Swapped out OEM coils for d585’s last weekend – no kit, no loom, no going back
02-19-2014, 05:51 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Swapped out OEM coils for d585’s last weekend – no kit, no loom, no going back
Much as I would have liked a kit, I‘m a low budget production and money saved here will eventually go to one of the forum supporters in exchange for real go fast bits.
Budget shopping list
a set of 8 ls2 type connectors (yeh I know you only need 4)
4 ls2 type coils (d585) – One of the name brands unless you are really sure about the substitutes (I know they may actually come from the same production line – but then again they may not) and better not too cut corners here.
A length of 6mm threaded rod, some nuts, spring washers, a few meters of 1mm +/- wire, a few 6mm eye crimps, the makings for new HT leads, IE everything covered in other posts\DIY’s
also some random garage stuff for coil mounting.
While there are a number of fitting guides for kits, I could never find any clear details for a direct graft onto existing loom so I took my time as didn’t want to have to report to the boss that I’d fried her (our) ecu and/or my new coils
also I am oldish, above prime weight, can’t see like I used too and am possibly way too unkool to have an RX8.
I removed the pins from the original connectors, before cutting them off between the insulation and wire crimps – preserving as much cable length as possible
Even doing this I still needed to cut back the loom insulation a bit on #3 coil - there really is not a lot of length to play with.
After this, stripped the wires and crimped on new pins – remembering to fit the fancy seals and not to drop them all over the engine bay (well not all of them).
Made up flying leads for the power earth lead (the new 4th wire) long enough to be able to loom tidily to chosen earth point.
Fitting pins to the new connector; I fitted the power earth\flying lead first, make very sure it was correctly positioned
- Google images is your friend and you can always plug a connector into a coil to get the orientation correct.
Checked the first connector many times, deep breath, rehydrated, checked again, then did the others making sure they matched - sometimes my borderline OCD is an asset.
Then fitted the new connectors to the existing loom, there are 3 wires from the original coils and 3 holes left to fill
I went with
Power (black\white), the connector end opposite the flying lead.
Signal (coloured), next to above
Earth Return to ecu (black) next to the flyng lead – the only hole left.
More OCD checking and rehydration
Fit the coils
I purchased 45/135 degree coil boots that have been recommended by a few posts, but found existing wiring loom interfered with the coils mounted hard on the existing plate.
To try and better fit around the existing loom, I mounted the coils using a piece of 21mm aluminium channel under the lower threaded rod - allowing the coils to pivot
and to the bottom of this channel screwed an old offcut of wooden window beading that is angled on top face (maybe 30deg).
Collectively this arrangement allowed the coils to be tilted, raising the HT end by 30/35mm to help with loom clearance
For now this is all cable tied in place, and I will look at a proper bracket later.
Note: The piece of wood is partially covered in pale blue house paint and while I am yet to confirm if this specific colour is performance enhancing, I suspect it will be.
Both threaded rods have earth wires as the overall coil mounting is not metal\metal
These are attached to one of the original coil mounting studs, along with the high current earth wire from each coil;
No idea if the stud is an ideal earth point but a whole 150 km later it seems to be doing the business.
Results
You can’t really see much with the bonnet shut, but there will eventually be some remedial work on mounting and I will replace the coil boots with 90 deg options when I can.
Car had completed 29,000 km on original coils, 1 or 2 had very light signs of spotting on removal but no obvious dielectric breakdown.
I did hit them with 1000v mega and while that’s no guarantee for HT, the results suggested no major deterioration.
There were no flashing lights\error codes previously and while I have no a/b comparison I do not believe I was experiencing any ignition issues.
Has dyno-lardo noticed a difference?
The lower rev range (where us newbies often let the fire go out) seems less susceptible to stalling – no idea if this is real or perceived.
I don’t see the improved starting that some folks mention – but I believe the original coils\leads were actually a-ok and I don’t think I had a starting issue previously - I have only owned the car for 3,500km.
