Ignition coils

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Jul 11, 2003 | 11:33 AM

SC400-V8

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Racer

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From: Massachusetts

Ignition coils

Could someone explain to me what ignition coils are? I was reading an older post and someone who had those changed said he noticed his power rating increased alot..... I figure when i have my 60K service done I'll have those changed too if this is the case.

Jul 11, 2003 | 01:14 PM

Keith13b

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Coils generate the electrical "spark" that runs through the plug wires and fires the sparkplug. If your coils aren't bad (they can be tested) then you won't really see much improvement. If you replace them with some performance coils (send out a higher voltage spark) then you can notice a slight improvement, but if the engine is stock...probably not.

Clean the connections on the coils (the 400's have 2). Just follow the spark plug wires to the front of the engine and the coil is the black box the main wire connects to. The coil sends the spark voltage to the distributer which in turn fires one bank of 4 spark plugs. 2 coils= 8 plugs.

Once you modify your cars fuel system, the a hotter, longer spark makes a huge difference in power. On an RX-7, I was able to pull 17 extra hp out of the engine on nitrous by running 2 MSD boxes and performance coils over the same engine on the stock ignition.

Jul 11, 2003 | 10:50 PM

lilnard85

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so what kind of mod do you have to do tothe fuel system. Just was wondering.

Jul 14, 2003 | 01:01 PM

Keith13b

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Stand alone computer
Piggie back
different regulator
modded ECU
larger injectors
NOS
Forced induction.....

The list can go on and on.

though a stock car only needs the stock coils, as they are awsome to begin with. Lexus made them right the first time! Much like many things on the car.

Jul 14, 2003 | 08:31 PM

lilnard85

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ok so can i upgrade the fuels system, and other stuff on my car with out killin the engine or the tranny. I have taken very good care of my car but, since it has 130,000 miles on her should i woory about blowin up the engine. or should i just mod it out like i want and not worry about it.

Jul 14, 2003 | 08:45 PM

93blusc300

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where are these coils on a 300? How would you clean them?

Jul 15, 2003 | 05:42 AM

Keith13b

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From: Orlando, FL

Quote:

Originally posted by lilnard85
ok so can i upgrade the fuels system, and other stuff on my car with out killin the engine or the tranny. I have taken very good care of my car but, since it has 130,000 miles on her should i woory about blowin up the engine. or should i just mod it out like i want and not worry about it.

If you do everything right, you won't have a problem. But unless you have done these mods, you need to know the negative side to it all. MSD boxes and stronger coils will eat your plugs/cap/rotor's up for lunch. Expect to be replacing and cleaning them ALOT more often. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, keep the ignition stock and you won't have issues to deal with. But if you know what you are doing and need to squeeze every ounce of power out of the car, go for it.

130,000....as long as you have strong compression you shouldn't worry too much, but keep things conservative to be safe. There isn't too much out there aftermarket wise to mess up our cars besides forced induction and/or stupidity.

Play safe!