help, trouble code ???

Dr. Wu 2000

New Member
Feb 16, 2004
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Eastern, Pa.
Checked for codes since the last month or so the car has been acting a little funny, feels down on power, maybe a miss, and the Predator found 1> "P0351 Ignition Coil A Primary/Secondary Curcuit". Any idea what this is. Way back when my tach was installed the genius tech decided to splice into my coil pack wire to see if that was the reason my tach was not working, eventually found out I had a bad tach adaptor, and I needed to do surgery on it to make the connection back into the coil pack. :nonono: In the back of my mind I always thought this would lead to a problem down the road. Tomorrow I will chech to see if the splice is still connected or if it came apart and check the spark plug. Just wondering if this may have caused some damage to the coil pack or the cylinder itself. I would have thought if I had a cylinder down or a damaged or malfunctioning coil pack the car would have thrown a check engine light or something but no. Any ideas. :shrug: Uncle Meat where are ya brother.
 
Try clearing the code, driving around a bit, and then check to see if it returns.

Is it possible this code is left over since the tach testing the genius performed a while back?

I'd also pull the plugs and see how they look. I'm not 100% sure but I think ignition coil "A" corresponds with Cylinder #1. B = 2, C = 3, etc. Looking at my ODB chart it shows there are codes for ignition coils A thru H.

U.M.
 
Uncle Meat said:
Try clearing the code, driving around a bit, and then check to see if it returns.

Is it possible this code is left over since the tach testing the genius performed a while back?

I'd also pull the plugs and see how they look. I'm not 100% sure but I think ignition coil "A" corresponds with Cylinder #1. B = 2, C = 3, etc. Looking at my ODB chart it shows there are codes for ignition coils A thru H.

U.M.
Thanx for the info Meat.:nice: The cylinder in question I believe is #3. Standing on the passanger side of the car looking at the motor going from left to right it is the 3'rd coil pack. Maybe it is not the one I believed is the problem.:shrug: I have a fellow cobra owner coming over to the house later today and we will check things out. Thanx again.
 
Update: The cylinder in question IS #1. Sorry Meat:doh: Forget exactly which one had the issue until I looked at it again last night. My buddy stopped over and we had phone suoort from a fellow MACA memeber who is a Ford tech and works on cobra's all the time and our conclusion is either of 2 things. 1> the coil that snaps into the coil pack is damaged ( the red wire that plugs into it has pulled out a bit, plus it is spliced right at the coil ) we swapped out coil packs and cleared the code and it came right back after a drive. 2> there is a splice down about 4 inches from the coil and it may be shorting out or something. My buddy who is a tech is going to get me a new coil with enough wire to maeke one nice splice and hopefully it will take care of the problem:nice: I took it for a spin last night to see if the code would come back and the car was awful, even worse than before. I believe messing with the coil did more damage last night so the car will sit until the problem is fixed. Keep those fingers crossed.:)
 
Sounds like you're on the right track! :nice: Wonder what a new coil costs?
Being our cars are COP (Coil On Plug) I always cringe when I'm at the dyno and the tech is fishing through the ignition/coil wires in order to connect the RPM pickup. :nonono:
Where is your new tach getting it's signal now? From a feed off of the harness by the ECU? Just curious...

Let us know when you get it figured out.

U.M.
 
The signal is coming off the wire bundle that runs along the back of the engine bay, where it should be spliced into. Doing the fix tomorrow, hopefully all goes well. I will post up the conclusion of this mess later tomorrow or Monday.:)
 
conclusion to the coil connector mess:

All is well. The coil connector to cylinder #1 was bad. Installed new connector ( made a nice splice into the existing wire ) and re-installed, problem solved. Took it for a 15 minute spin, hooked up the Predator, checked for codes, none. Me>:banana: Also re-installed the Magnaflow catted X pipe, now I can hold a conversation in the car again without screaming. Big thanx to my fellow MACA mambers who helped me out with this problem. Lou (RedfireBeast) and Jason (undrpresr). Time to go beat on her for a while.:D
 
Uncle Meat said:
So was the damage caused by the tach install or not?

U.M.
I would say YES. :( Me having to fix their half-assed solder/splice job and messing with the connector probably damaged the wires running into the coil connector. All the things we need to worry about with theses cars this is the last thing I should be having to fix. Live and learn.:nice: Now the DFX clutch goes in with the cooling mod then a SCT XCAL tune then I am done, I SWEAR.:rolleyes: