2G Coil Pack question

[JLangevin]

First off, been having the P0300 code for a while. Ive changed the plugs (BPR7ES) and the wires (Autozone special, blah blah blah) and am having some progressing issues here...

When Im just cruising around, the car drives fine, and pulls pretty good for a stock GST. The boost is running 15psi, and always have the proper octane. I dont have a logger to log my timing as I only get to use one from a friend on occasion, but I will try and get it logged.

When getting the P0300 code, I never noticed a loss in power, or misfire. But lately, everyonce in a while, I will hear a faint "pop" in the exhaust at WOT and higher RPMs. Its definitly a misfire, but my question is other than spark plugs (properly gapped .28) or wires (recently changed), is there anything else to check before I yank the coil? Since the car sometimes misses at idle, is there a way to Ohm test the coil packs? How many are there, 2 or 4? I heard someone reference there only being 2 in a 2G.

I inspected the condition of the plugs and they are clean, no oil, and have a slight soot look to them, no fouling and have only been run roughly 1k miles.

Can someone give me some direction? Id like to check something else if necessary before pulling off the fuel rail and spend $90 per coil to fix this problem.

 

[luv2rallye]

is there a way to Ohm test the coil packs? How many are there, 2 or 4?

Yes and there are 2 coils. Primaries (on 3 pin connector) should be 0.70-0.86 ohms. Secondaries (where spark plug cables plug in) should be 11.3k-15.3k ohms between cylinders 1 & 4 and also 2 & 3. If outside this range they are bad. But coils can also start failing or get weak with temperature and age even if they are in the ohm range. Unfortunately there's no good way to test them for this without a scope except swapping with a known good one. The power transistors (1 for each coil) can also get intermittent with temp and age although they fail far less often than the coils.

 

[JLangevin]

So I should probably either replace them ($180 worth). What about the COPS... I know it stands for Coil On Plug System.... is there a benifit to this? Can you point me to some literature on this?

 

[luv2rallye]

Replacing them seems like a lot of wasted money and effort when you don't even know if they're the problem (although many guys and repair places just keep replacing stuff till they hit the right one). I would ohm test them first. If fail, buy new ones. If pass, swap with some known good ones (friend's 2g?) and see what happens. If those work, then buy new ones. If those work the same as your old ones, the problem is elsewhere.

Someone else will have to help you on COPS (try searching). I'm not sure the benefit is worth the high price (unless you're a very serious racer maybe).