Ignition coil rubber end deteriorated?

[poodad]

Well rats. Changing the plugs on my 2011 RT with 44K miles and when I pull the coil off the top plug, I notice that the rubber did not come with it. After about an hour of fishing, finagling, and no small amount of cussing, I got what was left of the rubber out or the spark plug tunnel.

 

Is this a common failure? Looks like the only fix is to simply replace the coil.

 

Is there something I should be doing to extend the life of the coil rubber?

[dirtrider]

5 minutes ago, poodad said:

Well rats. Changing the plugs on my 2011 RT with 44K miles and when I pull the coil off the top plug, I notice that the rubber did not come with it. After about an hour of fishing, finagling, and no small amount of cussing, I got what was left of the rubber out or the spark plug tunnel.

 

Is this a common failure? Looks like the only fix is to simply replace the coil.

 

Is there something I should be doing to extend the life of the coil rubber?

Evening poodad

 

It sounds like the last time the coil was put on the sparkplug  it was put on dry. 

 

Using a little dialectic grease (or spark plug boot grease)  at re-assembly REALLY makes taking it apart the next time a lot easier & a LOT easier on the rubber boot. 

[poodad]

3 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Evening poodad

 

It sounds like the last time the coil was put on the sparkplug  it was put on dry. 

 

Using a little dialectic grease (or spark plug boot grease)  at re-assembly REALLY makes taking it apart the next time a lot easier & a LOT easier on the rubber boot. 

While I'm sure that wouldn't hurt, the rubber was in pretty bad shape. As I was trying to fish it out, much of it was disintegrating into dust. 

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, poodad said:

While I'm sure that wouldn't hurt, the rubber was in pretty bad shape. As I was trying to fish it out, much of it was disintegrating into dust. 

Morning poodad

 

You might take your coil with you to a local auto parts store, a while back I was in a NAPA auto parts store & noticed they had some replacement COP (Coil-On-Plug) rubber boots. I didn't look closely to see if they looked like the BMW coil boots but might be worth a look anyhow.

 

There are probably some automotive  COP boots at the local auto parts stores so maybe something will match up to your coil.  

 

Also check on-line as there are a number of replacement COP boots for sale there. 

[poodad]

2 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Morning poodad

 

You might take your coil with you to a local auto parts store, a while back I was in a NAPA auto parts store & noticed they had some replacement COP (Coil-On-Plug) rubber boots. I didn't look closely to see if they looked like the BMW coil boots but might be worth a look anyhow.

 

There are probably some automotive  COP boots at the local auto parts stores so maybe something will match up to your coil.  

 

Also check on-line as there are a number of replacement COP boots for sale there. 

Thanks, that's a good idea.

[bruce2000ltc]

I had the same thing happen to the right coil on my '13RT at the 36,000mi service.  I trimmed what was left of the rubber boot down to where the coil snaps on the spark plug nut.  Then I wrapped the porcelain on the new spark plug with self vulcanizing rubber tape right below the nut where the coil snaps on.  Just enough to create a seal to prevent an errant spark.  The hardest part was digging the remaining rubber boot off and out of the spark plug hole.

 

I did this repair to get by until I could get a new coil but the bike ran fine so I didn't replace it.  Did the same repair at the 48k service and the bike is running fine at 52k.

 

[poodad]

Followup: Beemer Boneyard has new coils for $130. While a bit painful, I figured it was worth it to not have to engineer some possibly unreliable workaround.

 

Bring More Wallet, indeed.