£100 Bosch Ignition Coil or £250 Flame Thrower Kit?
Discussion
Hi All
My V8S is misfiring. A topic covered many times on here. Parked on my drive (ie, no load), or on the road under heavy acceleration, I get to 4k rpm and dramatic loss of power, popping and shaking (bit like my NHS Pacemaker when I try to run too fast, lol)
Working through the standard things - distributor cap and rotor arm look brand new, courtesy of the previous owner, as do the HT leads. The coil, however, looks like its been sat at the bottom of the sea for the last 20 years.
I'll double check the resistance (1.5ohms or 3ohms???) when I take it out.
The big question is this - do I simply replace the coil like-for-like, or (as my Westfield brother suggested), upgrade with a "Flame Thrower" coil + ignition kit: https://www.aldonauto.co.uk/ignition/ignitor-ii/ig...
Any experience of the Flame Thrower kits?
All thoughts (on coils) appreciated
Cheers
Ian
My V8S is misfiring. A topic covered many times on here. Parked on my drive (ie, no load), or on the road under heavy acceleration, I get to 4k rpm and dramatic loss of power, popping and shaking (bit like my NHS Pacemaker when I try to run too fast, lol)
Working through the standard things - distributor cap and rotor arm look brand new, courtesy of the previous owner, as do the HT leads. The coil, however, looks like its been sat at the bottom of the sea for the last 20 years.
I'll double check the resistance (1.5ohms or 3ohms???) when I take it out.
The big question is this - do I simply replace the coil like-for-like, or (as my Westfield brother suggested), upgrade with a "Flame Thrower" coil + ignition kit: https://www.aldonauto.co.uk/ignition/ignitor-ii/ig...
Any experience of the Flame Thrower kits?
All thoughts (on coils) appreciated
Cheers
Ian
You certainly don't need a "Flame Thrower" kit!
This will do the job ignition coil
Or if you want Bosch
This will do the job ignition coil
Or if you want Bosch
Edited by phillpot on Friday 25th June 10:01
As Phillpot says, just a standard coil will do perfectly well. Another cause of this type of problem is the ignition module overheating. This is mounted on the distributor and can get very hot and over time this component can become faulty.
So if replacing the coil doesn't fix the problem have a think about replacing the ignition module. Because the coil is fixed to the top of the engine this unit gets very hot which doesn't help.
You can solve both issues by mounting the coil and the ignition module remotely. I did a post on this a few years back but can't find it at the moment.
So if replacing the coil doesn't fix the problem have a think about replacing the ignition module. Because the coil is fixed to the top of the engine this unit gets very hot which doesn't help.
You can solve both issues by mounting the coil and the ignition module remotely. I did a post on this a few years back but can't find it at the moment.
As above .. you don't want anything fancy .. also if you fit a bosch coil you might trade your 4k misfire for a 5k misfire !
just fit the cheapo coil linked to above. Or better still borrow a coil to test if that's the issue. My advice these days is don't fit anything new unless your original is definitely faulty .. often the new replacement is worse than what you've taken off ...
just fit the cheapo coil linked to above. Or better still borrow a coil to test if that's the issue. My advice these days is don't fit anything new unless your original is definitely faulty .. often the new replacement is worse than what you've taken off ...
Hi Ian
I upgraded to a full electronic ignition kit from “Powerspark” in “Bromsgrove” a few years back, it has been faultless since installation.
Only issue I vaguely remember was with the drive dog for the oil pump, check you get the correct one for the 3.9/4.0 l engine.
It was a while ago but I think the total cost was around £150 for the full kit including new electronic distributor, leads & coil.
They are very helpful so give them a call for the best solution. (no affiliation, just a satisfied customer)
https://simonbbc.com/Powerspark-lucas-35d-electron...
Andy
I upgraded to a full electronic ignition kit from “Powerspark” in “Bromsgrove” a few years back, it has been faultless since installation.
Only issue I vaguely remember was with the drive dog for the oil pump, check you get the correct one for the 3.9/4.0 l engine.
