Car is a '96 Formula. I replaced the coil about 10 days ago because it was arcing, and of course the engine was misfiring. Replaced it with an AC/Delco oem, and the new one is now beginning to arc as well. I suppose the new coil could be bad, but is there something that can cause a coil to go bad?

 

Where is the arch coming from? It's more likely that the coil wire is split or cracked somewhere.

 

The arc was/is coming from the coil. Coil wire was first suspect. Replaced it as well.

 

Is it possible for the ICM to arc?

 

I had a similar problem with MSD coils. I kept thinking that I just got a bad batch of MSD coils (I went threw 3 returns) after noticing the coil arcing. I checked everything... plugs, wires you name it. Eventually I put the stock coil back in and took it to a dealership, which I never do. They discovered that one of my spark plugs was faulty and that it was creating a lot of resistance which caused the coil to arc. This surprised me since I had replaced the plugs around 5000 miles ago and my opti around 7500. Plus, my engine for the most part was running clean. I guess I got a bad one out of the bunch. Strange, I know, but it made a world of difference and I never had the problem again.

Also, make sure you didnt us a lot of anti-seize. You only need a small dab. Using too much might make the path to ground much less conductive.

 

Sounds like the coil is looking for a ground.Might check the heat shields around the plugs,I dunno.Hope this helps.