How do i know if my coils are stuffed

[2005vzute]

hey all,

i've had a rough idle sicne i've bought my vz v6 ute...im pretty sure it has a minor misfire in there, i've checked the spark plugs and they're fine..had a look at the coils and down the inside barrel part there was some slight white powdery stuff on the sides, not were it contacts the spark plug, it wasn't corrosion though..i've had a look around and there's no resistance specified..so how do i know if my coils are buggered?

cheers everyone

[abg]

I think you'd get a error code for a misfire if that was your problem. Have you been in any other VZs? Alloytec engines don't like to idle smoothly at all, they shake the whole car.

[Little Red VZ Go-Kart]

Alloytec engines don't like to idle smoothly at all, they shake the whole car.

That's news to me...

I've had x2 dead fuel pumps shake my old car around, before that, one of the coils blew. Not sure that it can be said an Alloytec is not a smooth idler...

[calay]

mine didnt throw any codes when i had a misfire. it could be a coil, could be bad fuel, a bad plug... if you have the lights on, that lowers the rpm and causes a vibration, same with radio and fan/aircon etc etc etc

[2005vzute]

my brothers vz calais idles perfectly, you could probably do the 50 cent coin test on top of that engine...mine will idle smoothish then it'd give the car a kick every now and then...fuel is always bp 95 or 98 octane...i've checked my plugs and they're burning as they should be...i just need to test my coils without replacing them to find out which one is buggered

[calay]

Buy 1 and rotate it thru all the different positions until the problem goes away

[2005vzute]

well that'd suck considering i'd have the keep takin the plenum on and off to do it right...im pretty sure its a vacuum leak anyways...between my inlet menifold and plenum..i ripped it a tiny bit before by accident...i realllyyyy hope its not valley gaskets though, i cant be arsed to do them hahaha