I was reading up on how the leads for the stock coil pack can rust/corrode (particularly #3)... so I decided to look at mine since it is 5 years old now, and found that some of my leads have this problem... more so #3. I have noticed that I feel my power drop off a little in higher RPMs sometimes and I think this might be the reason. Anyways... my question is should I try to lightly sand the corrosion off the leads or just go ahead and buy one of those pretty red MSDs? I'm not expecting anything great from the MSD cuz it has the same peak voltage of 36,000 as the stock coil pack. Thanks for any input

Rich

 

If you have to replace it just put a stock one on. They're cheap, and work great. There have been issues in the past with aftermarket coilpacks/plugwires causing misfires.

 

Yeah, but I think I've decided to go with the MSD now cuz it seems like the OEM leads have a problem with the corrosion issue, and the brass leads on the MSD do not corrode... and it's a pretty red color and that's like 5hp right there.

 

Have you tried using dielectric grease after you've removed the corrosion?

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...ct.do?pid=8196

Jeremy

 

I haven't removed the corrosion yet... I'm not sure if I want to take sandpaper to it or not. But I did put some of that on when I installed some new plug wires around 5000 miles ago.

 

They shouldn't corrode if installed properly with dielectric grease.

 

If this happens to me I would try the least aggressive sandpaper(then move up if corrosion still present) or steel wool to remove corrosion.

Good luck with the MSD or stock coil pack!

Jeremy

 

How about screamin deamon???? is it a better option than MSD??:confused:

 

I have been using a Screamin Demon Coil Pack the past four years with no problems. The stock coil puts outs 36,000 volts but the Screamin Demon is supposed to put out 40,000 volts.

 

When I installed some new wires around 5000 miles ago it already had a small amount of corrosion... the dielectric grease didn't stop it and I guess it just started to spread.

 

MSD coil and wires Good to go 8.70 @ 160mph

 

I've never used either. Based on the testing i've seen they don't make any more horsepower. I fail to see the point in upgrading them, unless it's purely for aesthetic purposes.

 

...Yeah. Aside from the fact that I have some moderate corrosion on mine; I just want the MSD cuz it's pretty and red

 

If you tried perhaps you may have a different onion

Back to back with the butt dyno just doing the driveway test in starting.
1)MSD
2)OEM
3)
4)

somewhere at the bottom Screamin Demon


Then do a high speed run

1) MSD
2) OEM

ops Screamin Demon seems to fall short on voltage and the rise time ??

Now here is the best one. In the dark of the night see which one glows or has spark jump

1) Screamin Demon
Heh this time SD wins.

There is a lot of coil information on how a coil works and the hyp of big voltage coils that fall short under a load.

If Matt DR O. can chime in and fill the tech...he types better then me.

As for the wires it is all about resistance and ability not to rob the electrical current to fire the plug. Again if you get through the HYP you may find out that upgrading wires has benefits over OEM.

 

The "corrosion" that most have described appears to me actually be electro-erosion, due to arcing at the connector., The black stuff is actually vaporized metal and metal oxides from the plating and the steel terminals. If it was chemical corrosion, the stuff would be whitish or rusty-looking.

I mention this because there will be at least as much black stuff inside the socket on the wire-connector, if you show symptoms of arcing on the coil terminal. This gunk is high-resistance, and can cause future arcing, so...

When you replace a coil that shows arcing, use some Deoxit and a q-tip and clean out the connectors on the wires, or buy new wires, or you will probably be replacing the coil again sometime in the near future.

I replaced my OEM coil with an MSD, which looks like it was made on the same machine as OEM, but has brass terminals, which are more costly and better conductors than the OEM plated steel connectors.

The result was a smoother-sounding engine from 6K to 7200 rpm. I don't know that it got any more power from the MSD coil, but removing the arcing residue clearly resulted in better high-rpm ignition.

 

I just noticed that there is a different partno for the coil used with a JCW upgrade. Anyone have a clue what that's all about?

 

do you know if you need new bolts or mods to install the sd coil?..i saw on alta they send you special bolts for the msd coil but i havent seen much on the sd?

 

Back on the how to clean up the terminals subject- Use scotchbrite. It won't take off a ton of material and will conform better to the shape of the terminal than sandpaper.

 

Since the coil pack has brass tips and the plug wires are SS, I am guessing that the
corrosion will return pretty much no matter what.

The MSD pak and THEIR wires would be a nice fix.

 

This.

 

MSD wires are way over priced for what you get. If you don't need anything fancy, 99% of us don't, Just use NGK. If you want good wires than it's Magnecor all the way.

$28 for NGK- http://lightningmotorsports.com/i-144997.aspx

$63 for Magnecor- http://lightningmotorsports.com/i-61866.aspx

 

The stock coil and wires are good to 400 HP. So says the man banned from this forum. MSD coils are known to cause spark issues. Just search the forum for threads on the topic. In addition to a Scotch Brite, you can use STP carb spray cleaner and a shop rag. The only thing worth upgrading is the plugs. I go with Brisk DOR14LGS plugs (DOR15LGS if you're stock).

 

I ran stock pack and stock wires for many miles. Constantly cleaning the terminals esp #3 is the sort of maintence I can do without....

The ran a set of Kingsborne wires ( come with stainless steel connectors ) and the stock coil pack ( brass tips ) for less than a year. The MINI began having drivability issues when putting load on the engine, stutter or misfire.

Upon examination of the coil pack and wires, I found that I had "Davey Jones' Locker" style of crusty corrosion esp on the #3 terminal.

So just replacing the wires may work for a bit, but long term not so good.

Never going back.......I'll stick with the MSD products.

 

I agree, Magnecor are the best.

 

I have a correction to make... it was the Screamin' Demon coil pack that had issues. I guess I've read so many reviews and posts, I'm getting lost anymore. As for wires, if I did buy an aftermarket set, I always preferred the Nology design.

When I comment on the coil/wires, my perspective is that the $$$ could go somewhere else, that it's not really needed. Unless you are at the point where you have money to burn and have done all the other mods you wanted up to that point.