I do think the vehicle is more responsive, but that piece of stick does have some mighty fine blue paint on it - so we should be expecting some major improvements somewhere right?
The back window\speaker mesh rattle is still there and I am still carrying a number of extra KG’s, so no miracle cure for either of these.
All in all It seems to have been worth the angst that went into that first wire cut and I am pleased with the results,
the wife is not displeased so it’s a win/win situation.
Things to note
It is very important that you remember to rehydrate constantly throughout the process, not to panic or think too much about the consequences if it goes wrong.
The biggest issue I had was finding a crimp tool that properly crimped the small ‘bare’ auto connectors – if you cannot get one don’t proceed.
Even being careful, I broke 1 pin while inserting it – If you cannot afford down time make sure you buy spare connector and pins.
In hind sight maybe I could have taken pictures, but at time my focus was entirely on not cocking this up.
Last and most important
This is intentionally not a step by step DIY (although I do hope it’s informative), very expensive things could probably happen if you try this and get it wrong.
If in any doubt buy a kit - you and your RX8 deserve the best.
I saved a few bucks, but there were moments of terror – maybe that’s really why I had to try it.
Tony
Budget shopping list
a set of 8 ls2 type connectors (yeh I know you only need 4)
4 ls2 type coils (d585) – One of the name brands unless you are really sure about the substitutes (I know they may actually come from the same production line – but then again they may not) and better not too cut corners here.
A length of 6mm threaded rod, some nuts, spring washers, a few meters of 1mm +/- wire, a few 6mm eye crimps, the makings for new HT leads, IE everything covered in other posts\DIY’s
also some random garage stuff for coil mounting.
While there are a number of fitting guides for kits, I could never find any clear details for a direct graft onto existing loom so I took my time as didn’t want to have to report to the boss that I’d fried her (our) ecu and/or my new coils
also I am oldish, above prime weight, can’t see like I used too and am possibly way too unkool to have an RX8.
I removed the pins from the original connectors, before cutting them off between the insulation and wire crimps – preserving as much cable length as possible
Even doing this I still needed to cut back the loom insulation a bit on #3 coil - there really is not a lot of length to play with.
After this, stripped the wires and crimped on new pins – remembering to fit the fancy seals and not to drop them all over the engine bay (well not all of them).
Made up flying leads for the power earth lead (the new 4th wire) long enough to be able to loom tidily to chosen earth point.
Fitting pins to the new connector; I fitted the power earth\flying lead first, make very sure it was correctly positioned
- Google images is your friend and you can always plug a connector into a coil to get the orientation correct.
Checked the first connector many times, deep breath, rehydrated, checked again, then did the others making sure they matched - sometimes my borderline OCD is an asset.
Then fitted the new connectors to the existing loom, there are 3 wires from the original coils and 3 holes left to fill
I went with
Power (black\white), the connector end opposite the flying lead.
Signal (coloured), next to above
Earth Return to ecu (black) next to the flyng lead – the only hole left.
More OCD checking and rehydration
Fit the coils
I purchased 45/135 degree coil boots that have been recommended by a few posts, but found existing wiring loom interfered with the coils mounted hard on the existing plate.
To try and better fit around the existing loom, I mounted the coils using a piece of 21mm aluminium channel under the lower threaded rod - allowing the coils to pivot
and to the bottom of this channel screwed an old offcut of wooden window beading that is angled on top face (maybe 30deg).
Collectively this arrangement allowed the coils to be tilted, raising the HT end by 30/35mm to help with loom clearance
For now this is all cable tied in place, and I will look at a proper bracket later.
Note: The piece of wood is partially covered in pale blue house paint and while I am yet to confirm if this specific colour is performance enhancing, I suspect it will be.
Both threaded rods have earth wires as the overall coil mounting is not metal\metal
These are attached to one of the original coil mounting studs, along with the high current earth wire from each coil;
No idea if the stud is an ideal earth point but a whole 150 km later it seems to be doing the business.