It was a while ago but I think the total cost was around £150 for the full kit including new electronic distributor, leads & coil.
They are very helpful so give them a call for the best solution. (no affiliation, just a satisfied customer)
https://simonbbc.com/Powerspark-lucas-35d-electron...
Andy
It sounds like it's relatively insensitive to load, so this doesn't suggest a weak HT component problem.
Since you have a replaced dizzy, you could check the dwell is correct. Since the problem can be reproduced while parked, you should be able to check the spark strength and timing as you approach the rpm where you see the problem, and see what's changing. I've seen dizzies where the mechanical advance was too big for the rotor arm and it started splitting sparks between multiple cylinders, which doesn't stop the engine dead but makes it run like a pig. A new coil won't help with that. So I think a spark strength tester, dwell meter and good timing light should be your first steps.
Since you have a replaced dizzy, you could check the dwell is correct. Since the problem can be reproduced while parked, you should be able to check the spark strength and timing as you approach the rpm where you see the problem, and see what's changing. I've seen dizzies where the mechanical advance was too big for the rotor arm and it started splitting sparks between multiple cylinders, which doesn't stop the engine dead but makes it run like a pig. A new coil won't help with that. So I think a spark strength tester, dwell meter and good timing light should be your first steps.
phillpot said:
You certainly don't need a "Flame Thrower" kit!
This will do the job ignition coil
Or if you want Bosch
Would this be the same coil for a 2.8 V6 S1????This will do the job ignition coil
Or if you want Bosch
Edited by phillpot on Friday 25th June 10:01
88S1 said:
Would this be the same coil for a 2.8 V6 S1????
I don't think so, the 2.8 Cologne uses a ballast resistor ignition circuit which requires a lower voltage coil which only gets full battery voltage when the engine is cranking.I suspect a coil from the 2.9 Cologne would work on the Rover V8
bicycleRepairMan said:
.......Working through the standard things - distributor cap and rotor arm look brand new, courtesy of the previous owner, as do the HT leads. ..........
Just another thought; did the previous owner give you the old parts? If he did put them back on and see what happens. The new parts may be "new" but if they are nasty Chinese pattern parts they might be the cause of the problem. Track down NOS OEM parts when you can. Also check the HT leads aren't touching the exhaust manifolds anywhere. I once spent a good couple of hours looking for an intermittent misfire only to find the rearmost lead on the nearside bank had a small burnt spot caused by occasionally touching the manifold.
All fixed now - revs to the redline no problems. The problem, well school boy error on my part 
My brief diagnostics suggested it was the coil, not fuel, and not an individual spark plug. I was almost right - it was the HT lead from the coil, not the coil.
How did I miss it and end up canvassing you guys for your opinions on coils? During diagnostics, I never actually removed the HT leads - I thought it sufficient to "wiggle" the cables and check they felt "sound". I also thought I was being good by only grabbing the leads by their boots (never pull a cable directly, always use its boot/connector!). Then i discovered somebody had already pulled the coil lead by the cable, so although the boot was firmly attached to the coil, inside the boot, the actual cable was loose.
Thanks for the suggestions,
Ian
My brief diagnostics suggested it was the coil, not fuel, and not an individual spark plug. I was almost right - it was the HT lead from the coil, not the coil.
How did I miss it and end up canvassing you guys for your opinions on coils? During diagnostics, I never actually removed the HT leads - I thought it sufficient to "wiggle" the cables and check they felt "sound". I also thought I was being good by only grabbing the leads by their boots (never pull a cable directly, always use its boot/connector!). Then i discovered somebody had already pulled the coil lead by the cable, so although the boot was firmly attached to the coil, inside the boot, the actual cable was loose.
Thanks for the suggestions,
Ian
phillpot said:
88S1 said:
Ok. I’ll do some more digging. Thanks
Are you after a coil for a 2.8 or were you looking to use a coil from a 2.8 on a V8?From my "little black book" this is the coil for the Ford Cologne 2.8 engine, but check, don't take my word for it
Intermotor Ignition Coil 11400
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