Aftermarket ignition coils.

Blackstar

Original poster
Member
Aug 2, 2014
90
Has anyone tried these aftermarket ignition coils? Do they last? Aftermarket in my area are around $80.00. eBay has them in a set of 6 for $83.00. My truck is an '02 SLT with about 140,000 miles. About 5 years ago I had to replace one because of a misfire and in a pinch picked up a used on. Worked fine.

A while ago I got a misfire back. Checked and there was another (different) coil dead. Put another used one in and still had a miss. Turns out it's a third original one dead. I'm wondering if the rest are going to fail soon and a whole set for under $100.00 looks inviting...

Any thoughts? Besides me being too cheap... :wink: I only use the Envoy for trips to work, about 1.5 miles mostly.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
I've seen Standard brand fail early. Who knows with these CCC coils. It's ACDelco or Delphi for me (basically the same).
 

S13Hitman

Member
Oct 20, 2017
80
Hilton Head
I too noticed the cheap $80 something set of 6 coils. I wouldn't waste my time or money personally but would love to know as well.

Take Moosemans advice and stick with those 2 brands OR since you only drive that truck to work, give the cheaper brand a shot and then come back to tell everyone here...
 
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Blackstar

Original poster
Member
Aug 2, 2014
90
Well, I cheaped out and grabbed another used one. Took about 5 minutes to change (getting used to this now). Erased the codes and she started up and idled so smoothly... If another one dies I think I will look into some of those cheapies...

Mooseman mentioned AC Delco or Delphi. I thought those were the same thing. The three that failed on mine were all Delphi, and replaced with Delphi.
 

Mike534x

Member
Apr 9, 2012
894
We used BWD coils on a friends TB years ago, probably has about 40k on them and they're still going strong as far as I know. Minus a misfire that developed from water seeping into Cylinder #4.
 
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Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Delphi makes stuff. AC Delco doesn't really make the parts, they relabel certain parts, or use a supplier to build stuff to their spec. Delphi is a very common major GM parts supplier. AC Delco also uses some Denso stuff (like O2 sensors).
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
It's just if you lookup ACDelco and Delphi prices, you can pick the cheaper of the two. They are the same. In fact, if you look at the pics on RAm the ACDelco says Delphi on it.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
We used BWD coils on a friends TB years ago, probably has about 40k on them and they're still going strong...

Same. I picked up a BWD coil since I was in a bind, about 6 years ago, and it's still on the truck today.
 

Mike534x

Member
Apr 9, 2012
894
Delphi makes stuff. AC Delco doesn't really make the parts, they relabel certain parts, or use a supplier to build stuff to their spec. Delphi is a very common major GM parts supplier. AC Delco also uses some Denso stuff (like O2 sensors).

I think Bosch was behind Delphi for supplying parts. Can't remember what it was, but one of the sensors I picked up for my Avalanche was a Delco but with a Bosch part number.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Everybody sleeps with everybody in auto parts. You don't know what you're getting anymore.
 

Eric04

Member
Dec 3, 2014
392
West Michigan
There exists a bit of dichotomy within the Made in China label. Everything used to be CCC in the early days because most items were manufactured without proper engineering controls, practices, etc. As the years have drifted by, there exist many legitimate manufacturers who partner with multinationals to produce any number of products which meet every quality standard one could expect. However, the quick, cheap, and dirty outfits still operate as well so for the time being there exists an increased element of risk with buying generic parts of that origin. It used to be the same way with Japan, and some day China will evolve beyond the junk peddlers.
 

jeb

Member
Sep 16, 2018
8
Crossroads Texas
Well, I replaced mine about two weeks after I bought my 2003 trailblazer in august, 2018.
Bought the cheap ones from amazon, got 6 for the price of one at the auto parts store. Free shipping, Didn't want to drive the 45 miles back to dealer and blow the catalytic converter.
so far so good, runs good and I have 5 Delphi spare ones on the shelf, so if one of the new ones blow I have an old working one to replace it with. Don't drive a lot about 300 to 500 a month. trailblazer had 122.000 miles and what look like oem parts, replaced spark plugs also.
For me the cheap ones will probably last. Time will tell. I think if you drive a lot go with oem,
for me , I'm retired cheap ones will do. jeb
 
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Feb 29, 2016
195
Radford, VA
Well, I replaced mine about two weeks after I bought my 2003 trailblazer in august, 2018.
Bought the cheap ones from amazon, got 6 for the price of one at the auto parts store. Free shipping, Didn't want to drive the 45 miles back to dealer and blow the catalytic converter.
so far so good, runs good and I have 5 Delphi spare ones on the shelf, so if one of the new ones blow I have an old working one to replace it with. Don't drive a lot about 300 to 500 a month. trailblazer had 122.000 miles and what look like oem parts, replaced spark plugs also.
For me the cheap ones will probably last. Time will tell. I think if you drive a lot go with oem,
for me , I'm retired cheap ones will do. jeb

This is what I did. Lost a coil, replaced with used. Lost another coil, replaced all 6 with CCC. This was about 8 months ago. So far, so good. Kept the other used coils as spares.
 
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jeb

Member
Sep 16, 2018
8
Crossroads Texas
My cheap amazon coil are working no problem, haven't replaced any. again run them wait til one goes have five on the shelf if one goes bad, Jeb
 

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