Well i wouldn't sound as somebody willing to twist the finger in the cut but having hot starting problems before and after a coil change might also be a low compression engine.

Anyway i did many tests and my car starts fine when warm or after i used it for a while (or i just charged my battery :D ), if i don't drive it for a week or so it is very slow to start (up to 4 seconds).
I have a 4 years old battery and some extra energy drain (prosport gauges) so i blame it on the battery.
I am anyway keeping in touch with Charles for this matters for i think that he trusts me enough to do some tests. My battery goes as low as 10volts while starting so i really think this is the issue.
I'll keep you all updated if i don't solve the problem with a new battery
Moreover, i'm still on the original starter but i don't think it to be the problem, it should always start slow, not only under certain circumstances.
I really hope this helps.

 

It could very well be low compression. I flipped 152K miles last week! If a new starter can keep me going for a while longer I will take that option until I can replace the motor.

 

Eheh, 152000 miles could very well be a sign of low compression then! The fact is that when i tell somebody here that his engine is going south they start either insulting me or mazda

 

Hey Kane, I think Autozone will test ignition coils for you for free.

 

Are all the users having issues boosted? Or are people seeing issues NA as well?

I just hit 75k and I know I'm due for plugs and coils at this point and I was looking at these as an alternative to wasting my money on stock coils.
I guess I should compression check my motor as well..

 

Some of the boosted people need to check their tuning calibrations. MM has usewd these under EXTREME conditions boosted, up to 14 psi, with NO issues. I've been using them on my car with ta 75 shot of Nitrous. NO ISSUES.
There is 150 plus sets of these runing around out there right now. And only a couple of people are having trouble.
It's turning out to be a variety of issues, other than the coils. Some people are having hard starting when hot due to weak batteries. Some people are damaging the plug wires. Some people are pinching the electrical harness wires during installation. Some people have had bad ground locations.
It's funny how anything that goes wrong suddenly gets blamed on the coils.
Any issues we have had with the coils have been rectified .And they have been simple easily fixed issues.

 

Not a bad idea to check it anyway since the warranty is up in 5k.

Do you have the upgraded or remanned starter? The start issue is mainly NA but I'm sure some of the people with the issue are FI.

 

This is a critical part of the troubleshooting process. If any of you are using the MazdaManiac FI base configuration understand that it's simply designed for data logging purposes but in some cases it will produce overly lean or overly rich conditions.

If you're seeing air/fuel above 12.2:1 then chances are your issues are related to detonation and not misfires. There is a very big difference between the two.

If anyone has questions you can always contact me if Charles or Easy are not online.

 

My 2 cents:

Before installing BHR Ignition, I was misfiring all the time, specially a low RPM. Car was very hard to start, needed 4-5 cranks, specially when hot.

1-First, I upgraded the starter (as TSB) and changed sparks
Engine started better the first week, then came back the way it was before.
2-I then upgraded the battery and installed a Redtop35
Still no difference, crappy start.
3-Installed BHR coils+new sparks
VROUM VROUM!!! My engine sound like an electric space shuttle, if you don't mind the comparaison. Definitly the way it should be.

Idle is OK, but vibration are not gone though I even installed the updated engine mounts (latest TSB release in february). So I'm a bit disappointed about that, but I"m not sure if it's related to BHR Ignition.

Conclusion : New Starter + New Battery + BHR Ingition + New Sparks = Winning receipe (regardless of the installation order).

I will post a before/after video to prove it =)

PS: though I followed a DIY and the instructions that came with the kit, I would have liked more detailed instruction on how to remove the air box etc... though it wasn't hard at all. Im a newbie.

Thanks BHR

 

Well, considering my 8 is the daily drive car, I'm glad people are finding the issues before I get around to doing this stuff, lol.
My optima red has 8 months on it since the stock battery pretty much flat died at 66k (it was actually my 3rd stock battery).
The car is exhibiting the same behavior as the last time the coils were changed at 34k. Occasional long starts, weak in the low RPMs. The plugs were last changed around 52k so I know they're due anyway.


I do have the upgraded starter, yes. They changed that when they did the coils. I haven't done a whole lot to this car since it's my DD, but it's paid for and I'll probably buy a new DD so I can start messing around.. That said, I feel odd modifying a car at 75k miles, lol.

 

I really doubt it is the tuning because I have been having problems with the ignition due to bad install first and then something else that I have not figured out yet. I will be taking it off tomorrow and going back to stock coils to see if this fixes anything and if it does im sending it back to charles to check up on it.

 

I am not running overly rich or overly lean as I was seeing ~10.5 in the AFRs when I had the missfire.

 

So, I'm confused.

If you indeed saw 12.6 air/fuel that could produce a lean enough situation to cause detonation with a turbo even more so if it's near your torque peak. It might have been 10.5 air/fuel and then a lean spike occured.

I'm not saying that's the cause, but I wouldn't rule it out until you're able to get a custom performance calibration from MazdaManiac. I just wanted to ensure people are looking into that element as well.

 

I saw that after the misffire when I let go of the accel, I will check the datalog since I was datalogging and see if I see a spike at 7k or when I released the pedal

oh and I do have a custom calibration, yes its not done yet for optimal performance but it is a custom calibration

 

Ah ok, I was under the impression you were using one of MazdaManiac's base configs for datalogging.

Please review the logs and let me know if you see any lean spikes.

 

Um Hello?
You do know that after a ROOM fuse clear, or a battery removal you need to wait for the ECU to learn, stop, restart the car before getting on it?
Wait a day, drive sane for at least 20 miles, then jump on it.

Yes, I can clear the ROOM, go jump down on it and mis-fire.
The ECU must learn the car again after battery removal.

 

The only thing that the room fuse will clear are short and long term fuel trims which only come into play when the car is in closed loop. Since all the tuning that is done via the accessport is done in open loop any detonation from a lean condition won't necessarily be prevented by the car adjusting fuel trims.

The reason you want to drive the car through at least 3 drive cycles is to determine if your maf needs further calibration.

If alienRX8 has a legit lean spike in his tune it might account for the detonation he's experiencing. If not, then there might be something else gong on.

I just want to rule out all other variables. Since every RX8 is modded different, driven different and cared for different it makes internet troubleshooting tough.

 

I think I may have either a bad wire or a bad coil because I noticed last night I was having a horribly rich idle at ~12.4 and normally I have an idle of ~14.8, opened the hood checked the wires and the harness with my hands and pressed tight on everything and then it idled perfectly after that. So yeah I think I will be sending it your way for inspection. Hopefully we can clear this issue up and I know you will :D

 

Ok man, thanks!

 

Kane.............This might help??? It's for the OEM coils. I would think that at least the last page would be of some use.


http://www.finishlineperformance.com...16-07-1793.pdf


Or as Bastage pointed out...........think Autozone can test them for ya.

 

I have a theory that perhaps the engine temps are destroying the coils performance. From my experience I noticed that the misfires kept getting worse. At first when I installed them, no misfires, and I wasn't fully tuned yet. Then when I was getting them at only 5psi while properly tuned, I knew something was up. Switching back to OEM cured the problem and unleashed some performance I was missing.

I could be wrong, but just thought I would throw that in there.

 

yeah I have noticed that when they are hot they will misfire more, maybe the plate is making them too hot? idk

 

I don't think it's the plate, but the coils perhaps not being able to dissipate the heat well enough

 

I disagree with this . I think i'll do some testing to prove it one way or the other ...

 

I thought one of the things that made these coils so good is their built in heat sinks, which should allow them to last longer than stock. But, aside from that, any electrical part is subject to defects or failure.