just bought an 05. Different COP question

[captain chaos]

Well, I just bought an 05 Expy and I have a question about the COP's.
There are a couple of coils that look different than the others on the top. There are 1 or 2 of them with a black top and some writing on them (part no or some such I assume) and the others have an almost 'clear' look to them. Like the internals are set in some kind of clear epoxy with no label on the top. I was just wondering what do the original look like? It seems as some of them have been changed already. Any that haven't I'm going to change anyway just because I've run into the COP headache before.
Thanks.

 

[metaldrgn]

If it's working good I don't see why you'd want to change them. Just change the spark plugs if you're worried about it.

 

[jdecker]

I wouldn't worry about changing the coils either, just change the boots when you replace your plugs. About 90% of the time what people think is a bad coil is really a bad boot, really haven't seen that many bad coils but have seen plenty of bad boots.

 

[captain chaos]

Boy, that definitely wasn't my experience with my 2000 Expy.
Those coil packs turned into a major headache.
I've learned there are some things that's best to nip in the budd BEFORE they become a problem. The truck I bought has 158k mi on it so if the coils haven't been replaced I know there's a good chance they will be a problem in the near future (from my experience).
I picked the truck up dirt cheap knowing that it needed some work so I don't mind throwing a little extra into it if it means it saves me a headache in the future.

 

[FordandPolaris]

The clear ones are normally the OEM originals. I am guessing the previous owners were changing them as they went bad. Depending where you live, it's a good idea to change them before winter because extreme cold brings out the worst in electrical components, and changing a COP at the back of the motor in -10* weather is not fun. I know....

 

[captain chaos]

....., and changing a COP at the back of the motor in -10* weather is not fun. I know....

I was there last winter (one of the harshest we've ever recorded) with my 00' Expy.
As you well know, it sucks something awful!

Thanks for the info. That's exactly what I was looking for.