How To Test The Ignition Coil Pack (1991-1996 1.9L Ford Escort, Mercury Tracer)

The ignition coil pack on the 1991-1996 1.9L Ford Escort or Mercury Tracer can easily be tested with a few basic tools. All you'll need is a 12V test light and a multimeter.

In this tutorial, I'm going to explain how to check it to see if it's behind an engine no-start issue or a cylinder misfire problem.

All of the test steps are explained in detail so that you can easily and quickly get to the bottom of the problem.

APPLIES TO: This tutorial applies to the following vehicles:

• 2.0L Ford Escort: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.
• 2.0L Mercury Tracer: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.

Symptoms Of A Bad Ford Coil Pack

The coil pack on your Ford Escort or Mercury Tracer is the component creating the spark the spark plugs need to ignite the air/fuel mixture in their cylinders.

Without that spark reaching the spark plugs, you're not gonna get the engine started —or if it does start, it's not gonna run as smooth as it should.

Now, when the coil pack or the spark plug wires fail— you're definitely gonna notice the engine letting you know something's off. You'll usually see one or more of these issues:

• Rough idle and stalling.
• Lack of power on acceleration.
• Bad gas mileage.
• The engine cranks but won't start.
• Misfire trouble codes (1996 Escort/Tracer only) —the check engine light illuminates with one or more of the following codes:
  • P0300: Random Cylinder Misfire.
  • P0301: Cylinder #1 Misfire.
  • P0302: Cylinder #2 Misfire.
  • P0303: Cylinder #3 Misfire.
  • P0304: Cylinder #4 Misfire.
• Rotten egg smell from the exhaust from unburned fuel entering the catalytic converter and creating a sulfur smell.

What Tools Do I Need To Test The Ignition Coil?

To find out if the coil pack on your Ford Escort or Mercury Tracer is good or bad, you're gonna need a few tools. The cool thing is, none of them will break the bank. You'll need:

• A 12 Volt test light with an incandescent bulb to check the coil A and B activation signals. If you don't have one, this is the one I use and recommend: Lisle 28400 Heavy Duty 12 Volt Test Light (Amazon affiliate link).
• A spark tester. This tool is a must have. If you don't have one and need to buy one, I recommend the HEI spark tester. It's accurate and the one I always use: OTC 6589 Electronic Ignition Spark Tester (Amazon affiliate link).
• Battery jump start cables to help you Ground the spark tester to the battery negative (-) terminal.
• A helper. Someone to help you crank the engine during the tests.

Where To Buy The Ignition Coil And Save

When it's time to swap out the coil pack on your 2.0L Ford Escort or Mercury Tracer, I recommend sticking with a trusted brand. The coil packs below are made by Standard Motor Products and Motorcraft (Motorcraft being the factory original part) —brands I've used for years and can vouch for:

TEST 1: Testing For Spark At The Spark Plug Wire

The very first thing we're gonna do is check each of the four spark plug wires for spark. And it's critical that you use a dedicated spark tester for this.

I can't stress that enough. You've probably seen folks pull a spark plug wire off the spark plug to see or hear if spark jumps to metal. I don't recommend that. The only way to get an accurate spark test result is with a dedicated spark tester.

One more tip that'll save you some time: when you pull the spark plug wire off the spark plug, use spark plug wire pullers. Otherwise, there's a good chance the wire's metal terminal will detach and stay stuck on the spark plug. It's not the end of the world —you can reattach it— but honestly, it's a hassle you're better off avoiding.

NOTE: One thing that will help you troubleshoot the coil pack on your 2.0L Ford Escort (Mercury Tracer) is understanding how this type of ignition system works. For more details, see this guide: How The Ignition Coil Pack Works (2001-2004 2.0L Ford Escort).

All right, let's get started.

1. 1

   Remove the spark plug wire (high-tension cable) from the spark plug.

2. 2

   Attach a spark tester to the high-tension wire.

3. 3

   Connect the spark tester to the battery negative (-) terminal using a battery jump start cable, as shown in the photo above.

4. 4

   Have your helper crank the engine while you observe the spark tester from a safe distance.
   
   NOTE: The engine may or may not start —either way, be careful.

5. 5

   You're gonna' get one of two results: Spark or NO spark.

6. 6

   Disconnect the spark tester from the wire and reconnect the wire to its spark plug.

7. 7

   Repeat the spark test on the remaining spark plug wires.

IMPORTANT: Read the following options carefully to interpret your NO SPARK results. Keep in mind that the coil pack contains two separate ignition coils, and each one fires two paired cylinders (1 and 4, or 2 and 3). So, if you find no spark on two wires, check whether they belong to a paired set or to unpaired cylinders (for example: 1 and 3, 2 and 4, or 1 and 2).

CASE 1: All four plug wires have spark. This tells you the coil pack and the spark plug wires are doing their job.

If your Escort or Tracer is running with a cylinder misfire, the coil pack and the spark plug wires aren't the cause —something else is. For more help on that, head over to: Other Things That Can Cause A Misfire.

CASE 2: Only one spark plug wire did not spark. The next step is figuring out whether the wire itself is bad or if the ignition coil is the problem.

