Replacing ignition coils in 2004 Mazda MPV
Posted: August 12th, 2009 | Author: Jacob Hammond | Filed under: Car Stuff | 18 Comments »Turns out the Mazda MPV, unlike most of the older cars that I’ve been familiar with, has an ignition coil for each cylinder — six coils in total. Long story short, failed ignition coils seem to be a common problem in Mazda MPVs from 2001 through 2006. My first failed coil happened about a year ago, and manifested itself through hesitation and jerking while driving once the engine had warmed up, along with a check engine light. When it happened the first time, I took it to the dealership and had the coil replaced for around $250 total (roughly half parts, half labor).
About two months ago, the car started jerking and hesitating again, and it gradually got to the point where it took a good amount of gas-pedal-coaxing to get it to hold 25 mph up a steepish hill. I decided that rather than taking it in to the dealership for another $250, I’d just order a new set of coils and replace all six at once myself. This ended up being a little more work than I had anticipated, but, all in all, was a great success and not too difficult, and certainly well worth the potentially huge savings I netted by avoiding a trip to the shop.
Firstly, the subject of acquiring the coils. The coils seem to run anywhere from $65 to $100 when ordered individually or purchased from an auto parts place. Here is what you are looking for:
- Motorcraft part DG513.
- Standard part UF406.
Now, rather than paying a lot for all six and buying them individually, order a set of six from Amazon using the link here. It should run $155 plus shipping, which is a great price for the set of six. These will fit a 2002 through 2005 MPV, and possibly a year or two under or over.
Under construction. Stay tuned for the rest of this post!
Hi Jacob. I take it the coils from global-automotive proved to be of good quality? They don’t appear to state which manufacturer they are from so was just wondering. A note to anyone who is going to change out the coils yourself it’s a good idea to change the plugs at the same time since the rear plugs are accessible with the intake manifold off, unless they have already been changed recently. I have already changes out two coild and should change out the other four (because they always seem to fail while on holidays!).
I already left a comment, but I wanted to comment again now that the work has been done. We got the IAC valve according to this post, and also did ignition coils according to the other post, and spark plugs. The computer codes indicated some coil problem. The mechanic said we might as well do spark plugs while he was working on the engine. All told, we replaced the IAC valve, all six ignition coils, and all six spark plugs. We bought the valve from the link above (Parts Geek) and the coils from the eBay store posted above. We got nice platinum +4 plugs at AutoZone. Since we are not car savvy, our mechanic did the work. The total we paid for parts and the labor was about $400. Not that bad considering how much it would have cost for the dealership or a commercial chain type mechanic to do all their own “diagnosis”. My van is running better now than when I bought it. We also had the trans fluid done (in addition to the cost I gave). I’m not sure if it was the valve or the coils or both. The valve was done a few weeks before everything else, and we didn’t have any problems between (we went on a 700mi trip between).
My friend’s MPV does the same things so now she’s going to ask my mechanic to fix hers.
Clark, I’m not sure where the coils were manufactured — I probably should have looked on the boxes when I was swapping them in to see if there was any additional information there. They looked very similar to the OEM coils and actually looked identical to the one coil that had already been replaced by the dealership. Additionally, I’ve put around 10,000 miles on them since replacing and no problems yet.
Thanks Jacob. I was looking at these same coils earlier this summer (after our holidays) but was apprehensive to purchase since the picture of the coils is of very poor quality..and I have been stung lately on ebay with cheap imports from China. I will pick up a pack of six and perhaps finally have a relaxing holiday next summer! **Great site by the way…**
I replaced the coil in cylinder #3 with th$42 coil from advanced auto parts. Its now failing less than a year later and I am going to try replace the BWD part under the one year warranty. Since I have to do the repair. I plan to replace the rear coils with the OEM manufacturer. Anyone know who that is? Motorcraft?
Hi Jacob,
Firstly, thank you for this post. It has already been a huge help. Secondly, I was wondering if you can answer a few questions for me. My friend recently brought his 2004 Mazda MPV in to the Mazda dealer for a check engine light. They told him that one of his ignition coils needed to be replaced, and that they recommended he replace all 6 at once. The grand total: (drum roll) $900. Since we are both in grad school we wont see this kind of money for at least another 4 years. Anyways, other than the parts you mentioned that we need, what tools would we need, where would we be able to find a manual or instructions for this procedure, and how much time should we put aside to possibly do this ourselves? If you have any advice or can give us the steps on how to do this, we would be more than thankful. Thank you in advance for any help.
Antonino
Antonino,
I’d definitely recommend replacing all six at once, but $900 is a lot of money, and you’d probably be better off doing it yourself. It will take the better part of an afternoon, but should be worth it in money saved.
I’m working on a write-up of the coil replacement procedure but it’s only partially complete. Here is a fairly complete write-up:
http://forum.mpvclub.com/viewtopic.php?t=17565
Those instructions also outline spark plug replacement, which you don’t have to do (though it might not be a bad idea; otherwise, you won’t need the spark plug socket).
Additionally, the instructions recommend draining the coolant before you begin. I didn’t find this to be necessary, and instead just used a couple of spare bolts to plug the one or two coolant hoses that get disconnected in the process.
