RX-8 Ignition COILS Testing and Inspection Procedure

[RX-8888]

Attached is a Genuine Mazda US Technical Service Bulletin on the Procedures to Inspect, TEST and Replace your Ignition Coils on 04-07 RX-8\'s.

Although the appearance of "white" markings on the back of the black plastic Coils may indicate that your coils are burnt out, but, this is not necessarily the case.

[clive]

Thank you for the info that is as you know a very old Mazda bulletin however on the ground experience rather than "Mazda speak" is now proving that vast amounts of malfunctioning coils are being replaced and RX-8\'s are getting a new lease of life because of replacement, indeed some are now viewing coils as an expendable service item and that replacement as a precaution is far far cheaper that potential engine failure,

Indeed I had a guy with 130,000 miles on the phone the other day who despite no problems was going to give his car a "coil birthday" to ensure his cars continued health.

When you lift the coils off and see the white spots that correspond to the burn mark on the base plate this is a clear indication of the coil finding "another" earth rather than all the charge being directed to the spark plug where full charge is required to burn the air/fuel mixture correctly.

When this lack of spark power is evident at the spark plug, we now know the petrol wash that results from this washes the oil away from the chamber leading to rapid wear and loss of compression plus in many cases a burnt out collapsed cat due to neat fuel being held in the cat.

Flip side of all this is that personally I have never know an FD coil fail and whist I am not saying they haven\'t, the amount of coils being replaced by Mazda dealers after the correct testing shows that at least many of the early pre 2008 coils are having problems, unfortunately the upgraded coil has not been around long enough yet to prove if this problem has been cured.

On a personal level and obviously a huge promotor of the Mazda Rotary it really pains me to print the information above,  http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZSYYYYYYYYGB%2526i%253D36%252F36%255F1%255F10%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank">http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_10.gif" alt="SmileyCentral.com" border="0">http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D36%252F36_1_10%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif">

[RX-8888]

Yes Clive, and we know the amount of so called failed engines being renewed in the early days when it was the coils causing poor starting/performance, sometimes the HT leads, and then on occasions the spark plugs....not an actual engine defect problem.

The RX-8 coil part numbers went from..
N3H1-18-100 2004-2006 (approx)
to
N3H1-18-100A 2006-2007 (approx)
to
The latest...
N3H1-18-100B 2008 on-wards (including 2009 RX-8\'s and R3\'s).

The N3H1-18-100B are the ones to use if you are replacing your coils, they will fit all years.

From what I have been told the outer black plastic insulator has different properties to prevent any shorting. Heat also being an issue, some guys have made heat sinks for under their coil packs.

Clive, what do suggest is the maximum life or use of these coils, like your example some owners are replacing "coil birthday" at around 35-40,000 miles, what do you think.

Ash

[clive]

Hi Ash,

There seems to be no set mileage tolerance with some failing at around 20K and others like I said still fine at 130K +

I have also been asked the question, "what are the symptoms"

Sadly there seems to be no set symptom with some still starting O/K but just going slower,some not starting and some with out and out misfires!

The classic one so far was a guy with husband and wife 230 cars who after reading one of my posts swapped just the coils from one car to the other as he had realised his wifes car was quicker,

Result was he made his quicker and his wifes slower!

[AshRX]

Clive, do you still have the uprated coils and leads in stock?

[marcusd666]

The coils on my wife\'s RX8 have just been changed at pip\'s for some uprated one the standard mazda ones were shot the 8 has covered only 37k miles. You can really tell the difference she never had a misfire just loss of power (well nearly all of it) and taking longer to start. All normal again now

[m4drx]

ive had first hand experience of what clive is saying through a friends car at 28k.

the car was treated to a new set of coils, leads, plugs, 02 sensor and decat from //www.Mazdarotaryparts.com and is going strong. this poor running after a failed coil pack killed the cat as it glowed red hot until it died.

all in all this is more fact than clives opinion or "one offs etc".

[Ady Jones]

Thought I would had some pics of the coils with white spots these are from a 21k 2004 motor.