Vn Series 2 Coilpacks In Rb20det

[Quigga]

Task - Installing VN external coilpacks to replace the standard RB20det ones

Why - Mainly because its cheaper than buying new/ aftermarket ones. The VN coilpacks also fire 2 cylinders at the same time one to fire a piston and one fires on the exhaust stroke (wasted spark) which helps reduce emmisions without sacrificing power. The VN coilpacks will also produce a spark for a longer time (so im told)

How much - in total after making the bracket and all it cost me $210aus with buying the coilpacks from a holden dealer (u will pick up second had ones MUCH cheaper but risking a failure)

Whats needed - VN coilpacks x 3, Sparkplug leads (get lengths to suit where ur coils will be muonted) Heat Shrink, Electrical Tape, spade plugs crimp (please ensure the right size to fit the coil plugs), corrigated split tube (not essential)

Tools - Pliers, Hex Keys, Screw Driver, spanners/sockets, crimping tool, multimeter silicone(gasket goo or similar). [ Drill, hacksaw, files ] only needed for bracket

WHAT TO DO?

Firstly you will start with undoing the decorative cover in the middle of the block which is undone by some hex keys and a few bolts on the ignighter itself.

Then unplug the whole coilpack loom so its completely out like this

Unbolt the RB coipacks at the brackets so that the whole brackets come out like this

This is how the standard coilpack is set up,

This is wat we want to achieve for each coilpack,

Heres a pic of wat the VN coil looks like

Before making any cuts to the loom its self study it, note the black loop which is also included in cylinder 1 (this is for timing lights) and the earth wire ring, both the timing wire and ground are black, the rest are all colored, pink being the main color, when looking at the seven pin-plug with the locking clip towards you right to left is Ground, cylinder 6, cylinder 5, cylinder 4, cylinder 3, cylinder 2, cylinder 1. cylinder 1 is also connected to the timing wire. You will notice that, coming out of the three pin-plug is a slightly larger white wire this is the power wire to power the coil.

Get a mulitmeter and put one probe on the 7 pin plug end and then probe out each wire and mark it with(use some white tape and a nikko) and work out which cable ends where.

Take apart the whole loom so that u will have no more tape or corrigated tubeing then u will have a big group of wires then arrage all the pink wires together, all the white wires together, all the black wires together, u can cut out 3 of the white wires (only need 3 powers not 6 with the RB setup) same goes with ground but DO NOT CUT OUT black Cylinder 1 cable which is black. It should end up somthing like this,

Then u need to crimp the spade plugs onto the ends of the cables and shrink wrap over the top and these are the ends u should have 3 sets of this

cyl A&B, Power, Ground (power and ground can be in any order as long as each of the 3 coils have one of each)

The cyls are joined in the order of

1 goes with 6

2 goes with 5

3 goes with 4

(cyl 1 is closest to the front of the car and it works back)

Just test the loom with a multimeter to make sure this is achieved correctly

Now u have to make up your bracket to mount the coilpacks onto i went with a kinda difficult setup but its very solid and easy to replace/change parts, and makes it neater. This is how mines is set up

Mount ur bracket on the car, join up the new coilpack loom the the ignighter and power plug and put the spade lugs cyl a&b power into either left or right in each coil doesnt matter as it will work either way and wired should look somthing like this.

Once thats done time to plug the sparkleads onto the cylinders remember to hook them up to the same as how each coil is done so it should be 1&6 on coil 1, 2&5 coil2, 3&4 coil3.

NOW your ready to test it and WALLA if uve done it right ull have ur Rb20DET running with VN series 2 coilpacks, If it runs then use the silicone to seal ur plugs from water and also to help them stay in.

heres mine on and finnished

Problems you might faced and how to fix them,

Spade plugs not staying in? Go shopping and take ur coil with u there are plugs that FIT perfectly in width and length (they should click when deep enough in) then use silicone to keep them in tight and sealed

Not running on all cylinders? check all plugs are in properly

WONT START? make sure everythign is grounded where it should be ESPECIALLY UR IGNIGHTER

Running very rough? make sure u have correct clys wired together and also right leads to the right coils

Thanks guys and good luck HAPPY MODDING!

QUIGGA

Props to

http://www.dsd.co.nz/coils.htm (for the ideas)

Mr foster and Frosty for a big help and tools

[Justlikemusic]

Im going to have to modify standard spades it seems because they dont fit.... tried wedging them in good too any wont go.