TEST 2 will quickly give us the answer. Head over to: TEST 2: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack.

CASE 3: No spark on two wires that connect to paired cylinders (1 and 4, or 2 and 3). This generally means that the ignition coil pack is bad, but it could also be bad spark plug wires.

To find out, the next step is to check for spark right at the coil towers feeding those cylinders. Head over to: TEST 4: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack (Paired Cylinders).

CASE 4: No spark on two wires that DO NOT connect to paired cylinders. This usually means you've either got bad spark plug wires or a bad coil pack or both.

The next step is to check for spark right at the coil towers those wires connect to. Head over to: TEST 3: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack (Non-Paired Cylinders).

CASE 5: No spark on any of the spark plug wires. This usually is the result of the coil pack losing its IGN power feed or the crankshaft position (CKP) sensor kicking the bucket.

Our next step is to check that the coil pack's actually getting its 12V IGN power supply. Go to: TEST 5: Making Sure The Coil Pack Is Getting IGN 12 Volts.

TEST 2: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack

If in TEST 1 you had just one spark plug wire not sparking, the next step is to see if that lack of spark is due to a bad spark plug wire or a bad ignition coil.

We can easily do this by disconnecting the non-sparking spark plug wire from its coil pack tower and checking that tower for spark (with our spark tester).

Alright, let's get to it:

1. 1

   Remove the spark plug wire that did not fire off spark from the coil pack.

2. 2

   Place the spark tester directly on the coil pack tower of the spark plug wire you just removed (see the example in the photo above).

3. 3

   Connect the spark tester to the battery negative (-) terminal with a battery jump start cable.

4. 4

   Have your helper crank the engine.
   
   CAUTION: The engine may start, so be careful.

5. 5

   You're gonna' get one of two results: Spark or NO spark.

Let's find out what it all means:

CASE 1: The coil pack tower sparked. That's the correct test result and it tells you the coil itself is doing exactly what it should.

With this test result, you can conclude the spark plug wire is toast. Replace the whole set of spark plug wires.

CASE 2: The coil pack tower DID NOT spark. This confirms the coil pack itself has failed and the reason why the spark plug wire didn't spark back in TEST 1.

Swapping out the coil pack will take care of your Escort or Tracer's misfire.

When it comes time to buying the replacement, I recommend going with a coil pack from Standard Motor Products, and of course Motorcraft —the factory original part. Either one will get you back on the road without the headaches that come with cheap knock-offs:

• Standard Motor Products FD487T Ignition Coil (Amazon affiliate link).
• Motorcraft - Coil Asy - Ignition DG530 (Amazon affiliate link).

TEST 3: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack (Non-Paired Cylinders)

NOTE: This step only applies if, in TEST 2, your spark test shows two spark plug wires not sparking —and they don't belong to paired cylinders.

Our next step is to figure out whether the lack of spark is coming from the spark plug wires, the ignition coil, or possibly a mix of both. To do that, we'll test the coil pack tower for each of the non-sparking wires, one at a time.

Depending on the spark test results, you'll know if the problem is the spark plug wire, the ignition coil, or both.

NOTE: Keep in mind that paired cylinders are 1 and 4, and 2 and 3. Each pair gets spark from the same coil inside the coil pack. So, if your two non-sparking wires belong to either cylinders 1 and 4 or cylinders 2 and 3, this section does not apply. Go to: TEST 4: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack (Paired Cylinders).

Alright, here are the test steps:

1. 1

   Remove the spark plug wire that did not spark from the coil pack.

2. 2

   Place the spark tester directly on the coil pack tower for that wire (see the example in the photo above).

3. 3

   Connect the spark tester to the battery negative (-) terminal using a battery jump start cable.

4. 4

   Have your helper crank the engine.
   
   CAUTION: The engine may start, so be careful.

5. 5

   You'll see one of two results: Spark or NO spark.

6. 6

   Remove the spark tester and reconnect the wire to its coil pack tower.

7. 7

   Repeat the same spark test on the other coil pack tower —the one that connects to the second non-sparking wire you identified in TEST 1.

Let's see what your spark test result is telling us:

CASE 1: Only one coil pack tower sparked. We can reach two important conclusions with this result:

• The ignition coil pack is bad —since it's only sparking from one tower.
• The spark plug wire is bad —the one that connects to the sparking tower, since it didn't spark in TEST 1.

Time to replace both the coil pack and spark plug wires.

CASE 2: Both coil pack towers sparked. This is the correct and expected result —it means the reason the spark plug wires didn't spark in TEST 1 is because the wire themselves are bad. Replace all of the spark plug wires with a new set.

CASE 3: You didn't get spark from either tower. This result tells you the ignition coil is bad and that's why the spark plug wires didn't spark in TEST 1. Replace the coil pack with a new one.

When you're ready to replace the coil pack, I want to recommend the following two automotive brands. I've been using them for years, with solid results, and never hesitate to recommend them:

• Standard Motor Products FD487T Ignition Coil (Amazon affiliate link).
• Motorcraft - Coil Asy - Ignition DG530 (Amazon affiliate link).