Ignition coil upgrade

[NotGTR]

Hi all. Think I am having issues with the ignition system on my R34 GT-T. It has Splitfire coils but I am pretty sure I am having ignition breakdown on one of them once the boost goes past 14-15psi. I had the exact same problem in my old R33 and that was later tracked down to the factory ignition coils. Car drives really good and even on partial throttle it will pull quite well but as soon as the boost starts to climb, the engine note changes and the power drops off massively with almost jerking hesitation. It will still rev out (I only went up to 5K) but you can tell it just hated it. 

I inspected the ignition coils and two of them look to be much newer looking than the other four. Just cleaner looking and the blue colour is much brighter. I am pretty sure someone has been in here before and maybe changed a couple of failed coils. Spark plugs all looked pretty much the same. Couldn't see any difference there.

For the guys with tuning experience, would I be ok getting the R35 ignition coil kit and just fitting it in there. I don't want to mess about with the Splitfire ones any more. Could I drive it like that without adjusting dwell settings? If that isn't a good idea could I at least drive it to a tuner with R35 coils fitted? I have bigger plans for the car down the line but currently it is tuned for just under 300kw on e85 with GT3071R pushing 20psi. I want 400kw down the track so an engine rebuild and turbo upgrade will be in the pipeline. I just want the car to run to its full potential for the moment.

Sorry for the long post guys but just wanted to give as much info as possible so that you can give me the right advice. Thanks for any help.

[BK]

On 08/07/2021 at 9:27 PM, NotGTR said:

would I be ok getting the R35 ignition coil kit and just fitting it in there. I don't want to mess about with the Splitfire ones any more. Could I drive it like that without adjusting dwell settings

Yes, not a problem. The dwell time for standard RB coilpacks is lower (shorter charge time) than what the R35 coilpack saturation point is. This just means if you leave it at stock dwell you're not getting the full energy potential from the R35 coilpack. Even so, the R35 coils at stock RB dwell times still massively outperform the stock or Splitfire RB coilpacks anyway.

Just get them and whack 'em in, money well spent 👍

[NotGTR]

On 08/07/2021 at 10:57 PM, BK said:

Yes, not a problem. The dwell time for standard RB coilpacks is lower (shorter charge time) than what the R35 coilpack saturation point is. This just means if you leave it at stock dwell you're not getting the full energy potential from the R35 coilpack. Even so, the R35 coils at stock RB dwell times still massively outperform the stock or Splitfire RB coilpacks anyway.

Just get them and whack 'em in, money well spent 👍

You're an absolute legend. Thanks bud. Dusting off the old credit card right now.

[joshuaho96]

You might be able to find those coils for cheaper by searching for Hitachi IGC0079, in the US RockAuto sells those coilpacks for 55 USD/73 AUD each. Not sure how to make sure you're getting a genuine coil though, there are counterfeits everywhere for these parts.

[BK]

On 09/07/2021 at 7:36 AM, joshuaho96 said:

You might be able to find those coils for cheaper by searching for Hitachi IGC0079, in the US RockAuto sells those coilpacks for 55 USD/73 AUD each. Not sure how to make sure you're getting a genuine coil though, there are counterfeits everywhere for these parts.

Its not hard, you buy from reputable resellers in Australia like Golebys, Just Jap or Kudos Motorsport. You could even order the coils direct from Nissan if really really worried and purchase the mounting / wiring separately.

The coils aren't the expensive part, it's only about half the price of the kits as the billet brackets and wiring harness make up the other half.

[NotGTR]

On 09/07/2021 at 8:48 AM, BK said:

Its not hard, you buy from reputable resellers in Australia like Golebys, Just Jap or Kudos Motorsport. You could even order the coils direct from Nissan if really really worried and purchase the mounting / wiring separately.

The coils aren't the expensive part, it's only about half the price of the kits as the billet brackets and wiring harness make up the other half.

What about Godzilla Motorsports kit? They seem to be a fair bit cheaper than others. They also sell genuine R35 coils or they have an option of their own "high output" coils which they reckon output more energy than the OEM R35 coils. Even if that is the case the long term reliability would be worrying me. They want $900 for the genuine kit but which is fair whack cheaper than PRP kit from Golbey's. Which would you go with? It's only a money saving if it's just as good. If not then I much rather buy the PRP kit and be done with it. 

[BK]

On 09/07/2021 at 12:06 PM, NotGTR said:

What about Godzilla Motorsports kit? They seem to be a fair bit cheaper than others. They also sell genuine R35 coils or they have an option of their own "high output" coils which they reckon output more energy than the OEM R35 coils. Even if that is the case the long term reliability would be worrying me. They want $900 for the genuine kit but which is fair whack cheaper than PRP kit from Golbey's. Which would you go with? It's only a money saving if it's just as good. If not then I much rather buy the PRP kit and be done with it. 

Yep the were the first ones I seen selling them. I have the Godzilla motorsport kit on my blue 32 with the genuine unmodified Nissan coilpacks as I wanted the genuine coils. Full kit was about $1200 from memory for coilpacks, billet bracket and wiring harness.

[NotGTR]

On 09/07/2021 at 12:43 PM, BK said:

Yep the were the first ones I seen selling them. I have the Godzilla motorsport kit on my blue 32 with the genuine unmodified Nissan coilpacks as I wanted the genuine coils. Full kit was about $1200 from memory for coilpacks, billet bracket and wiring harness.

Damn.......they have the genuine kit on special at the moment for $900. I should jump on that. My understanding is that the R34 Neo engine the R35 coils are direct plug in. No loom needed. Is that right?

Thanks man. You've been a huge help.

[BK]

Yeah it's cheaper because you don't need the $250 - $300 coilpack loom on R34

[shortyboy]

I just did the R35 coil pack conversion with Hitachi coils. Now I'm getting TCS, slip and cel lights on. Car runs great and better than before on factory coil packs. Has anyone else ran into this issue? 

[GTSBoy]

What car? What ECU?

[shortyboy]

On 4/18/2024 at 10:30 PM, GTSBoy said:

What car? What ECU?

R34 GTT and stock ECU. I have a link ECU waiting to be installed.

[GTSBoy]

I understand that the R34 ECU can be sensitive to what is going on wrt the coilpacks/loom. You'd be well advised to put a Consult reader onto the diagnostic port and read the codes. The one(s) in the ECU will be the ones most likely to tell you what's going on. The TCS light will be a secondary effect.

[shortyboy]

Will do thank you 

[joshuaho96]

On 4/18/2024 at 11:47 PM, shortyboy said:

I just did the R35 coil pack conversion with Hitachi coils. Now I'm getting TCS, slip and cel lights on. Car runs great and better than before on factory coil packs. Has anyone else ran into this issue? 

Pull the codes. I have seen a code 21 for primary ignition circuit fault on these conversions for some reason, I'm not sure exactly how the ECU decides this either. 

[uchoa]

On 02/05/2024 at 10:23 PM, shortyboy said:

Will do thank you 

Over an year later, I'd like to ask what as your solution in this. Did you keep the R35 coils with the stock ECU? Or slapped the Link in and tossed the 90s chip in the bin?

[shortyboy]

On 13/06/2025 at 10:36 AM, uchoa said:

Over an year later, I'd like to ask what as your solution in this. Did you keep the R35 coils with the stock ECU? Or slapped the Link in and tossed the 90s chip in the bin?

I installed my link ecu shortly after. But car ran fine with stock ecu and r35 coils, just had the traction control and slip lights on.