Turbo coil pack experiences?

[madbilly]

Hi all,

One of my coils has died. The engine runs really badly, no power. I checked the resistances between the HT terminals and it's 5.8kohm on one and several Mohm on the other, and wandering all over the shop. When I measured the resistances a few years ago both coils were ¬5.5kohm so I think the second is dead.

What experiences do folks have with the aftermarket options? I see on ebay there are options from Intermotor, Lemark, Cambiare and NGK, all about the same price and all have the same picture. There's also an "Auto Electrics UK" model which looks slightly different, similar to the Bougicord and Beru models I can get here in France. Or there are the apparently uprated MSD 8224 models, are they noticeably better? I assume they have to be fitted in pairs, so I would need 2x MSD ones vs 1x of the others.

FYI, I have discovered that having the coils under the header tank is actually a failsafe feature, not a silly idea. I think that the water leaked onto the coils caused a misfire. This caused me to stop and look under the bonnet and notice that the coolant system was no longer at its best...

Cheers all,
Will

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Unless you really want to pay more for a "red" coil, I would use a generic GM based coil. The most common part number is DR39 and can be found at Rock Auto.

Other part numbers: D555,D539,D540,D545,D576,C849,DR39,5C1058 -- Different manufacturers used different part numbers.

Lotus # A100E6579S but now obsolete.

These are very common GM coils from the late '80s thru the late '90s.

In the US, they cost less than $10.00 USD each before shipping.

Rock Auto no longer lets people in the US log into their UK site, so I can't see what their price is over there.

I still have a few NEW Ignition Control Modules available. See my post under NEW Parts.

viewtopic.php?f=129&t=23175#p314241

[tigerdog]

I have MSDs, they work OK but never had stock on the car. I can suggest, if you have the chance to buy yellow "Accel" coils, you should run as fast as you can away from them. Newly installed just before I bought my Elan, they lasted about 25 hours before one went belly-up.

[Artaban]

I bought these back in January as part of an overhaul of the ignition system (new coil packs, new ignition module from BritCarNut, HT leads and spark plugs) and the car runs really well and I've had no problems.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-NGK-Ignit ... SwBahVTQH5
Andy

[madbilly]

Thanks for the useful feedback everyone.

My engine is standard so I imagine there will no real benefit from the higher spec MSD coils until higher boosts are used (more boost = more fuel therefor need a bigger spark to make it all burn usefully?). Also they seem to have to be ordered from the USA, and I don't want to wait long before getting the car back on the road (and checking for other issues).

I haven't seem those yellow ACCEL ones in Europe, but I see on ebay they are available in the USA. Shame they're not recommended, they would match my seats well...

So I think I'll just get a standard one from NGK, Intermotor etc.

Cheers

[lotusflasherman]

I've got a spare OE twin coil pack on it's backplate and just checked it - HT windings 1 to 4, and 2 to 3 both show 5.5k Ohm. (5.8k till I squeezed the croc clips to get through the oxide layer).

Looked at those on ebay and saw alternative here .. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ignition-Coils-OPEL-MONTEREY-OMEGA-InterMotor-12835/252410206715 Bit cheaper and seems to have same Isuzu Part No but without the 'Lotus surcharge'..

[madbilly]

Thanks for checking the coil resistance Phil, that's a helpful confirmation. I can get that Intermotor coil for €37.75 inc delivery from Amazon here in France, so it's probably the one I'll go for... unless someone tells me they've tried Intermotor and they're terrible!

[Brit-Car-Nut]

The picture looks like the Standard Motor Products DR39. They make the ones with the ribbed "cross beam".

If you weren't in a hurry, I'd bring a couple new Ultra Power brand ones from Rock Auto with me when I fly over in October. They are only $9.35 each and work just fine.

The Standard Motor Products ones are $30.79 for their "Retail" version but $13.40 for their "T" version which means they aren't in a retail box, they are meant for the Service Trade and are the exact same part in a plain box.

[madbilly]

The Intermotor one on Amazon wasn't in stock. I waited for an update but didn't get one. I rechecked the options and worked out that I could get 2x DR39Ts shipped from the USA for the same price as one Intermotor one shipped from the UK, so it was a no brainer, especially when I realised that Intermotor is a brand of Standard Motor Products in Europe, so I assume it's the same part.

[steble]

one of mine has gone today!

this thread is very helpful, to discover the DR39 part number.

First place I checked was SJ sportscar and they want £283 ( i had a heart attack)

But after reading this thread I discovered that they are just trying to rip people off.

does anyone know what these ones are like?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Ultimate- ... SwnDZUEioN

[John_W]

Stebie,
I think that the SJ price you mention is for a complete set of coil packs, control module and backing plate, whereas your link is just to the coil pack. The coil pack is the cheap bit, so it's not just SJ inflating the price. You have to compare like with like.

If you need the control module/back plate, Rock Auto might be a bit cheaper than SJ, but you have to add carriage and import duty. Alternatively, Brit-Car-Nut might have one left over from some he found a year ago, as per his 4th Sept post above.

John

[Brit-Car-Nut]

If anyone needs the Ignition Control Module, I still have a few OEM GM units available for $70.00 + postage. I have had them listed in the NEW parts for sale section for several years.

viewtopic.php?f=129&t=23175&p=314241#p314241

[steble]

Stebie,
I think that the SJ price you mention is for a complete set of coil packs, control module and backing plate, whereas your link is just to the coil pack. The coil pack is the cheap bit, so it's not just SJ inflating the price. You have to compare like with like.

If you need the control module/back plate, Rock Auto might be a bit cheaper than SJ, but you have to add carriage and import duty. Alternatively, Brit-Car-Nut might have one left over from some he found a year ago, as per his 4th Sept post above.

John

Well I hope it is just a coil or two that i need. but will see once i get chance to dig in to it.

Its very annoying, it was about to come off the road for the winter!