Just got back my cz 1.1 today. Maurice did some testing and solved the coil pack problem. He mentioned something about resistors and diodes that he added to the computer. Anyways, the problem was guarunteed fixed. Nice to know that now we can get some guarunteed worry free software. And for all of you who say the cz does not improve the car, you are crazy. Just adjust it, with a laptop, if you are not a fan of the power band.

cz1.1 and cz1.2

I hope to see someone post the full details so I can put them in, as my stage1 has been sitting on a shelf for over a month now.

Actually, I believe it's a heat issue. RX8Friend, can you speak to this?

Omicron - you have cz 1.2 listed as your mod. Did you do something different with your cz 1.1? Now that the cz is getting tweaked, it might be in my future. So, is it heat or what?

Didn't I explain the solution to this in my E-Manage install page back in March?:rolleyes:

Actually, I believe it's a heat issue. RX8Friend, can you speak to this?
It isn't a heat issue - not directly, in any event.
It is the ignitor transistor in each coil overheating because of the increased dwell current of the E-Manage ignition outputs.

Well, I have been drivin my 8 extremely hard all weekend with the updated coil packs, and no problems.

Good to hear the upgrade fixed the problem, enjoy your new cz

Maurice will be posting a diffinitive post on this subject very soon, but what has been happening is the transitor in the coil changes sensitivity drastically to any DC voltage at its' base. The shocking thing is this becomes a serious problem at 100C and above. So the coils -DO- get hot in normal operation.

We believe this mod. fixes it (a few customers report it works well, and bonus - improves power).

I suggest you remove the unit until you get this mod. - it's really simple, and should take less time to do than the last "capacitor" mod. I will let Maurice explain how to do it (he's going to post graphs, pictures, etc.).

Dave,

Would this be a manditory mod regardless of whether the car experienced burnt coil problem before? Or is it a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mod?

David,
I didn't do the last "capacitor" mod., as you put it. Will this new mod. also need that other mod?

The resistor mod was done by you, the resistors were in there and not soldered on one side. Was built with a test date of 5/17 (group buy #1) and no canges have been done at all to it by me.

With people having various stages of mods, this upcoming diffinitive post by Maurice really needs to touch all the bases.

Glad to hear the good news.

Mine's coming out tonight until further direction by y'all. It's due for a trip to the doctor for its regular checkup in a couple of days anyway...

edit: Make that "came out". Less than an hour - for me, that's fast. Helps a lot to have already done the install - it was all still very familiar to me. :cool: I reset the ecu & it ran just fine. OK, so now that it's out, what's next?

Let me just say if I had one in an RX-8 that I had control of (even if it wasn't mine) I would get the mod done or do it myself. We've seen coil packs go into thermal runaway in only a few miles of driving in high temps. This just started happening too often as the weather got really hot. It appears the coilpacks can get above 100C when the outside temp goes above 30C (80F or so). Maurice has also devised a "heatsink" that zip ties to the four coil packs. This device may help stabilize the coil pack temps. Not sure what he intends to do with this re selling. It's pretty simple.

We still use the caps. to stabilize the output. Part of the complete design, which you will see in the pics., is to ensure the unit will also function properly with Stage 3 (the tach output, specifically). I mentioned this in the last mod. description.

If you can afford the shipping cost, I recommend you return the unit to get the newer board with the slide switch on it. It also allows you to fully shut off the unit (the older board with the dip switch requires you to switch two switches to fully disconnect the unit - the one on the side and the dip switch inside).

Maurice's post will include the older board and the newer one, just like my previous post did. They can both be modified to the safe circuit if you want to do it yourself. Any unit returned will be modified to the new board - no charge except shipping. I just did one of the original ones - with no ignition board at all. I had to retrain myself ;).

I can handle it. I used to put together Heathkits. :) Even did an oscillioscope! Woohoo! I'm magical with a soldering iron. Yeah...

The switch thing doesn't seem to be that big of a concern. I'll make a final decision myself after I digest the upcoming instructional post...

How much is shipping roughly, to the southeast? And how long would it be gone?

