Should I replace coil just because?-gctid817811

[tdcooper99]

To summarize, had an ignition issue the other week... was out for a short spin with my son while I waited for the line up at the fuel dock to die down... engine cuts out a few hundred yards outside the marina... dead in the water, won't fire. Got towed in by a friend. Turns out to be the ignition sensor... it was the old style version, I suspect original... all corroded... failed for whatever reason. Put a new one in, and fired up instantly. Also replaced my cap & rotor at the same time since they were also looking pretty rough. Just to be belt & braces, I've now ordered a new set of plugs and wires... preventative maintenance as I have no idea how old my existing ones are.... judging by the condition of the stuff I already replaced, again possibly original.

Question is... should I preemptively replace the coil too? I did buy one just in case when I was troubleshooting my issue and didn't want to be running back and forth from the boat to the marine supply. When the sensor turned out to be the problem, I just stowed the coil to keep as a spare... but is there a reason to just do it even though the existing one is working? Anything else I should be looking at for preventive maintenance ignition wise?

[Pcpete]

For what it's worth, and the value of my opinion varies from hour to hour, I would install the new one and keep the old one for a spare. You should be keeping some kind of maintenance records even if it's on a cheap tablet. I keep my part name and numbers purchased, when I installed it, where I bought it and what paid. It makes it a lot easier when I have to replace that part again or I'm thinking I should, but can't remember when I did it last.

The older I get the shorter it seem parts last and the cost is at least ten times what I paid last time, then I look at my notes. Yeah, that part is ten years old and the new version is half of the price.......sometimes.

[vajim]

I too pondered the same issue at one time years ago. Decided to replace with new and it seems to fire up quicker. Might just be a good idea to replace and have the spare as I did.