Just wanted to add my own experience here. I had my starter/battery/plugs replaced about a year ago under warranty, as I was having really slow cold crank. After the fix, she would roar to life immediately, so I was very happy. Last week sometime, I noticed a slight hesitation at low RPM, then it was slightly more noticeable, and then it began to affect startup, with familiar hiccup/coughs before catching. I had bought new coils and RB wires a while ago for my 30K maintenance, but never got to putting them in. I figured the time had come.

I jacked up the driver's left wheel and removed. I removed the airbox but all those little vacuum lines weren't being friendly. I was afraid I'd rip a hose, so I just left them. It was tighter but not impossible, and I have pretty big hands. The biggest issue was that large hose that gets clipped right next to the first coil. Once I got that unclipped from the bracket, it was smooth. Here's what I did:

Starting with the frontmost coil, I pulled the plug wire, removed the nut, took the coil off its post, then unplugged the harness. I then traced the wire to the corresponding plug and pulled the wire off the plug. I put the new RB wire on the plug, fed the other end up to the coil, installed the new coil on its post, put on the nut, then the wire, then the harness. Here's what I would do next time:

If you're not running new wires, then the best way is definitely just mark each wire at the top, and also mark the harnesses (even though they can't move much, one may wiggle enough to look like it goes to a different coil), and remove all the coils. Starting with the rearmost coil, install the new one, put the nut on, and reinstall the wire and harness.

There's really not much to it, but I sure don't see how you could do it with the airbox in. It would take some really small hands. In the end, my hesitation is gone and I'm back to strong, smooth firing. My coils did not look unusually bad. Three had that little white spot (which isn't supposed to be indicative) but one had a spot that looked kinda blue/green, like the reflection of gasoline in a puddle? Maybe that one was shot? I also noticed my plug wires seemed to have a lot of dust and were very hard to get off the coil, so maybe that connection was bad. All in all, I'm glad I did it. New coils, better wires and zoom-zoom again....

 

Did mine over the weekend with the help of my dad, but I really think any idiot could do this by themselves with the help of this DIY... Thanks!

I changed coils, plugs and wires and it made a noticeable difference in acceleration. It didn't completely solve my rough idle, but it did make it a bit smoother. I was hoping the new coils would solve my harder-to-start-when-warm issue but that is still there.

OP also said "perform all necessary PCM resets and search..." I simply did the brake-stomp thing. I can find how to do the resets, just don't know what is really necessary...

 

replaced the front two coils and that solved my misfire problem.

tip: dont remove the whole airbox.

i cant imagine why anyone would remove the airbox- just remove that little thing hanging over the coils that attaches to the intake- it just pulls off. i also disconnected the vacuum tube that was clipped on it. plenty of room.

tip: use a screwdriver to gently pry down the thick wiring harness bundle that over the coil screws so its easier to pull/put the coil off/on the mounting stud.

 

Two reasons I gave to remove the airbox - number one, so you know how to do it (to change airfilter or something, and secondly to give the area of attention the most obvious ease of access for a person who is uncomfortable squeezing and pushing hands and components around... it is up to you.

 

quick question here.

the color banded wires are leading or trailing?

mazsports ignition installation instruction's answered my question.

 

when attaching the spark plug wire to the ignition coil should you hear a "click" sound or this "click" sound depends from the spark plug brand. For example, I have heard that the Racing Beat spark plug wires are making a "click" sound when you attach them to the ignition coils BUT this does not apply to all brands of spark plugs.

What do you think ?