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Some of the most popularoverheating ignition coil symptoms are engine overheating, engine misfiring and stalling, hard starting, poor fuel economy, and illuminating of the check engine light.
Whether it’s engine overheating or ignition coil overheating, whenever you notice that one component on your car overheating, you should act fast. There are quite many reasons why your car engine or ignition coil keeps overheating all the time.
Firstly, irregular maintenance (to detect faulty components earlier) can cause overheating, and there are other causes too. Particularly, an ignition coil would overheat when your spark plugs are bad or have too much gap.
Sadly, not all drivers pay serious attention to ignition coils, but any damage to this component can cause a fatal engine failure. Thus, it is important that you know these common signs of overheating ignition coil, so you can act earlier before the overheating coil causes costlier damages.
Overheating Ignition Coil Symptoms
Actually, these symptoms do not only depict a failing ignition coil; they could also surface when some other components are not responding as expected.
Thus, even when you notice any of these signs, you should do a proper check to ascertain the actual cause of the unusual sign or symptom.
1. Engine Overheating
Isn’t that obvious? An overheating ignition coil can also cause your car engine to heat up.
Once an ignition coil starts failing and begins to overheat, it won’t pass sufficient spark and charge to the engine; thus, you’d notice different engine-related issues, and also, engine overheating.
Without disputing the fact that there are several possible causes of engine overheating, an overheating coil is one of them.
2. Check Engine Light Illuminates
This is also one of the commonoverheating ignition coil symptoms you should know about.
A faulty ignition coil would affect your engine’s performance, which would send a wrong signal to your vehicle’s central computer, thus, triggering the check engine light to illuminate.
The check engine never comes on except when something is wrong with your car’s engine.
Thus, when this light appears on your dashboard, one of the components to check is your ignition coil. If your ignition coils are extremely hot, it is safe to agree that they are what caused the illuminated check engine light.
However, also check the engine (itself) to ensure it’s in a good state.
3. Stalling and Misfiring
Engine stalling and misfiring are among the commonest signs that something is wrong with your engine. How does an overheating coil contribute to this?
An overheating coil would send irregular sparks to the spark plugs, thus causing the vehicle to stall or the engine to misfire.
If you allow the stalling to go on further, it’s either your car engine shuts off completely or the stop would stop abruptly. You shouldn’t either of these situations to occur, else, you’d be risking big, costly damage to your car.
4. Poor Fuel Economy
When you notice that your car’s fuel utilization is no longer as it used to be, it could be a sign that your ignition coil is faulty or overheating.
Since the spark plugs and ignition coils work in cooperation, when one of them fails, it affects the other. Apparently, faulty spark plugs would cause your engine to consume more fuel as a substitute for the low power it’s getting from the plugs.
5. Hard Starting
Yes, hard starting is one of the signs that depict a failing ignition coil. When an ignition coil is bad, it does not supply enough power and electrical charge to the engine; thus, making it difficult for the engine to crack up.
Hard starting means you’d be hearing your engine trying to crank up but to no avail because of insufficient sparks in the cylinders.
What To Do When Your Car Ignition Coil is Overheating?
Firstly, you need to stop driving when you notice any of the symptoms explained above. Find a good space to park and then open up your bonnet check the ignition coils to confirm if they are overheating.
It is not advisable to drive with an overheating coil. The overheating can weaken the coil’s insulator; thus causing the coil to melt.
Interestingly, replacing ignition coils is not expensive. On average, it costs $150 to get a new ignition coil and replace the old one in your vehicle. However, labor costs vary depending on the mechanic helping you to fix the car.
Furthermore, it is important that to note aging can cause ignition coils to fail. If you haven’t change the ignition that came with your vehicle, it could be that the coil is already weak or worn out; hence the malfunctioning.