Here’s where to buy the coils:
http://stores.ebay.com/abcmarts-Power-Pro-Products__W0QQ_sidZ84384258?_nkw=mazda+mpv+coil&submit=Search
In case that retailer doesn’t have any when you check, you are looking for the “DG513 UF406″ ignition coils.
My moms van had some problems, the CEL came on, it said a spark plug missfire; changed the spark plugs almost $300 just in labor; a few weeks it bagan to idle rough (when at a stop ligth) the CEL came on again and now it said something with coil #1; I looked around and I find this website with a walkthroug on how to change the spark plus or the coils. Also found a website with the prices are real low; it appears that the2005 for taurus uses the same coil.
Here are the links
http://forum.mpvclub.com/viewtopic.php?t=17565&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=coil+pack&start=60
http://www.onlinewholesaleparts.com/fdic-005.html
DG513
Hello everyone,
This is a great forum. Inspired by all of you and the post above, I ended up doing my own work and replaced the back three coils and plugs. I gave a write up on the mpvclub.com forum and even posted pics of my 2004 MPV. Check it out here:
http://forum.mpvclub.com/viewtopic.php?t=23912&highlight=2004+mpv+coil+plug+replacement
I hope this helps someone that was in agony like I was, now I’m happy.
Thanks!
Dannysentme
I have a 2004 MPV van which I love, the problem is that it is stalling both on the interstate doing 75 and also it appears to stall when slowing down (approaching light etc). The TCS light stays on unless I turn the engine off. It always starts right up if I turn the engine completely off, but if I just put it in neutral and restart, sometimes it will and sometimes not but the TCS light will always stay on. I took it to a mechanic and he put it on the computer and he said it needed a transmission remitter (I think thats right) $350 later problem not solved same issue on the way home from the shop. It seems like every where I turn on the forums I am reading about coils…..do you think this could be causing my problem?
Danni, based on the fact that it is stalling when slowing down, I’d say the IAC valve is definitely at fault. Replacing it as described in this post should fix the issue:
http://neveradudelikethisone.com/2009/03/2004-mazda-mpv-stalling-and-rough-idle-replacing-the-idle-air-control-iac-valve
I never had any instances of stalling while traveling at freeway speeds (except, of course, when I slowed down), but the IAC valve may be at fault there as well.
If, after replacing the valve, you notice occasional “skipping” or general loss of power after 10-15 minutes of driving (and also still have a TCS light), it’s quite likely that one or more of the coils are at fault. Dannysentme’s how-to guide is really helpful (see the last comment before yours), and the coils are pretty cheap compared to what a dealership or mechanic will charge you.
its a shame that all these same veh has this problem,,nitheir the mazda dealer or who ever did the modification on mazda never fix it,,,not even the people that sold us this veh kept quite about it ,,my mazda has being in the shop for this problem 5 times they told me that the last time it was there it was just going to cost me $100.00 but they came back to me and told me that they was two other coils that where bad .the total cost was $316.22…but since the veh is not fully pay for and is my wife veh the only thing is to order the whole set and wait till it happens again ,,,,,,I wish this mail goes directly to the mazda corparation and fix the problem on these van ,,,,i personally love this mazda mvp ,,,
Thanks for your insights. I own a 04 MPV and we are, as I type getting the #1 coil replaced. Several years ago, while the van was still under warranty a dealer replace the #5 coil. I’m wondering, with all of the problems, clearly a design issue why this hasn’t been a recall issue that Mazda has needed to pay for? Just a thought. Also, looks as if we are going to need the two Catalytic converters replaced also. Great, just great!
We have an 04 MPV, and it’s having similar issues. But on our van, the symptoms start when the engine is cold. (mild jerks and hesitations.) They gradually go away as it gets up to operating temperature. But I’m still assuming it’s got a bad coil.
I understand the wisdom of replacing all three rear coils at the same time. but is there a way to actually tell which coil is bad or which is going bad? (By the way, CEL has never come on this whole time.)
Thanks!
Dave, that’s interesting, since mine always ran fine when cold and got bad as it warmed up. Still guessing it’s the coils, though. If you do get a CEL, you can read the code (with a code reader, or have a mechanic do it) to determine which coil is bad; otherwise there’s no easy way that I know of to test.
I certainly thank all that wrote above, I have a 03 MPV with simular problems. It is certainly a defect issue. I was wanting to add that my 01 F-150 has about the same setup (coil for each plug) and have had the same trouble. I have changed 2 coils in it. Thanks again for the site info this will save some money.
Thanks for your post. I have Mazda MPV and have problem with the right hand side power sliding door. Not able to open or close using driver side switch or door side switch. Any idea what issue might be? Some of the auto forums talks about fuses to be replaced and not sure that is the specification of the fuse that is responsible for the power sliding door.
Thanks again!
Ditto on the coil problems. I’m so angry at Mazda for playing dumb on this matter, I doubt I’ll be buying another Mazda.
We’ve had multiple coil failures on our ‘03. Sometimes the CEL comes on, other times it doesn’t. I think what’s happened it one coil will fail with no CEL, and once the second one fails, it’ll finally kick on the CEL.
Beware, it seems that running with a failed coil will foul the catalytic converter and cause it to eventually fail. This is expensive if it’s beyond the warranty period for emission parts.