BHR kit installed, rough start
 

So, I had my BHR kit installed yesterday. I was at work so my wife drove the car home. She said it started kinda rough. Then I drove it to work, no issues. Got off work, it was 30 degrees F and it was kinda slow to start. Car is driving great, can totally tell a difference with the new coils. Stopped, filled up the tank, was slow to start. So, when I got home, I recorded it starting. Started pretty fine for this quick video. The slow start, it was maybe twice as long to start. Could it be an issue with the coils/plugs or is it compression? I'll probably take it in for a compression test just to make sure but until then, what do you guys think.

Did you unplug the battery when installing the coils? It's probably that your ecu is relearning the fuel trims. You could be dumping too much fuel on start-up. Give it some time to relearn.

You didn't say if it was slow to start before you installed the kit, which is important information.

The most common problems encountered when installing an ignition kit are:

1. Wires run from coils to wrong plugs
2. Wires not properly seated on coils and/or plugs
3. Plugs not properly torqued

You need to check all 3 of those to make sure the installation is good.

If your car has other problems, no ignition kit will solve them.

That's exactly what mine sounded like when the engine was on its way out due to a deteriorating water seal. Hopefully it's something completely different and easy to fix for you :)

Good call. The battery was unplugged for the install. Hopefully this is the issue. Started pretty quick when I left for work tonight. We'll see in the morning when it's 30 degrees again.
Not sure what you mean. I've owned the car for almost 2 years. I just upgraded the coils.
Sorry, it wasn't slow to start before the install. I'll check to make sure your list is good. If the plugs are mistorqued, won't it cause misfires?
Lord, I hope not. I'll rebuild the engine eventually but I'd rather not at this juncture.

He's the owner of BHR.
:)

Here's the start up this morning. Phone says it's 29F. After it started and I turned on the heater and defroster, it really smelled like gas.

So today it was 60F outside and it started instantly. I'm not sure if it's a cold issue or what. I did just put a Redtop Ultima battery in it a couple of weeks ago. I really hope it's not going to act funny this winter.

Also, the title wasn't meant to lead anyone to think that the BHR kit was the problem. They are freaking awesome. I know one of my old coils was going out. This fixed it and now my car is so much more responsive than it was. Love it!

Hot start issues are more often a sign of deteriorating engine. Cold start issues are more often a battery/electrical ground/wiring/ electrical short issue .

You need to adjust the startup coil dwell via an ECU reflash .
There is a guy on purely that can do it for you if you send your ECU to him .

Did you replace your plugs when you swapped out the coils? Also, did you make sure the connectors for the coils were plugged onto the correct coil? I would start there.

I would start on the 3 step check given above. Next, check your battery. Third, do you have an updated starter? If not, grab the upgraded S2 starter for your S1. I got mine new from AutoZone (make sure you get the upgraded S2 one from years 2007+).

The S2 is from 2009+. So if you are upgrading your starter, you want one from an S2.

I have installed a dozen BHR kits at least on NA S1 and S2 RX-8's and have never had to adjust the dwell table and they all started and ran fine.

A hard cold start can be a fuel pressure issue, I have a thread on it from when I went thru it, it was losing pressure in the line after shutdown and it would struggle on cold starts. It could just be a failing battery as well , 29F is pretty cold. You need to LOAD test the battery.

Lastly, check the spark to rule out the coils/wires as an issue.

You just need to troubleshoot the issue.

The car runs great. Just slow start when really cold. I have a new Ultima red top battery, so it's not my battery.

Question, if the coils were plugged in wrong or if they weren't firmly in place, wouldn't the car act funny when driving it too?

Hopefully the battery is good. My experience with Optima batteries has not been good. Expensive junk is an apt description.

If the wires are not routed correctly or seated properly, the engine can still run. It will run without the trailing plugs firing at all, for example.

Won't you get a CEL for that?

Not necessarily. I had one of my trailing coils die at under 10K miles. The car seemed to run fine and no CEL. When I installed the BHR kit, I realized it had not been running fine...

Yeah and I also went thru two Red Tops in two years before ditching it even though they did warranty them. Some of those sit for a long time before getting sold and AGM's don't like to be discharged at a lot.

Also, on my fuel pressure issue, I never smelled gas and once the line was primed, fuel pressure was good and the car ran fine. I only caught the fuel pressure issue at cold start up because I have a fuel pressure gauge.

And yeah the spark plug wires can be a bitch to push on, make sure you feel and hear that "click".