QuestionI was diving on the highway and my car just died.The engine lite,oil lite,battery lite,and brake lite came on.I have changed the coils and it wirked but as I was diving it did it again.I assume it is a short but I am not sure.What do you think could be shorting out my coils?
AnswerIt's not necessarily clear that the coils are the issue. A more likely scenario is that you have an intermittent problem and it's just chance that the car started right after installing the coils.
The suggestions below assume that the engine cranks but does not start, and that you're performing the checks while the problem is occurring.
The first thing to do is try to determine what type of problem you have. If your check engine lamp came on, read the diagnostic trouble codes if you can. If you cannot check codes or don't have any, then determine whether you have spark, fuel pressure, and proper camshaft timing.
Start with checking for spark. You can do this by inserting an old spark plug into the spark plug end of one of the plug wires and laying on the valve cover. If you have no spark from any wire, you should suspect the crank sensor may be the issue.
Next, check fuel pressure. To do this properly, you'll need a fuel pressure gauge and an adaptor to fit the fuel rail. If you have no fuel when you crank the engine, you may have a problem with the fuel pump or the fuel pump control circuit. If you have insufficient fuel pressure, you most likely have a defective fuel pump.
If the fuel pressure and spark check okay, then you should check camshaft timing. Presuming you have the same problem you had before, this should be okay. But if you've made it this far without finding anything wrong, it's possible your timing belt broke or stripped, and the coils were responsible for the initial problem.
