CEL P0351 Ignition Coil "A" Primary Control Circuit/Open

[kandiflippin]

Originally Posted by Kronos

Has anyone on here replaced the coils themselves? The coil itself is only like $80 but the dealer estimated like $300-$400 for labor. They said they would need to lift the engine out to replace the coil since its a boxer and the area they needed to access is on the side.

Seems a bit extreme, can anyone verify this?

I'd rather just do it myself, but not if I need to lift the engine.

Look up a DIY for the spark plugs, I know the passenger side all you need to do is remove the ECU and then its just one bolt per coil.

[Chronology]

Just had this issue!

26k miles, spirited driving.

The car feels like it is in limp mode. Is that common? Also should I replace all 4 at the same time and heat wrap them or just the A coil that failed? Then wrap all 4 just to be safe.

I cleared the code last night, the car this morning feels like in limp mode like I said. Is that suppose to happen?

-TIA Chron

[Icecreamtruk]

Replace the one that failed, wrap all 4 of them. You can wrap them without taking them off provided you are flexible. Otherwise, the one on the driver side to the front of the car is a bitch to get at.

[Chronology]

Originally Posted by Icecreamtruk

Replace the one that failed, wrap all 4 of them. You can wrap them without taking them off provided you are flexible. Otherwise, the one on the driver side to the front of the car is a bitch to get at.

Thanks for the quick reply. I saw the "how to" on pg 15. Sounds like a fun time.

[phrosty]

If car feels like limp mode after resetting the CEL, I'd venture that something is more seriously wrong than the spontaneous coil pack failures we've seen in this thread.

[Icecreamtruk]

Originally Posted by phrosty

If car feels like limp mode after resetting the CEL, I'd venture that something is more seriously wrong than the spontaneous coil pack failures we've seen in this thread.

I'd venture to say his car is not in limp mode but rather has retarded timing to compensate for the failure. The car feels like it looses quite a bit of power. The car doesnt go in limp mode without a CEL. So if he cleared it and isnt on, its just the timing retard that is still there.

How do I know this? I've had it happen to me multiple times at the track. It feels like you loose some 30 or so HP, up at redline isnt much, but that much down low could feel like you lost half of the power.

You want to know if the car is in limp mode? Give it throttle, if you can get it past 5k rpm (in neutral, no need to go street racing), then the car is not in limp mode.

[phrosty]

Originally Posted by Icecreamtruk

I'd venture to say his car is not in limp mode but rather has retarded timing to compensate for the failure.

Has anyone actually had this CEL, cleared it, and seen any timing being pulled, though? I haven't and I'm on my 2nd one. There seems to be no symptom other than the random CEL.

[Icecreamtruk]

Originally Posted by phrosty

Has anyone actually had this CEL, cleared it, and seen any timing being pulled, though? I haven't and I'm on my 2nd one. There seems to be no symptom other than the random CEL.

I have, thats why I mentioned it, im speaking out of experience. Timing got pulled by around 15 degres from its normal values (logged by torque app), speed on the straights dropped by around 10mph by the end of it. Other than that, and the the ridiculous amount of backfires you get when you are braking (off throttle, reducing speed), yeah there are no other symptoms. My lap times dropped by around 1 to 2 seconds per 1min laps.

[fooyc]

Originally Posted by vgarcin

Wrapping the coils definitely helps.

As I track my car, I had repeated problems with those ignition coils and had to change them every 6 months.
However, I have wrapped those coils approx. a year ago; CEL did not come back. It seems it solves the problems, or at least decrease the frequency of failure.

OK I will try this too... I just got my #1 coil CEL on the last track day. even after reset ecu, w/ 4hot laps it came back again. I also guess it is due to heat issue.

[skye67]

Dig dig dig. Sorry to bring up a old post. But anyone figure anything out. I have 2013 BRZ OTH and cat back. Just got code PO351 for the last two months on and off. If I hit the redline on daily driving, Ill get check engine light.

[solidONE]

Originally Posted by skye67

Dig dig dig. Sorry to bring up a old post. But anyone figure anything out. I have 2013 BRZ OTH and cat back. Just got code PO351 for the last two months on and off. If I hit the redline on daily driving, Ill get check engine light.

Not sure what you mean by figuring anything out. The reason you are getting the code and CEL is because that coil is toast. Time to change out that coil. What is there to figure out?

[skye67]

Well, seeing that you have all the answers. Is the coil failure truly heat related? Is the failure fixed by warping the coil in heat tape? Is it fixed with heat treating the exhaust? Is the up dated coil part any better? Is there a TSB? Is there a recall?

I have a 13 auto, OTH, 4.65 rearend with under 30K miles. I have a spirited drive to the local metropolis of 40 miles. And in the last month I had code PO351 come up almost every time. Almost every time do to going to the redline. But the car seems to drive OK. If I drive gently, no code.
I fined it strange that a car intend to be sporty, has a coil failure like this. And more importantly Toyota/Subaru is doing little to fix it.
Is this the future of the automobile industry? Spend $$$$$$ on a new car, and in three years it turns in to a parts swapping bitch.

[solidONE]

No TSB, or recall. All indications point to heat related damage from extended high rpm use. Lowering the underhood temps or heat shielding may help extend service life, but none of that will fix an already toast coil. I've replaced the #1 coil on mine with the newer part, but it's too soon to tell weather if it's a superior part to the one that came installed originally.

You can call toyota or subaru with your complaint and maybe they'll pay for the replacement, but I doubt it. Sure as hell people on this forum aint going to pay for your parts or 'fix' it for you. lmao

[skye67]

Originally Posted by solidONE

No TSB, or recall. All indications point to heat related damage from extended high rpm use. Lowering the underhood temps or heat shielding may help extend service life, but none of that will fix an already toast coil. I've replaced the #1 coil on mine with the newer part, but it's too soon to tell weather if it's a superior part to the one that came installed originally.

You can call toyota or subaru with your complaint and maybe they'll pay for the replacement, but I doubt it. Sure as hell people on this forum aint going to pay for your parts or 'fix' it for you. lmao

Ha Ha ha, out of warranty, mods most likely voided warranty any way. Modded my car with less than 2500 miles. I never intended to use the warranty anyway. I would not trust the grease monkeys to touch my car. I do all my own work. I have bought four Subaru's from the local dealer, and they like me enuff to get me deals on parts. Especially if there is a TSB or recall. And I never asked or suggested for anyone to pay for it.
BTW whats with your attitude?