22 years old and lost an ignition coil on the Odyssey

[Tony H]

We have had our '00 Honda Odyssey for 22 years and it has been pretty reliable except for the transmission. Engine and all accessories all original except for maintenance items. Yesterday morning started it and it had a dead cylinder. Troubleshot to a bad ignition coil. First time in 22 years the engine has had a problem. Called the auto parts store and they wanted $52 for a no name one. I didn't mind paying for it but a lot of the no name stuff is crap like the fuel pump that lasted 2 years. Found a OE Honda one for $20 on Ebay. I plan on replacing the other 5 after I insure this repairs the problem. I know at some point I will want to replace the car before we start traveling but on the other hand we can always rent a car if it craps out. When I was a kid we had a vacation at the Grand Canyon messed up when the transmission went out on our '65 Galaxy 500. Spent the vacation at Vegas. Not much fun for a 10 year old kid.

[jay_bob]

Yep those were pretty good, we had one back in the day too.

Except for the transmission. That was an epic fail for Honda. They basically took a V6 Accord drivetrain and plopped it in a vehicle several hundred pounds heavier. Before you started loading it up.

Proactive maintenance not a bad thing, but I would watch out for eBay parts, guarantee a $20 coil is counterfeit Chinese.

[Tony H]

Thanks for the heads up-I will inspect it carefully before I buy the next 5. Even if it is fake it is $32 less than the fake I would have bought at the auto parts store and I can use it for an emergency spare. The dealer want's $82 so I will probably just buy one and replace the rest when(if) they fail.

[vwnate1]

22 years in a long time in the auto trade, once you have the correct Honda part number, begin googling it as there are myriad places that sell N.O.S. OEM parts, I'm always finding some obscure part after a bit of searching .

I'd think a good used one from a junkyard would do for now .

Coils used to be close to bulletproof, when I was a Journeyman Mechanic I rarely replaced one but these days they're much higher out put .

[Tony H]

Thanks Nate-I already have one in the mail-should be here tomorrow. All the legit ones are at least $82+. I think the only way to get a known OE is at the dealer unless the seller is trusted. I will keep the most likely fake one for a spare and buy one at the dealer.

[vwnate1]

O.K. Tony ;

Please post how it all works out .

I'm always searching for things, it keeps my alleged mind sharp .

[Tony H]

Cheap coil worked just fine. Not sure how long it will last. I'm going to buy a spare. Don't really want to put $500 worth of OEM coils in a 22 year old minivan.

[vwnate1]

I can dig that .

Of course, I happily dump whatever I can afford into my oldies, I can't stand new cars (SWMBO has a 2016 Honda Civic I hate) so might as well enjoy the ones you have until you can't .

I still don't know how you diagnosed the bad coil and wish you'd explain .

[Tony H]

Well a dead cylinder is either ignition or fuel. Ignition is easier to check by unplugging coils one at a time and seeing if RPM drops. 1st coil I unplugged did not drop RPM so I knew it was the bad one. I moved the coil to 2 other cylinders and it did the same thing so I felt confident that was it. Fuel would have been more trouble but pretty much the same process of unplugging fuel injectors.

[vwnate1]

Thank you .

You grabbed the plug wire ? .

I had to stop doing that when contact points went away .

[Diesel911]

Concerning parts, you never know where they come from. I bought a Standard Motor Parts Ignition Coil and an Ignition Module. The Coil came from Poland and the Ignition Module was made in the US.

Ordered AC Delco Oil Filters and Spark Plugs for a 2012 Chevy Equinox and the Plugs were made in the USA when in the past AC plugs on some of my other vehicles were made in Mexico or China. When I looked at the Oil Filter box there was no made in on it.

The oil filter itself has Hengst made in the USA on it.

Years back I got a new coolant thermostat for my Volvo diesel from AutoZone expecting it to be made in China. The thermostat box had made in Israel but the thermostat itself had made in Germany on it.

[Tony H]

I usually buy all parts from the dealer and maint items like filters and coolant. Even though we bought it new and it has low miles the van has very little value so I am having trouble dropping serious coin on it at this point. Nate-it has "coil on plug" which probably every car has and there is a connector on the coil to unplug it.

[vwnate1]

I hear you Tony .

I don't switch my daily drivers much, when I buy a vehicle it's usually at it's bottom value and I pay scrap value and run them until I no longer like them .

I agree it makes zero sense to dump money into a worthless thing but if it's low mileage and in good shape and you like it, why not ? .

This is what I did to my little Ford Ranger trucklet ~ it was worthless here, plenty of them being scrapped, this one had low mileage and cold AC so I bought it and have been dumping $ into it in N.O.S. parts and standard things like U-Joints, timing belt, tires and battery etc...

I don't care what it's worth, I can drive it anywhere on a whim and depend on it .

Pops had a 1984 Plymouth Voyager vanlet thing, he bought it new and after twenty years it was still in VGC having been carefully maintained, I didn't think he should sell it (no rust !) but he let it go .

Think hard before selling on a good reliable tool no matter what it looks like .

[Tony H]

It has always been garaged and looks new but at some point it's just not worth putting money into it. Have not quite got there but getting closer. We tend to keep our vehicles for a long time. I will probably get another Odyssey when the time comes.

[vwnate1]

Demarkis and I were driving to breakfast and he began asking me about used car values and when I told him the 1982 240D base model we were driving in, was essentially worthless and I'd never get the $10,000.00 mostly in parts I've dumped into it over the 20 + years we've owned it, he was amazed but not surprised .

I'll never sell it unless it becomes un repairable, who cares how old or out of style it gets, I like it, it's just one more tool that suits me well .