2001 DRV 3500 5.9L

I have the factory service manual for my van and no mention of the coil appears in the maintenance schedule.

I replaced the coil a few years back (almost 30K miles ago) and have no ignition problems at all. I'm about to replace the spark plugs, spark wires and distributor cap w/rotor for regular maintenance. How often, if at all, should I replace the coil?

Thanks in advance.

 

When it goes bad. It doesn't need "maintenance".

 

This.

They are notoriously reliable, and generally last longer than the car they are bolted into.

 

Thanks,

””notoriously reliable””- That’s not something you run into too often.

 

There are some aftermarket ones that don't last, Accel being one of them. Ask me how I know!

 

Ive never had one go bad - now on my old 5.4 Ford yea all the time - my magnum 360 - never had an issue...

I have used Herko before and it has been on there for 5 or so years now...maybe I should swap it out - therye cheap

 

My current coil is aftermarket. I won’t bad mouth Duralast here but…

So when a coil does begin to go bad I assume the engine starts running rough. Would you know off hand if there is a coil trouble code?

 

There is, but, what criteria it uses to set is a mystery to me. Easiest way to see if it's a coil problem, is put an inline spark checker on it. Spark should be uniform, and consistent.

 

You need measure resistance across the terminals of the coil(specs are in the service manual) if they are not with in spec it's time for a new one.