leaks tests in the time my car was down and it holds pressure for a long time. just for grins i went through and cleaned all my ground connections and actually added quite a few just to be sure, like i said i have brand new wires and brand new plugs. And im waiting to find a PTU and Coil pack for decent price and im hitting up the local parts store for an o2 sensor tomarrow. thanx for all the help guys!!!!!