A person who has a May version like me needs to do the previous "capacitor" mod as well, to stabilize the output, as you mentioned in your above paragraph 2, that's how I'm reading that, now that it's back out of the car. I gotta study-up on that one again... ;) For those who want to know, that info is in the Questions about the Stage 1.X please (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=31438) thread.

By the way, Mazda Canada will be releasing an updated coil pack in the near future. Some of the stock 8's have been blowing packs and they are going to start replacing with "higher performance" coil packs.

Well, that's real good news. If heat is the kicker, MNAO better be doing likewise. I think it's just a tad warmer down here (98 F for a high temp today!!! Same forcast for tomorrow). I don't even want to mention the humidity. :(

well we have been blowing packs because for the last month we have been close to 100 F. here in canada. It's not that much cooler.
With a cz1.1 without the additions, i blew my packs within 6 miles.
Now that the cz 1.1 is modded, it is fine

Guess what -- son with a 2002 Protege5 and 22.5K miles reports that took car to dealer; was misfiring. They replaced coils under warranty -- dealer said ALL coils on proteges go south by 25K miles! Sounds like a generic Mazda componentry problem here.

By the way, Mazda Canada will be releasing an updated coil pack in the near future. Some of the stock 8's have been blowing packs and they are going to start replacing with "higher performance" coil packs.

Anyone know about this in the states? Will this be available to us too?

I did a quick querry email to rx8orders@mazdausa.com and this was Rebecca Falk's reply...

"Thank you for contacting Mazda. I hope all is going well.

In regards to your e-mail, I checked with my Corporate Technical
Contact who said, at this time, he was unaware of any new coil release
for the RX-8. He also informed me, Mazda Canada and Mazda USA have
separate databases for technical issues, and would not be able to give
any concrete information on any new releases they may be planning."

Followed by her canned closing salutations... "Zoom-Zoom!" and all that... :( :confused:

You may ask yourself why I am actively interested. My Pepper is 1 year old today with narry a special problem the whole year. Still runs good and all that. But I HAVE smelled a strong pungent stinky burning odor a couple times, before AND after installing the CZ stage 1. It's been a while since I smelled it, but I do remember smelling it. If that indeed was my coil packs starting on their way out, how much longer are they gonna last? They look fine visibly so far...

I hope we get that post from Maurice soon. I'd like to fix and re-install my stage1 so I can get the darn thing tuned.

Dave, Can you give us the info? It's been almost 10 days now.. and some of us are salivating at the mouth !

HAHOO!

It has been prooven that CZ#1 burns colis at high temperatures.
BUT there is a solution to it. Would you please provide it before more of your customers have to replace their colis and gets frustrated?

This is the every few days reminder there's a few of us waiting on this info. Please, even a crude explanation and necesary mods would be apreciated. Even a hint on what direction to look in to get started would be nice. I hate having a $500 paperweight.

I Want To Know How To Fix Th E Dman Cz Please< Dave Can You Tell Us

I Got New Coiul Paks Installed And I Wantd To Knwo>

Thanks Syou

I Want To Know How To Fix Th E Dman Cz Please< Dave Can You Tell Us

I Got New Coiul Paks Installed And I Wantd To Knwo>

Thanks SyouLOL
Dude!
You knead a knew keybroad! :D

Han gin ther guydude! :D My paperweight needs dusting... :rolleyes:

Helloooooo? Anybody?

Does this have anything to do with the #7 coil pack instead of #8?

I read in another thread that canzoomer has these plugs available and Omi already has a pair of them.....

Some type of high performance plug that accepts ignition timing while being less prone to detonation.. (that bad word)

That's #7 spark plug vs a #8. Ignition coil packs are a separate item.
________
Homemade Vaporizer (http://homemadevaporizers.info/)

RX-8 Friend - MIA - 2 weeks after posting this:

"Maurice will be posting a diffinitive post on this subject very soon, but what has been happening is the transitor in the coil changes sensitivity drastically to any DC voltage at its' base. The shocking thing is this becomes a serious problem at 100C and above. So the coils -DO- get hot in normal operation.

We believe this mod. fixes it (a few customers report it works well, and bonus - improves power).