Results
You can’t really see much with the bonnet shut, but there will eventually be some remedial work on mounting and I will replace the coil boots with 90 deg options when I can.
Car had completed 29,000 km on original coils, 1 or 2 had very light signs of spotting on removal but no obvious dielectric breakdown.
I did hit them with 1000v mega and while that’s no guarantee for HT, the results suggested no major deterioration.
There were no flashing lights\error codes previously and while I have no a/b comparison I do not believe I was experiencing any ignition issues.
Has dyno-lardo noticed a difference?
The lower rev range (where us newbies often let the fire go out) seems less susceptible to stalling – no idea if this is real or perceived.
I don’t see the improved starting that some folks mention – but I believe the original coils\leads were actually a-ok and I don’t think I had a starting issue previously - I have only owned the car for 3,500km.
I do think the vehicle is more responsive, but that piece of stick does have some mighty fine blue paint on it - so we should be expecting some major improvements somewhere right?
The back window\speaker mesh rattle is still there and I am still carrying a number of extra KG’s, so no miracle cure for either of these.
All in all It seems to have been worth the angst that went into that first wire cut and I am pleased with the results,
the wife is not displeased so it’s a win/win situation.
Things to note
It is very important that you remember to rehydrate constantly throughout the process, not to panic or think too much about the consequences if it goes wrong.
The biggest issue I had was finding a crimp tool that properly crimped the small ‘bare’ auto connectors – if you cannot get one don’t proceed.
Even being careful, I broke 1 pin while inserting it – If you cannot afford down time make sure you buy spare connector and pins.
In hind sight maybe I could have taken pictures, but at time my focus was entirely on not cocking this up.
Last and most important
This is intentionally not a step by step DIY (although I do hope it’s informative), very expensive things could probably happen if you try this and get it wrong.
If in any doubt buy a kit - you and your RX8 deserve the best.
I saved a few bucks, but there were moments of terror – maybe that’s really why I had to try it.
Tony
02-23-2014, 06:29 PM
#5
Registered
Thread Starter
Charles,
Thanks for the CEL heads-up – much reduces the chance of my needing to change my shorts when\if it happens.
Ken-x8
My actual costs would be misleading, as most of the components and tools I already had (or had access to).
My biggest savings were in freight and taxes as the coils and connectors arrived in NZ via someone visiting the US
They had a little suitcase space and a little duty free capacity spare, so shipping and tax costs 0 USD
- A kit shipped to NZ would have cost +200 USD in freight and NZ customs duties\fees.
Brettus,
So what I’m hearing is that when the wife’s driving causes this CEL to occur;
a quick trip north, a little Brettus mapping magic and as long as she doesn’t drive again we are good to go
Thanks for the CEL heads-up – much reduces the chance of my needing to change my shorts when\if it happens.
Ken-x8
My actual costs would be misleading, as most of the components and tools I already had (or had access to).
My biggest savings were in freight and taxes as the coils and connectors arrived in NZ via someone visiting the US
They had a little suitcase space and a little duty free capacity spare, so shipping and tax costs 0 USD
- A kit shipped to NZ would have cost +200 USD in freight and NZ customs duties\fees.
Brettus,
So what I’m hearing is that when the wife’s driving causes this CEL to occur;
a quick trip north, a little Brettus mapping magic and as long as she doesn’t drive again we are good to go
02-23-2014, 10:52 PM
#6
Registered
Sounds like an entertaining project. With the work involved, though, it sounds like Ray earns his money building his system.
I've gotten the impression that this change, either home-brew or with the BHR system, causes a CEL that needs to be dealt with. Is that correct? Or have I misread something among the friendly banter?
Ken
I've gotten the impression that this change, either home-brew or with the BHR system, causes a CEL that needs to be dealt with. Is that correct? Or have I misread something among the friendly banter?
Ken
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