Coil-On-Plugs

[k80rum]

Out of curiosity, is the general trend towards CoPs on the newer engines beneficial enough to justify migrating from a single coil.

 

Emerald K3 supports them, so it's technically possible to switch a Duratec by getting some from a Ford/Mazda/Volvo

 

Negative points must be

*if* one fails, you're a bit stuck. That said, a tintop would be in the same boat and they tend to do many more miles, so the current Ford ones must be quite reliable.

 

Revising the loom, which becomes a bit more convoluted/new connectors are needed.

 

So what are the upsides? More controlled, stronger spark? any benefit to emissions or power?

 

Not something I'm necessarily considering, just interested to understand

 

Darren E

 

K80 RUM Website and Emerald maps library

[ruff seven]

Darran, stick with the single x 4. much more reliable than singles

[k80rum]

That's what I keep coming back to. A single coil works. Whatever the slight benefits (and I'm assuming they are slight), it's going to be much easier to find a new single coil pack than a CoP, should the worst ever happen..

 

Darren E

 

K80 RUM Website and Emerald maps library

[guilleracing]

I may be wrong but I believe the coil on plug set up is related to RF interference. The HT signal travelling down the down the HT lead is a big RF source. The other side of this could be related to mechanics safety, you can't get a boot off of a coil on plug set up.

 

Personally I think there is little benefit/ relating to cost for us mere mortals of coil on plug set ups.

 

If you have something that will set fire to the mixture reliably that is good enough.

 

In the past I have run basic points based systems with a single coil that were so powerfull that they would have set fire to a bucket of cold water at twenty paces!

 

Just a personal opinion.

 

Greg.

[OliverSedlacek]

Distributor caps and rotor arms are a significant cause of unreliability, so anything that eliminates high tension components is a good thing. These days the cost of the coil driving electronics has fallen to the point where it's cheaper than then mechanics, and a lot easier to package.

 

An interesting compromise is the wasted spark setup, which gives you nearly all the benefits of COP without a lot of the complexities. It's standard on EU3 K series engines.

[Mick Day]

Oliver

 

Your 1st paragraph is only true if designing/building an engine from scratch. The minor maintenance of a distributor cap/rotor arm is small beer in the scheme of things.

 

However if building a new engine & your ECU supports wasted spark.......

[oilyhands]

Elimnating moving parts and wear/erosion points and exposed HT leads is of benefit, the shorter and more sheltered the HT system, the lower the leakage of current. This is of particular benefit in sevens where the bonnet vents allow water ingress to the top fo the engine, the later EU3 variants have entirely sheltered HT components and consequently the incidence of mositure related misfires is much lower.

 

Oily