another coil pack?

[grandscape]

My wife's '99 NB is demonstrating all the signs of a bad coil pack again. (Flashing CEL, bad misfire) The coil pack and converter were replaced about 4 years/20k miles ago, along w/plugs and wires. (76K current milage) Is there a basic design flaw of the coil packs that has never been addressed? Any aftermarket alternative that betters the OEM?

On a related note, Mazmart has the OEM coils for about $100 less than most resources, dealer or otherwise. (about $215 shipped) Good price/trusted vendor?

Thanks for any advice you might offer.

[POS Racing]

Heck my wife's 2002 ate a coil pack this year as well so not so sure it is a design flaw or just just sub-par Japanese parts.

I thought Mazmart only sold used parts?? They sell new now??

[grandscape]

POS,

So, your wife's car had a coil pack replacement in the past? You've replaced more than one?

I know that the '99's, in particular, have a coil pack "issue". Disappointing to think they didn't correct the problem in their replacement part, or in subsequent model years. (I think the design of your '02 is different than the '99..)

Yes, Mazmart has new parts in addition to used.

[POS Racing]

I had a '99 for a few years and it never gave me a minute of trouble.

Our 2002 has had a few ignition related issues over the past couple of years & Yes the '02 runs a COP setup that is different than what they used in '99-'00.

The '02 has about 75,000 miles on it currently garage kept (Work & Home) and driven like a bat outta hell by my lovely wife.

These are 10+ year old cars they aren't going to run forever.

[goofygrin]

My 00 went through a coil pack in the 6 months I owned it. Replace it quick because it'll kill your cat by dumping fuel.

Do you have california emissions (precat and a cat). I recall reading that there's some heat related failure thats more likely on those.

Luckily they aren't that expensive from Nissan Mazda Heaven.

[grandscape]

POS, Yeah, I don't mind replacing worn out parts, but not getting more than 20,000 miles out of a replacement coil pack is discouraging.

GG, thankfully it's not a CA emissions car; no pre-cat. I hate to think that driving the car the 4 miles home through suburbia from where it began missing and threw the flashing CEL roasted the CAT, but understand that can happen.

[SirHustlerEsq]

AT $215 it's cheaper and more user-friendly to convert to Toyota COPS. I bought 8 for $40.

[grandscape]

mr brg, Now we're talkin'! That is just the kind of answer I was hoping for. Can you offer a bit more detail, or a link that would provide specifics on parts needed, installation procedures, etc? Thanks

[Rob®]

The problem with COPS is that you need a dwell reducer with the stock ECU. I had a hell of a time getting the PCB just two weeks ago. I had to buy a BDE assembled unit from someone that I happened to see selling it back in August and miraculously still had it, just to find out it was the first batch and doesn't work at all ($50 lost there). So now I have to compare the components on the unit I have in hand with the diagrams posted on the internet and order them to swap out. I even went straight to that Jason guy - he said he has a new design in mind, but $100 wasn't enough to even get a response after I offered to guinea pig and fund this new design if he needed to make more than one at the start.

The parts themselves to make a reducer isn't that much at all - think $30 shipped, if that. But it's trying to find the PCB and current info that is the pain. You can get a generic board and just lay it out yourself, which is what I was going to do if I couldn't find a complete unit, but then you have a decently large circuit board you need to box, seal, and hide in the engine bay. If you're OK with having to either deal with sourcing something that is nowhere to be found, good with a homemade larger-than-it-should-be box, getting some PCBs printed to make your life easier, or have some kind of magical connection, I do highly recommend the switch.

Or you need to pick up an ECU that allows you to adjust dwell. Which is now what I'm leaning towards. So my $70 COPS setup ($50 for the dwell reducer, $20 for the actual coils and new connectors/pins, plus whatever change in parts I need to get from Digikey.com to make the reducer work) is going to end up costing me $700+ and I can't drive the car until I either fix the bandaid solution or replace the LINK ECU entirely. I managed to get 200 miles out of my Toyota coils pussyfooting around on the street without a dwell reduction. I was only even on the wastegate since it was the first time the car was started after I replaced every last turbo bit on the car. You would probably get a bit more miles out of yours since your year has less stock dwell than mine to begin with. But I wouldn't plan on getting too far without reducing the dwell.

[grandscape]

Uh-oh. Ok, far more hassle than I'm looking for. Just want to get the girls back on the road for the least outlay possible. Thanks for the heads up.

[Rob®]

I don't mean to discourage you. Honestly, my car idled better than it ever has before (it was never overly terrible) in the brief time it was running with the COPS. For not being started in over a year, completely changing every single piece related to the turbo (intercooler, piping, manifold, yada yada yada), and starting it with the same settings that I had with all the old stuff, that speaks volumes. I increased plug gap by quite a bit and it ran like a champ..again just the 200 miles..then I had to limp home for like 20 miles on 3 cylinders sounding like a Subaru.

But do a quick Google search on "Toyota COPS." You shouldn't even need to put "Miata" in there anywhere. There are countless threads, and some are like 70+ pages long. But check it out, and come to your own conclusions. And for the record, making the COPS harness is about the easiest electrical wiring thing you could ever do, so that part shouldn't intimate you.