Orange ignition spark.

[Winner74]

I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with a 5.9 with 264,000 miles that I have owned since new. It has developed back firing through the intake, rough idle, backfiring on acceleration. I replaced both O2 sensors and it helped but problem returned. I put a spark tester on the coil and the spark was orange. I replaced the coil and 95% of the problem went away. Slowly the problem has returned and the new coil spark is orange and as it jumps the spark checker gap the spark hits intermittently on the other side. The computer, the crank position sensor and the ignition sensor under the distributor cap have all been replaced. The plug wires do not seem to be arcing when I check with it dark under the hood. Any ideas what would cause this problem. New coil went bad (orange spark, within a few days. Unfortunately I didn’t check the spark of Theo. new coil when I installed it because the problem pretty much went away. Thanks for your hel

 

[tron67j]

Did you replace the wires with good quality ones? One or more could be bad even if new and causing the coil to work harder, which could destroy the coil. Here is an article on how to test the wires but if the coil is bad the test won't work.

Test wires: https://www.championautoparts.com/en-gb/news/how-to-test-spark-plug-wires.html

 

[Ken226]

Same with the coil? Was it OEM or aftermarket? What brand?

 

[Winner74]

It was Duralst brand at Autozone

 

[Ken226]

When I looked up that part on Autozone's website, it says that it has a limited lifetime warranty. Maybe they'd let you get a new one? That would at least tell you if the coil is the issue or not.

 

[jr27236]

Found this info on the net that may be helpful to you.


Here is what is supposed to happen. You have 2 wires going to the ignition coil. One is dark green/orange and the other is black/gray. the dark green/orange wire should have 12 volts when the ignition is on. Make sure you have 12 volts. The PCM then grounds the black/gray wire to fire the coil. If you back probe the black/gray wire with a test light connected to 12 volts, it should blink the light when cranking the engine. if it does, and you are sure you have a good ignition coil, try replacing the coil wire that runs from the distributor to the ignition coil. I've seen these wires go bad quite often.