ign. coil

[five0guy]

i hate to sound stupid, but what is the best ignition coil to buy? i bought one from carquest just thinking my old one had went bad, and the new one is doing the same thing. thanks for the help.

[Ieatcamaros]

I like the blaster 2 from msd. What is your car doing? If you are having ignition trouble and you replaced the coil, then it most likely isn't the coil. Need more info to diagnose what is going on.

[tireburner163]

I like the MSD coil too.



-Josh, aka the tireburner

[five0guy]

"Ieatcamaros"
Well to be honest, im not much of a mechanic, thats why i said this may be stupid . But anyway my car is a straight shift, and its losing juice at around 4500 rpm. It puts you in mind of a rev limiter on an automatic. Does this help you any? thanks again and i appreciate the help.

[Ieatcamaros]

Is that going by the stock tachometer? Even if it is, that isn't close to the rev limiter. Someone correct me but I think the limiter is like 5200. When was the last tune up done? I.E. spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor. If it were me, I would check the ignition timing the very first thing. Then go from there. The stock setting is 10*. I would bump it up to 14*. You said you weren't much of a mechanic so I assume you don't have a timing light. You can take it to any auto repair shop and they can check the timing. It takes less than 10 minutes and, IMHO, they shouldn't charge you anything. BTW, if it is cutting out at that high rpms, it very well may be a fuel issue. What you are describing as cutting out could be different than what I am thinking of. Namely things are fuel pressure regulator, dirty injectors, weak fuel pump, and the aforementioned things. Hope this helps.

[crazypete]

I second the tuneup (plugs, wires, cap,rotor). Everytime I've had a car with a higher rpm miss, it always turned out to be basic tuneup items.

For fuel issues: get a load of fuel injector cleaner and dump like 2-3 bottles into a single tank near empty then fill it up 2/3 to full. It MAY run a bit worse while the crap is loosened from the fuel system but then it will run like a champ. Then get the wicked cheap $1.50 cleaner and use one in each tank for a month or two. as a maintenece dose.

I found higher timing to be detrimental to detonation issues and made my car run a little lopey at high load. You should do all the tuneup stuff first THEN, when it's running well already, set the timing to 14 degrees for power (or even 16 or 18, whatever allows you to escape detonation. I got mine up to 20 degrees before the carb swap). Get a timing light. They're like 40 bucks and it lets you play around with the timing yourself over and over again without going to a shop. Just latch the magnet to the passenger side forwardmost plugwire with the engine running and point the light down at the balancer across from the smogpump. There will be a little arrow. You'll need to smear some chalk on the balancer to see the timing marks most likely. Then loosen the distributor bolt at the base of the distributor and rotate it while staring at the marks. Thats how you set the timing.

I've HEARD that some ATF in the oilpan clears up detonation and misses because ATF has detergents that clean out the engine from inside. Dont do that until someone seconds me on this though. Or be safe and get an official product in a can of engine flush, do an oilchange and then use that engine sealer additive.

Have fun!

[five0guy]

i'll go with a tune-up first. it has been quite a while. by the rev limiter i was just trying to describe how it felt. with work i havent really been able to do much with my car lately. Alot, well a whole lot of overtime has had me covered for a while. i appreciate all your help, ya'll are lifesavers. ill give it a tune up this weekend and let ya'll know the results. and again, i really appreciate it.

[88fivepointoh]

Here is your answer, TFI module.. they go flaky and bad quite often. also make sure you have a good engine ground. I went though 12 tfi's and 7 distributors till i found out my engine ground was corroded. yea, non winter car with 55K no rain either. common problem.. what i would do, get a ground cable, bolt it to the distributor hold down nut, then go to the battery get new stuff and BAM.. all set with better than before response. the stators in the distributor go bad due to the grounding and kill the TFI in the process. TFI's have a high side and low side to them. sounds like your high side is gone. sounds like alot but trust me its your issue.. let me know if you need more help.. Good luck!

[five0guy]

i appreciate that 88fivepointoh, im gonna work on it sunday, and along with what you said im gonna take the other guys advice too and tune it up, because it has been quite a while. so the engine ground is a common problem? i guess thats just a bad setup from the factory then huh. well ill try it and let you know how it comes out, i sure appreciate it.

[88fivepointoh]

not a problem at all buddy. The grouding issue is a common problem.. alot ot guys chase down codes, drivability problems, all sorts of stuff and spend tons of money on a simple ground issue that is overlooked. a veteran dealer tech gave me this info and man after so much money and like i said a dozen tfi's and distibutors, it was the ground. after the ground upgrade, the throttle response was awsome. better than new. but remeber you can get the TFI's tested at autozone, but unless there engine running hot temp they might not fail, so i would just get a bew one. cheap inscurence if anything, cause they go often and then your stuck on the road, also chances are if that was your issue, the stator ( pick up coil )is burned out from the ground issue. to change the stator you have to tear out the distributor. easier to get a replacement for like 30 bucks. but let me know how it works out. i am curious to see if its the same issue.

[88fivepointoh]

Any luck this weekend?