2006 avalon check engine light (Ignition coil)

[mcardo99]

My check engine turned on last week. Some days it goes off but the next day it goes back on. The car show no decrease in power, idle is stable and normally (about 800RPM) one time only I was at a red light with D engaged and noticed the car stalled at idle, RPM went down to 500RPM and back up to normal.
I pluggdled an error scanner OBDII. and it shows the following error:

P0356
Ign coil F primary
Secondary ckt

Anyone experienced this? suggestions?

Thanks

[Mike Murrell]

Not much help but will pass on anyway:

http://engine-codes.com/p0356.html

[inov8]

Several other '05 and '06 Avalon owners have reported ignition coil failures on this forum. This thread from 5/2010 may be helpful:

p0354 coil location

Assuming the information in the thread is correct, P0356 refers to cylinder #6, which is located on the back side of the engine (closest to the windshield). Unfortunately, the coils and spark plugs on that cylinder bank are not accessible without first removing the intake manifold.

[inov8]

I did some more research and discovered Totota issued a Tchnical Service Bulletin in June of 2007 specifically to define cylinder number locations for all of their current engines. The TSB is EG034-07 and it includes a clear diagrams for each engine.

Well, it turns out the information in my previous post was evidently wrong.
Viewing from the front of the vehicle, the cylinder bank located near the firewall is "Bank 1", and the cylinders, from left to right, are 1 - 3 - 5. The cylinder bank near the radiator is "Bank 2", and, from left to right, cylinders 2 - 4 - 6.

As a crude graphic:

--- Firewall ---
-- 1 - 3 - 5 -- (Bank 1)
-- 2 - 4 - 6 -- (Bank 2)
--- Radiator ---

[scooterkingdg]

Originally Posted by mcardo99

My check engine turned on last week. Some days it goes off but the next day it goes back on. The car show no decrease in power, idle is stable and normally (about 800RPM) one time only I was at a red light with D engaged and noticed the car stalled at idle, RPM went down to 500RPM and back up to normal.
I pluggdled an error scanner OBDII. and it shows the following error:

P0356
Ign coil F primary
Secondary ckt

Anyone experienced this? suggestions?

Thanks

If you have mutiple obd11 error codes for a toyota and the check engine light been on for thousands of miles disconnect the battery for fifteen minutes then reconnect it when the check engine light goes on again test with in a few minutes this may give you a accurate reading on whats going on

another way to get at the rear spark glugs is to take the 8 inch wide frame thats runs along the firewall and holds the windshield wiper assemble inplace off completly this gave me more room to get at the coils in the back this was a pain so i replaced all three coils and spark plugs in the back at 80k

[mcardo99]

Originally Posted by inov8

I did some more research and discovered Totota issued a Tchnical Service Bulletin in June of 2007 specifically to define cylinder number locations for all of their current engines. The TSB is EG034-07 and it includes a clear diagrams for each engine.

Well, it turns out the information in my previous post was evidently wrong.
Viewing from the front of the vehicle, the cylinder bank located near the firewall is "Bank 1", and the cylinders, from left to right, are 1 - 3 - 5. The cylinder bank near the radiator is "Bank 2", and, from left to right, cylinders 2 - 4 - 6.

As a crude graphic:

--- Firewall ---
-- 1 - 3 - 5 -- (Bank 1)
-- 2 - 4 - 6 -- (Bank 2)
--- Radiator ---

Based on your 1st post and in an attempt to troubleshoot the problem, I took the intake appart (had to get an articulated extension for the passenger side, back bolt and went through times of frustration, agony and wrists getting scratched) swapped the rear coils with the front ones. Used the OBDII device reset the error and after running the car a while it showed same error but this time "IGN COIL E" which confirms your diagram above to be correct and means I have to take it back appart and replace the rear driver side coil... I ordered two used Coils today, pulls from a 2GR-FE $10 each. Part number is not the same though... But aftermarket coils replace all the different part numbers for coils comlatible w 2GR-FE's
Any comments on that?

I'd like to thank you guys for your time and help =D

[inov8]

Well, it would appear in my case that the "time and help" you refer to was actually more of a hindrance. I should have been more emphatic that the infomation provided in the linked post was at-best speculative.

If it were my vehicle, I would replace all 3 rear coils this time. Particularly so since you have found replacements at an atractive price and it sounds like you don't really want to pull the intake plenum a 3rd time any time soon. The number of recent similar spark coil complaints for '05 and '06 model years on various Avalon forums suggests a relatively short component service life.

As to the busines of one aftermarket part number replacing more than 1 factory P/N, I can only venture a guess. Perhaps the failure rate began to cost Toyota lots of $$ in extended warranty claims, thereby convincing them to redesign the part for improved robustness. It is probably a $200-$300 job at a Dealer to replace one rear bank coil. Keep in mind that less than 1% of Avalon owners participate in online forums, so the real failure rate could be much larger than we realize. The redisigned part would have identical physical dimensions and functionality, so an aftermarket coil could theoreticcally replace both "original" and "improved" designs.

[mcardo99]

I will follow your advice and order more =D. This car is sexy and roomie. All it needs is a suspension upgrade, intake and exhaust followed by a little snail shell or supercharger under the hood. =P
I have the touring edition

[mcardo99]

Finished. Ordered 6 genuine Toyota new coils. of which 2 where the original part number. I wish they would've sent me the same different-from-original part number.

Original part: 90919-A2002
Replacement part: 90919-02251

Only one of my original coils was defective but decided to replace all three in the back. So I now have three 90919-02251 in the back. One 90919-02251 and Two 90919-A2002 in the front. They look exactly the same except for the color of the epoxy used on the top is beige on the 90919-02251 and black on the 90919-A2002.

Thanks!

[CISA93]

Originally Posted by scooterkingdg

If you have mutiple obd11 error codes for a toyota and the check engine light been on for thousands of miles disconnect the battery for fifteen minutes then reconnect it when the check engine light goes on again test with in a few minutes this may give you a accurate reading on whats going on

another way to get at the rear spark glugs is to take the 8 inch wide frame thats runs along the firewall and holds the windshield wiper assemble inplace off completly this gave me more room to get at the coils in the back this was a pain so i replaced all three coils and spark plugs in the back at 80k

Now...the TSBs comes out and my car is out of warranty...

Ironically, I just had the same thing happen to me and you're right. the coils 1/3/5 are up against the firewall. I have 70,000 on my 2005 Avalon and for the PITA that's going to require to access these coils, I too am going to replace these coils, stay away from the lifetime warranty crap on the coils from places like Autozone and Orielly. Go with a brand name like Denso, Standard Electric or Beck Arnley. I prefer the Denso..last resort is the Toyota coil..they don't make it anyway!

As for the codes, I was told these are hard codes and I've disconnected the battery and they returned. They have to be cleared by the handheld computer.

Any others out there with clearing these codes?