Re: Ignition system failure = faulty coil

["David Teitelbaum" <jtrealty@xxxx>]

IMHO there is very little if any performance to be gained by using a
"high performence" coil. If you have a set of properly gapped spark
plugs the stock ignition system is more than adequate. By using a
different coil you run the risk of frying the ECU. Bad enough that you
may have too much resistance in the circuit to take full advantage of
the "high performance" coil, if the combined resistance of the coil
and the ballast resistors is too low you can damage the ECU. By upping
the secondary voltage you also risk breaking down the stock ignition
wires, they weren't supposed to carry such high voltages. So now you
have worn spark plugs, old wires, a coil putting out about 2X the
stock voltage, guess what happens? The engine package is a SYSTEM. You
are not going to make any drastic improvements by changing one thing.
If it was that easy the factory would have done it! In many instances
where improvement was noticed the old, stock part was probably not
working right so any change would have been an improvement. In the
case of an ignition coil I would do a tune-up first. You will get more
"bang for the buck" in the long run keeping the car in tune than
putting expensive non-stock parts in. BTW when asking for help it is
always useful if you mention that you are running non-stock parts.
Then the first bit of advice would be to return to stock and see if
the problem goes away. In the case of ignition coils the installation
instructions usually mention changing the ballast resistors to fit the
new coil. Some coils ONLY work with the electronics that go with the
coil. When in doubt read the instructions or contact the manufacturer.
Oversaturating the coil with the wrong control will shorten the life
of the coil. Ignition coils are not a DC device. They are AC
transformers and voltage (especially the DC component) isn't the only
thing you have to measure.
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757