shallowater

how long did the "bird" noise last at start up? did it goes away?

i am hearing noise when firing up cold, but it goes away in less than 10 seconds...

AdamK

The chirp only last a second at startup. It's the same sound you'd hear if the lug the engine. I <think> it's the rotary equivalent of a ping. A few pages back someone was wondering how an electrical issue with coils could cause a noise like that. I <think> it's just the product of a weak coil not firing one of your plugs at startup which causes an abnormal burn in the combustion chamber. It results in a longer start time and the 'chirp' sound. You also get the loss of power. On mine I also noticed more engine braking when taking my foot off the gas.

I replaced my coils with the BHR setup and it's like having a new car again! The engine just wants to go and there is less engine braking. The chirps is gone.

Of course when I took it to the dealer they couldn't reproduce the sound or find anything wrong with the car. They said the computer did indicate a few coil miss-fires, but that they had never heard of that causing any of these symptoms?!? They are IDIOTS! Lee Johnson Mazda in Kirkland, WA. They wanted nearly $750 to replace the 4 coils.

MX6_2_RX8

I thought this might be helpful for people that had questions about coil symptoms.
Before Replacement:
- Gas mileage had been dropping steadily. The car use to get 20-22MPG and it was to the point where 18 would be good. (this is over several years)
- Power seemed low at low RPMs but more normal at higher RPMs
- Car always started but kind of sputtered to a start
- The final straw, car started misfiring, check engine light on for 2nd rotar misfire, car would not run at high rpms.

At this point I had just replaced the spark plugs. I decided that if I was going to do all the work to test the coils that I might as well just replace them - good thing because THEY ALL TESTED GOOD per the IGNITION COIL INSPECTION TSB.
Measurements: A-B 1.6K ohms, B-C 310K Ohms, C-A Open Circuit. on all 4 coils.

After Replacement
- Misfire went away
- Power seems more normal
- Definitely starts better
- (can't comment on gas mileage yet since I haven't run thorough a full tank but I'll report back if anybody asks)

The dealer would have charged me $150ish to get to the coils, pull them, test them and then tell me that they were OK.

crave4speed

iTrader: (1)

Hi, ignition coils cost a small fortune over here and I want to help a friend so he doesn't go through the same ordeal as me (spending $650 on 4 coils, yes I'm an idiot). Saw some early posts that some guys mentioned that they could get oem coils as low as $100 for 4. Taking into consideration that that post was 3 years ago, they must cost more now.

Please recommend an online store with the cheapest OEM coils that will ship to Singapore (South East Asia). He drives the 6AT. Would that be the same coils as the 04-08 6MT? Thanks in advance.

MX6_2_RX8

I got mine here, about $150 US shipped 2nd day. You'll have to check for your own car and see if they ship to your area.
http://www.rockauto.com

I got these:
STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS Part # UF501
2004 MAZDA RX-8 1.3L 1308cc R2 FI : Ignition : Ignition Coil

crave4speed

iTrader: (1)

Just had a look at those. Are they genuine Mazda parts or compatible OEM manufacturer parts? Appears to be the latter. Any idea if the current facelifted auto rx8 uses the same coils as our older 2004-2008 models?

MX6_2_RX8

They are aftermarket parts. Given how much the genuine ones suck I don't think that's a bad thing.

crave4speed

iTrader: (1)

AdamK

Get the BHR coils! It'll cost you more, but you won't have to worry about your coils again....

Bluerenesis

I was getting ready to post on this subject. My car was taking about 3 seconds to crank over and I had a new starter replaced prior. It started in less than a sec for two weeks than the crank issue happened.
I got annoyed with the dealership, now thinking that I really didnt need a new starter so I took it to Maz-tech. They tuned my car and changed the spark plugs but said they couldnt fix the crank over time, saying it was an engine compression thing. A month later I was revving the engine up since I had to move it 10 feet and noticed at 6.5 on the rpms, it wouldnt stay at 6.5, it was as if it was acting like it was over the redline, the needle would drop and go back repeatly but when I revved higher, it went away. Very concerned and knowing I needed new rotors anyway, I took it back to Maz-tech. After scratching their heads for a day, they said that they found two ignition coils that were dead and one that was highly corroded. Now I do realize that I am taking their word for what parts were bad and to what extreme but after they replaced all of them, my car is just like when I bought it. It starts up right away and I feel my horsepower again. The great thing about the ignition coils, is that they are cheap.

