DIY #1 coil / P0351 - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

orange crush · 10-21-2024, 02:19 PM

Just had a P0351 and replaced the coil. It's a tight space, and misery to fish dropped tools/bolts out (I had to get my pick out by putting duct tape on my magnet stick) A few things that helped:

You have to move the ECU out of the way. It's held on by three 10mm bolts. All the YT videos say that when you pull out the last bottom bolt out, the ECU falls down and the bolt disappears into the bottom of the bay. Don't do that. Pull the bottom bolt first.
Once you crack that bottom bolt loose, it's too loose to socket, but too tight to hand thread because of the hand position. You'll need to stick a socket on it and turn the socket by hand to get it out. You also have no grip there, and it's a horrible place to drop a socket.
Take a short 10mm 1/4" drive socket, snap a 1/4" to 3/8" adapter on it. Tie a thin string/thread, six feet long or so, around where the the two meet, tight enough that the string won't drop off. Tie the other end of the string to a wrench, or duct tape it to your hood.
Now you can use that 10mm socket to hand-unthread that long 10mm bolt at the bottom of the ECU. You'll drop the socket once or twice, but you can just pull on the string to get it back. Once it's loose, just remove the socket thingy, spin the last two turns by hand, and pull the bolt.
Repeat the procedure for the 10mm bolt holding the coil onto the motor. It's a really tight fit down there, I ended up spinning the socket-on-a-string between two fingers. Crack it loose, use the socket-on-a-string to spin it out, and then pull it out by hand.
Don't bother with all the connector squeezing in tight spaces that the YT videos have. Pull the coil pack, rotate it so you can see the clip, stick a straight Harbor Freight pick in, the clip, and it pops right off.
Socket-on-a-string helps put it back on again as well. Put the coil back in, then do the top two bolts of the ECU first, and then socket-on-a-string for the bottom bolt.

Thanks everyone for all the help you've given me over the years. Hope I can pay a little of it back.

Ultramaroon · 10-21-2024, 06:07 PM

Socket-on-a-string is brilliant! I will use that trick for sure.

10-21-2024, 06:07 PM	#2
Ultramaroon not playing cards Join Date: Sep 2014 Drives: a 13 e8h frs Location: vantucky, wa Posts: 32,396 Thanks: 53,053 Thanked 37,225 Times in 19,308 Posts Mentioned: 1117 Post(s) Tagged: 9 Thread(s)	Socket-on-a-string is brilliant! I will use that trick for sure. __________________ service manuals

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
CEL P0351 Ignition Coil "A" Primary Control Circuit/Open	romin	Engine, Exhaust, Transmission	468	11-26-2021 05:05 PM
Coil Pack question (P0351/P0352 Codes)	KN0W	Engine, Exhaust, Transmission	2	10-10-2019 04:33 PM
Has anyone resolved their ignition coil CEL issues? (P0351, P0352, etc.)	edward	Issues \| Warranty \| Recalls / TSB	41	11-06-2017 08:48 AM
CEL P0351 Ignition Coil A	Exrald	Issues \| Warranty \| Recalls / TSB	16	03-24-2017 12:09 AM
CEL P0351 Ignition Coil "A" Primary Control Circuit/Open	Rossi	AFRICA	18	02-02-2016 06:26 PM

10-21-2024, 02:19 PM	#1
orange crush Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2021 Drives: Orange FR-S Location: Mountain Posts: 8 Thanks: 0 Thanked 7 Times in 3 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	DIY #1 coil / P0351 Just had a P0351 and replaced the coil. It's a tight space, and misery to fish dropped tools/bolts out (I had to get my pick out by putting duct tape on my magnet stick) A few things that helped: You have to move the ECU out of the way. It's held on by three 10mm bolts. All the YT videos say that when you pull out the last bottom bolt out, the ECU falls down and the bolt disappears into the bottom of the bay. Don't do that. Pull the bottom bolt first. Once you crack that bottom bolt loose, it's too loose to socket, but too tight to hand thread because of the hand position. You'll need to stick a socket on it and turn the socket by hand to get it out. You also have no grip there, and it's a horrible place to drop a socket. Take a short 10mm 1/4" drive socket, snap a 1/4" to 3/8" adapter on it. Tie a thin string/thread, six feet long or so, around where the the two meet, tight enough that the string won't drop off. Tie the other end of the string to a wrench, or duct tape it to your hood. Now you can use that 10mm socket to hand-unthread that long 10mm bolt at the bottom of the ECU. You'll drop the socket once or twice, but you can just pull on the string to get it back. Once it's loose, just remove the socket thingy, spin the last two turns by hand, and pull the bolt. Repeat the procedure for the 10mm bolt holding the coil onto the motor. It's a really tight fit down there, I ended up spinning the socket-on-a-string between two fingers. Crack it loose, use the socket-on-a-string to spin it out, and then pull it out by hand. Don't bother with all the connector squeezing in tight spaces that the YT videos have. Pull the coil pack, rotate it so you can see the clip, stick a straight Harbor Freight pick in, the clip, and it pops right off. Socket-on-a-string helps put it back on again as well. Put the coil back in, then do the top two bolts of the ECU first, and then socket-on-a-string for the bottom bolt. Thanks everyone for all the help you've given me over the years. Hope I can pay a little of it back.

User Name		Remember Me?
Password