I posted a few messages recently about a problem I'm having with a '96 Legacy Outback losing power on cold or rainy mornings, and having the check engine light come on indicating misfires on two cylinders. After much troubleshooting, the concensus was that the ignition coil possibly needs replacement.
I bought a new coil pack, but I haven't installed it yet. I thought I'd measure the resistance of the old and new coil packs, according to instructions and specs in my Haynes manual. Both the old and new coil packs are Diamond F-569 12V, and the Haynes manual says the primary resistance should be 0.62 to 0.76 ohms, while the secondary resistance should be 17.9 to 24.5 k-ohms.
On both the old and new coil packs, the secondary resistance is right in the suggested range. Both cylinder pairs on the old pack came out at about 23.24 k-ohms, and on the new pack, the secondary resistance was about 19.34 k-ohms.
However, the primary resistance is outside the Haynes specs on both the old and new coil packs, and this is what's bothering me. On the old coil pack, the primary resistance measures at 0.8 ohms, just above the high end of the range. On the new coil pack, it's much further outside the range, measuring at 1.7 ohms on both sets of pins.
I'd like to find out a little more before I install the new coil pack, because I can still return it for a refund if it hasn't been installed. Could I be measuring the resistance incorrectly? Do these measurements sound normal? Are the Haynes specs wrong? Can someone check their primary resistance on a working coil pack and post the results? (It's a
2-minute check if you have a multimeter and a repair manual.) Any other thoughts are welcome. Thanks!