IndianaRX

So is the general consensus that if you can't affor the BHR kit to just get OEM replacement coils?

raknaks

I'm a new owner of a Velocity Red. After about five hours on the road and driving into town to bring my baby home, I too experience this misfire syndrome. I have been on this forum for a few weeks prior to taking ownership so I had a feeling the coils could be an issue at 35k.

I would love to do the BHR set, I would not hesitate in doing this, BUT I am still under factory warranty 4yrs- 50k, Plus one more thing and my main question is …….

Given the warranty coverage by Mazda has been extended on the motor to 8 yrs 100k….Am I forced to keep the stock set up? Thoughts or experiences?

Cheers to a great forum and the people here.

redline86

iTrader: (7)

I would still get the HBR ignition set up, bought mine and can't wait to get them installed. The nice thing about BHR setup is that if your worried about taking your car into the dealership you should easily be able to put everything back to OEM. Their setup is supposed to be pretty much plug n play so if you gotta go to the dealer, just take it off and reinstall it when you get it back. I was lucky and got almost 40k out of my coils but when they started going bad they went bad real quick. I'll be damned if I keep dumping money on new coils every year. The cost would add up way over the BHR price in the long run.

AdamK

My dealer doesn't care that I have after market coils. I've still had work done under warranty.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

wait until you have to deal with engine warranty.

AdamK

I dunno. The service manager I was talking too seemed pretty excited to hear about the BHR coil kit and was saying he'd go to bat for me if the plug replacement went horribly wrong. I can't think of too many engine issues that they could even claim would be the result of after market coils??

SPHINX144

I just got CEL code P0300 which means there is a misfire. I was afraid this was the culprit of my car running sluggish at high rpms and now it seems to be confirmed.
I will order the BHR ignition system probably next week and see if that solves the problem.

AdamK

My dealer reported similar errors to me when I had the car in the shop. The funny thing was they told me my coils were questionable, but didn't think it had anything to do with the funny 'chirping' I heard when starting the car, or the loss of mid range power?!? Boy were they wrong! The BHR coils made a HUGE difference!!

hkspoweredrx8

iTrader: (1)

90k miles but we're discussing this now in a recent thread.

bluerx

I know its nearly been a year since last post,

but has any body got cheap prices for the coils i found them for $50 each i think the price are high due to japan earthquake. Please give link if anybody can get them cheaper

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...cat=338&page=2

http://onlinemazdaparts.com/partloca...layCatalogid=0

surgery

I got mine from Mazmart, $185 for all 4. I also did the plugs and wires at 55k and that fixed a rough idle issue.

Just a note on the coils. I had 65k miles on my original coils, and replacing them made a huge difference in driving performance and starting. I did have a CEL flash under a high RPM run before hand, and was experiencing hard/rough start, which began at about 62k miles.

Also, I was averaging around 23 mpg when I first bought the car, but over time, it dropped to 17-18. On new coils, it appears to be back up into the 21-23 range. I need to run a few more tanks through to be sure, though.

I definitely agree that you just get used to the car running like crap. I'll be doing the coils every 25-30k from now on.

myzon26

I replaced my coils, plugs and wires at 62k(as far as I could tell it had never been done) and I didn't really experience any change in performance at all. That is until I did the whole fuel maps odometer button reset(search and you will find it). I figured with that much new hardware it would be quicker to let the computer just learn from scratch. It kind of made me nervous because my first start after this the car started and promptly died but since then it's been running awesome. more torque and power through the entire rpm band. haven't checked mileage yet. speaking of mileage I was getting a pretty constant 15 mpg. didn't get rid of the chirping bird thing though.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

For the past 2 years, Mazda has been "jacking" the price of the coils up, compare to about 2 yrs ago the coil now cost double.

Assume you want to keep it stock (for me right now) you can buy Intermotor coils from AAP, same part number, same functionality, ZERO warranty issue, price at 1/2 of what Mazda charges. (with coupons, search), best of it is that it comes with LIFETIME warranty, change it every year JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT.

bluerx

Thanks guys,

I going to purchase of graphics & more through amazon http://www.amazon.com/Mazda-RX-8-Ign...sr=1-1-catcorr
. Mazmart have said they need a USA vin number and as im from New Zealand i can't get them, and my brother is coming back from the US in a few weeks so time is limited. I had decided to go BHR but i found out that I will get a CEL because I have a JDM and i cant 't live with that atm (To many people that don't know nothing bout cars are driving it).

Anyways thanks guys for ur help.

bluerx

@nycgps

Thanks for the info, i did some research and thinking to get it from aap half the price, i could only get 20% of the price so its sitting at $100 now and just relised that the amazon ones had the part number and A at the end so i assume that it would of been the ones before the new ones with B.