Twelve Months Of Coil Pack Research

[ETM]

On my work ute I have standard coils 160,000klm old the car has been making 400rwkw for the last 40,000klm of its life, run a 10.4 quarter mile,towed cars from melb to qld in near 40 degree heat ,gone to the snow no less than 15 times in sub zero conditions (see pic). I also have an alloy cover plate (see pic) and have NEVER HAD AN ISSUE WITH COILS.

We have also made well over 500rwkw with another car using stock coils.

Strawberry you obviously have other problems and are blindly blaming the coils.

[straughsberry]

It sounds like you are saying that because you are making that power and have run those times and have gone that many kilometres without coil pack failure that everybody else's coil pack failures can't be about their coil packs. I don't think it's that simple.

The 3 sets that have totally failed (spark breaks down) can obviously be explained by the fact that they are cheap quality coils. Other members and people I've spoken to have also reported similar cheap units failing very quickly (weeks to months). It's common knowledge that the failure rate is much higher on these cheap units.

Of the 2 sets that haven't totally failed but have eventually lost their "crispness" or gone "soft", one was a cheap Chinese unit and the other eBay Ford coils which I now suspect were not genuine but were packed to look like genuine units.

In my eyes there are two types of failures here. Total failure where a coil will not discharge it's energy, noticeable by a misfire. And partial failure where the coil continues to fire, but has apparently gone "soft". When the coil goes soft, it seems to be noticeable mostly after new coils are fitted and the seat of pants and even engine note tell you there's an extra "crispness" with the new coils. As angry trev reported, he changed his coil packs and instantly felt the difference as well as having to change his tune.

I think a lot would also depend on how many km's and the type of km's being driven, not just elapsed time. I will eventually get it on the dyno with some old coils which aren't breaking down but have "gone soft" versus some nice new "crisp" ones. I'm betting there will be a repeatable and measurable difference in power. The anecdotal evidence suggests this also.

There's obviously more to it than "blind blame". Others are reporting similar experiences with "soft" coils and cheap coils not going the distance. I'm betting my new genuine Fords units are going to last a lot longer than the other coils I've had.

Edited 24/10/09 06:55 AM by straughsberry

[turbotrana]

Over the years I've read heaps of people have had Ford B series coil issues.

[angry trev]

This is the reason I started this thread. People are reporting early failures of coil packs, no matter the brand. Where did you buy your genuine coils? Do you run with the garnish on?

Yeah I bought mine from ford I think I paid $77 bucks each I still run with the garnish on.Mine was breaking down at about 4 grand in 2nd made popping noises like traction control then I put the new coils in and it went like the clappers held it flat got to 4500 grand then span straight to 6500 the trans couldn't change gears quick enough kept hitting the limiter in drive.So I understand what straughsberry's on about and now mine have gone soft and I can feel the difference. I just think that if a majority of us blokes have older coils like I did and you think your car goes good now whack a set of coils in and see the difference

[Dagabond]

Thanks to the moderators of this forum for allowing me to make these remarks.

And thats the last that will be said by you on this site, you or your associate has been banned from this site before for a reason and that still stands.

[d rangd]

ah well I bought some weapon x coils hoping they arent junk!

[F6turbo]

I bought the no name ones from ebay for $124, worked a treat when I first put them in but the car was starting to misfire up high under load the next day. It kept getting worse till it would do it at 3 odd k rpm as soon as it was getting on boost, making the 'popping' sound as trev describes. I changed plugs and tried different spark plug gap's but same results, then I put the stock ford coils back in and quick drive around the block sideways in 2nd as it used to go.

I guess its going to have to be genuine coils from ford to make sure they are genuine unlike the $200 odd coils they are claiming are genuine on ebay or the weapon X ones. :smilelove:

[White Knight]

h well I bought some weapon x coils hoping they arent junk!

You'd hope not ... hope you bought them from the US site where they are listed as $398 for a set of six as opposed to $660 from that joker on ebay. Let us know how they go ... I'm having coil pack issues atm as F6 Turbo knows.

Edited 01/11/09 01:34 PM by White Knight

[straughsberry]

I bought the no name ones from ebay for $124, worked a treat when I first put them in but the car was starting to misfire up high under load the next day. It kept getting worse till it would do it at 3 odd k rpm as soon as it was getting on boost, making the 'popping' sound as trev describes. I changed plugs and tried different spark plug gap's but same results, then I put the stock ford coils back in and quick drive around the block sideways in 2nd as it used to go.

I guess its going to have to be genuine coils from ford to make sure they are genuine unlike the $200 odd coils they are claiming are genuine on ebay or the weapon X ones.

Yeah I tried those $124 dollar ebay ones as well. They lasted 2 weeks before beginning to misfire above 4k ish under load. I actually thought they weren't as crisp as they should be right from the get go. But I think you're right, it seems genuine genuines (sad we have to qualify them like that) are the way to go ATM.

The only other coils that went really well for me are some cheapies I got put onto. As I said, I reckon I can get them for around $100 a set for 20 sets. They worked very well and still do not misfire, they've just gone soft. But after 6 months with 370rwkw and a good time, I am very happy with that. The only thing stopping me from doing a group buy on them is the fact that I don't know what the failure rate would be like and unlike some operators, I wouldn't want an unacceptable failure rate. It's just not cricket. So If I can get a solid guarantee from the supplier (IE 100% money back guarantee for failures), I may still bring them in.

[F6turbo]

When do u think you think you will have a guarantee from him straughsberry?

If you got 6 months out of them id be keen to give them a go for $100 a set, im sure a fair few more members wouldnt mind a back up set for 100 bucks.