I suggest you remove the unit until you get this mod. - it's really simple, and should take less time to do than the last "capacitor" mod. I will let Maurice explain how to do it (he's going to post graphs, pictures, etc.)."

Canzoomer Jr. - MIA - 1.5 months

Canzoomer - MIA - 3 months

Is there any explanation for this? We would all certainly like to know what it is............

first canzoomer vanished and now rx8 friend vanished too.whats going on :(

Perhaps they are busy working on the Sunflower Supercharger tune?! I'm kinda hoping they are working on getting the GB#2 stuff out this month, but I don't have high hopes that'll happen. :o

I spoke with Maurice yesterday concerning another matter and ask him about the coil problems in the course of our conversation. They went thru an evaluation when this issue first came up and thought they had a handle on it. When they started hearing of cars without the CZ unit also having coil problems, they dug a little deeper and found that the coil pack trigger voltage drops drastically when the coil temperature exceeds 60C (140F). This condition generally shows up after a hard run - when engine idles down, fans come on and blow still hotter air across the coil packs raising their temperature even further at which point the coil trigger voltage approaches background voltage and the coils begin to self-excite and go into a frenzy which raises the temperature further, and this "death spiral" continues until the coil just melts down. For the CZ units, they are suggesting adding capacitors. In addition, for both CZ and non-CZ vehicles, they are suggesting a heat sink system which they have available to help keep coil temperatures down. I think he will be posting on this subject shortly, he mentioned having pictures ready for the CZ unit DIY.

In addition Maurice is answering emails and fixing current CZ units with the new diodes for free. I just received my RMA and I am in the process of sending it back.

I, Genom, and a few others (im sure), would likely prefer to see what the fix is and apply the changes ourselves. We've waited a long time for this already. I'd rather not wait another week, or a month to get the unit upgraded.

Can't we get ANY kind of update??

CZ?? RX-8 FRIEND?

Perhaps we all need to do what The Bean is doing.

It seems as though using a forum to communicate with your following is more convenient than handling everyone individually. Even moreso, use this forum to tell them how to fix the thing themselves instead of them all being sent to you to fix. If I were them, I would be typing away in here like crazy.

Oh well, looks like they're still not back from their vacation -or whatever- yet.

Bean, do you just email Michelle to request that RMA?

Canzoomer, RX-8 Friend...please provide update on the Stage-1 modification required as mentioned.

I had my box upgraded last month and burnt the coil after the install. I now have a Stage-1 unit collecting dust... :eek:

Just had my coil replaced and would really like to put back the Stage-1 unit.:mad:

Thank you!

I emailed them to find out what was going on, and got this back from Maurice a little while ago:

OK, I went on holidays, and someone was supposed to post the writeup I
did.
I recently got back.

So, will post that tomorrow.

Thanks!

Tomorrow. From what day will tomorrow be?




edit: Just washed my 8 this evening - looks so pretty. Got hollered at by a neighbor when I ever-so-gradually let her go up to around 7k, then slipped her into 2nd to let her go back down. Sheez... Some people just don't understand that rotaries need to warm-up before you shut them down. I think it might have been my sheriff neighbor maybe. Aw crap! Goodnight cruel world.

By the way, Mazda Canada will be releasing an updated coil pack in the near future. Some of the stock 8's have been blowing packs and they are going to start replacing with "higher performance" coil packs.May I ask where you got this tidbit of information?

Enquiring minds want to know..................Want to re-install the CZ...I miss the 5K+ rush

I only have a cell phone , paid by my company.. I can't call Canada.. would someone mind calling over there to see if someone there can post or you can be sent the update to post for us?

I use Kallcents to call my sister-in-law in Germany with my cell phone. It costs me around 6 cents a minute and charges my credit card. It's a pretty cool service.

Eh, could someone jsut call? :D

No word, CZ? Rx-8 Friend, Michelle, Anyone????

Wait, so to what value do I set my coil dwell setting?

Who are these people?

This is a real blast from the past.....

Who are what people ;)

Holy grave-robber Batman ...

It is pretty funny that I had already pointed out in March of 2004 that increasing the dwell on the stock coils was a bad idea.
And now, history is repeating itself.
Again.