Tune up (coil) question

[kk2002s]

Originally Posted by Rob175

After costing out buying good jack stands Jackpoint Jack Stands ($350/pair w/tax & shipping), a cheap HF floor jack and the parts at Pelican I'd be spending about $1,100.....so, it's not worth it to me to DIY for the $300 difference of letting my mechanic do it. (he quoted $1,400 total)

wow, slow down
All you need is
a pair of $35 jack stands (Some day you may want 2 pairs for complete off the ground
2 trolley jacks $40
1 scissor jack $40
(6) coils @$43/each
Doing plugs and tubes
My math is somewhere around $500
And you can use the lifting tools over and over.
I use the scissor to lift just enough to get my cheap trolley jacks under. Then use both Trolley jacks to lift high enough to put stand under. Then you're ready.
Sometimes getting the car up and ready can take as long as doing the actual work.

But it's your $$$ and many really don't want to deal with the DIY stuff and often I feel the same way. But I'm just to cheap. The other benefit for me to DIY is I can buy the tools I need as well and be ready for next job.

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by Rob175

After costing out buying good jack stands Jackpoint Jack Stands ($350/pair w/tax & shipping)

LOL! Dude!

I sourced the ESCOs for $125 a pair shipping included.

[Tailwind]

Liftbars and a low-profile HF jack with HF Y-top stands (never use the rubber caps on those with Liftbars - ask me how I know).
I saved a lot of hassle raising the car doing suspension, rotors and fluids.
If you will be doing a lot of DIY, those will pay for themselves in no time

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by kk2002s

Really, throw some epoxy, jb weld on the coils if their cracked.
I had 3 of 6 cracked at 90 k miles. I was getting intermittent codes, very random and they would clear. No they are not cheap but the new style has a much thicker base. Pull them and you will no right away if they need replacing.

Coils let you know when it needs to be replaced by the misfire code. (30?)

[patssle]

You can test coils with an ohm meter. Google for good number. I'm at 117k on all original coils last tested 5k miles ago.

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by Tailwind

Liftbars and a low-profile HF jack with HF Y-top stands (never use the rubber caps on those with Liftbars - ask me how I know).
I saved a lot of hassle raising the car doing suspension, rotors and fluids.
If you will be doing a lot of DIY, those will pay for themselves in no time

I used a HF low profile jack with a 4' piece of 2x4 instead of lift bars to do suspension work and replace brake fluid. And 4 HF jack stands. Worked like a charm, so I probably won't buy lift bars. But if I do, why not use the rubber caps?

[tonythetiger]

Originally Posted by Brian in Tucson

Do it yourself. Spend the money on the tools, which are a permanent investment. Also, the 3 ton jackstands aren't tall enough. My system, which I've accumulated over years is a pair of Rhino ramps (plastic, don't bend or rust,) a bunch of 1' by 1' by 2 wooden blocks (from new lumber.) And then an air/pneumatic 12 ton bottle jack (need a compressor for this,) and the 6 ton jackstands. I have a pair of the 3 ton ones, but they don't allow enough room to crawl around and work. Nice for doing brake jobs. The air jack really does make lots of work possible and almost pleasant.

'
Agreed on the jack stands...the 3 tons don't extend enough to give you room for some things. you need 4 of them.
Buy a decent floor jack, you want at least 24" of lift (harbor freight, low profile long reach has been working fine for me and under 200 bucks) lift bars make it even easier to shimmy up each side and get some separation between the floor and the car.
I toss the tires underneath in case something goes wrong, figuring that will save me from most of the squish if the car falls.

[SMK Shoe]

I picked up a dozen hockey pucks off amazon for cheap. I use them on the contact points of the jack and jack stands. No chance of scraping paint. I agree on the coils. Order a couple and keep them on the shelf ( they don't eat anything). If you have a coil that needs replacing, it's right there. But I wouldn't replace them just because of milage. Other parts are really cheap and do wear out.

[Rob175]

Can a cracked coil(s) cause AM radio static (at a slow crawl speed it's a "ticking" type sound) that inceases or decreases with acceleration or deceleration? I know resistor plugs are made to eliminate static, but I get some pretty significant AM static....but strangely it's not all the time, just most of the time.