So looking at the coilpack this way up....

(IMAGE1 - Coilpack)

This is how it's wired?

IMAGE2 (PAINT ONE)

On the MSD site they say you don't have to ground the coilpack... it will be grounded to the body via metal mounting brackets on mine, I assume this will be sufficient.

[Justlikemusic]

Well I wired the coils and grounded them like you have in the pic. It's all fitted and it runs!

Runs like crap but it starts at least... im sure the issue is with the spade connectors into the bottom of one of the coils. They sorta have to be jammed up in there and held in place while the glue sets. Needed a break, going to go at it again... will get pics up at work tomorrow.

Would resetting the ECU be a good idea while doing this also?

Also would running a relay from the main + terminal in the engine bay give the coils more power? Using the white wire to trigger the relay on? I assue this is just an accessories wire? (no multimeter on me here at the moment)

And in regard to an RB25DET/R33 setup:

The RB25DET/R33 setup has a two pin connector (Positive and Black/Pink wire) which connects to coil pack #6 and I6 coilpack trigger outlet on the loom.

The only grounds in the setup were the three grounds from the coilpacks to the body - perhaps I will run these to a better ground also.

I grounded the ignitor to the head where the standard coilpack loom grounded.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Justlikemusic

[yumcha33]

Did this on my RB20DET. Except I used 02 VT coilpacks and 10.5mm HD eagle leads.

Is awesome!

So easy to change spark plugs, better spark and will last way longer!

[sinnerstar]

Thanks for the props and its no longer dsd.co.nz, its dsd32.wordpress.com

[yumcha33]

I used VT commodore coilpacks with my setup. There much newer!

Works a dream!

[are bee's]

Hey guys, highly considering this for my 32, or a very similar one using S1 AU Falcon coils, just wondering about spark strength and how they perform under boost at high revs?

[mad082]

pretty sure there are a few higher powered cars running this. spark strength shouldn't be much different to stock coils, and if your coils are breaking down then they would have stronger spark.

[zebra]

I had this setup

my advise is dont waste your time

I went back to stock used coils and the car ran better in everyway

ECU's designed for coil on plug dot not like wasted spark setups.

It would work ok if the ECU you had could be setup for it, but as is the dwell time is halved so you get half the spark if using a PFC/Nistune/Stock Ecu

Quick edit - Ok that sounded kinda harsh..didnt mean it to...Im just sharing my expirence

as Marc said there are quite a few big power cars using a wasted spark setup, but they all have ECU's that can run it

[are bee's]

Yeah I'm running a Nistune ECU, not sure how much power, but I think just for the peace of mind I'll have to look into Splitfire's or Yellow Jackets.

Thanks for the honest opinion.

[yumcha33]

I disagree. I've been running this on my car for a few months, been out drifting and driving around like usual. Pulls harder and has smoother rev drops... In saying that I also installed new CAS and fuel filter at the same time I did this.

The best thing is you can change spark plugs in two seconds!

What it looks like with VT coils and HD Eagle Leads.

Bit of a bitch to wire... I still reckon it has better spark and combustion.

[zebra]

Is that compared to 20year old standard coils or new coils though...I bet you had the original coils in the car before you swapped.

[are bee's]

Is that compared to the stock coils because being 20 years old getting a better spark on something half that age wouldn't surprise me,

however if your comparing to aftermarkets then please elaborate.

[mad082]

well considering that aftermarket ones don't perform that much better than new stock ones i don't really think it matters what he compares them to. as long as they work without any misfires then it is fair enough to say that they are a worthwile adaption at a fraction of the cost of direct fit coils.

i always wanted to have a crack at seeing if it was possible to get them to work with the commodore ignitor (instead of the skyline one) but never got around to it. reason being that the skyline ignitors are getting on a bit and if you could use the commodore ignitor it might make it easier to adapt to series 2 r33's and r34's.

[yumcha33]

This is compared to some R33S1 from a car with about 60,000km's. Aftermarket ones are not better, there just as good as the original RB ones from the Nissan factory. Which are about $1,000... not worth it.

VT commodore coilpacks are much newer and have a strong spark!

This is way cheaper then aftermarket and it is sooo easy to change spark plugs after track days...