Coil Pack Problem solved
 

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:

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 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.

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

LOL
Dude!
You knead a knew keybroad! :D

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