Single Blown New Kazama Auto Ignition Coil - R34 GTT

[GoHashiriya]

Hi all, after some code guessing last week I purchased some new Kazama Auto ignition coils (red ones). After installation, and driving about 30kms, the car developed a misfire.

Last night I identified it as coil number one. I unplugged each coil to find the faulty bugger only to realise I could do the check with Nisdatascan.

First time round I didnt apply any dielectric grease. So, last night I went ahead and applied the grease to see if it would rectify the issue; this is when I found the boot on one of the coil packs appeared to be disfigured at the tip, probably from heat-damage (see pic).   

I then went ahead and dropped in one of the old coils which appeared to rectify the issue, at least for the five mins I ran the car for after.

Now, I'm looking to return the coil pack and preferably get a single replacement for the dud, but it would help if I could explain why this may have happened? I've bought cheap coils before that have been dead on arrival but wouldn't expect this from a name brand - despite they're probably less-than-OEM quality. 

The engine and ECU is stock - there is no third-party wiring apart from for the AT-MT swap. I checked the harness in the wheel arch for damage - as the car is low and running larger wheels - it's visually intact. The ignition coil harness appeared to have been replaced by the previous owner. I replaced the plugs this time round.

Just FYI: the coils didn't need replacing in the first place, after getting intermittent error codes which seemed to clear once they disappeared from the dash, I guessed it may have been the ignition coils. Actually, it was code 17, for the TCS motor to which I've got another on the way now.

[GTSBoy]

You broke the first rule of buying RB coils.

The first rule: Thou shalt not buy other than OEM or Splitfire.

The first rule has now been superceded by the new rule, which is;

The new rule: Why would you put original form factor coils into an RB when you can buy kits containing modern pencil coils (Yaris, Audi, VQ, R35, etc) for reasonably sensible money and enjoy umpteen times better spark output? Not to mention that should a pencil coil die, a new one is often only ~$50.

[GoHashiriya]

On 9/14/2021 at 1:14 PM, GTSBoy said:

You broke the first rule of buying RB coils.

The first rule: Thou shalt not buy other than OEM or Splitfire.

The first rule has now been superceded by the new rule, which is;

The new rule: Why would you put original form factor coils into an RB when you can buy kits containing modern pencil coils (Yaris, Audi, VQ, R35, etc) for reasonably sensible money and enjoy umpteen times better spark output? Not to mention that should a pencil coil die, a new one is often only ~$50.

Hahaha, noted. I was unfortunately way too uninformed to do this. Not to mention the rule of 'if it aint broke don't fix it'.

But in light of my mistake, and you having heaps of experience with these cars, would you be able to share any info that may help my case?

[GTSBoy]

Yes, rainbow coils are a lottery and should be avoided. You need to buy 2 sets so that you can swap them out. Usually one or 2 of the first set will be dead out of the box. Then you'll lose others at random intervals.

Ignore all the people who usually chime in at this point in these threads with "But I put in yellow coils 5 years ago and they've been fine", or "My red ones have been great". They got lucky. They are at the far right hand end of those coils' bell curve. Your typical owner of such coils is closer to the middle of the bell curve, and that is well to the left of the bell curve of OEMs & Splitfires. There have been so very many threads about dead OOB and short life expectancy rainbow coils for it not to be true.

[GoHashiriya]

On 9/14/2021 at 1:57 PM, GTSBoy said:

Yes, rainbow coils are a lottery and should be avoided. You need to buy 2 sets so that you can swap them out. Usually one or 2 of the first set will be dead out of the box. Then you'll lose others at random intervals.

Ignore all the people who usually chime in at this point in these threads with "But I put in yellow coils 5 years ago and they've been fine", or "My red ones have been great". They got lucky. They are at the far right hand end of those coils' bell curve. Your typical owner of such coils is closer to the middle of the bell curve, and that is well to the left of the bell curve of OEMs & Splitfires. There have been so very many threads about dead OOB and short life expectancy rainbow coils for it not to be true.

Thanks GTSboy appreciate the detail a lot. I understand it's a lottery with these, although, I was under the impression with them being endorsed by Kazama Auto they'd be better. A mechanic friend of mine enlightened me by saying "you know those are Chinese too, right?"

It seems like I would be best off returning the set and whacking the generic Hanshin back in.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

It's red... lol....

Black or blue, that's it.. no other colour. 

[GTSBoy]

On 9/14/2021 at 4:05 PM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Black or blue, that's it.. no other colour. 

Got to be careful. The are blue rainbow coils out there now too. And dud black ones. That's why I try to be as specific as I can.

[niZmO_Man]

Yeah remember the fake OEM ones on eBay a few years ago?

Yellow Jack equipped car owner here, they were cheap quick fix for my dying OEM coils, car runs okay but I can hear the ignition start to break down on hot days/under heavy load hahaha. I'll look at changing them once the standard ceramic turbos come off.

[joshuaho96]

On 9/13/2021 at 10:31 PM, GoHashiriya said:

Thanks GTSboy appreciate the detail a lot. I understand it's a lottery with these, although, I was under the impression with them being endorsed by Kazama Auto they'd be better. A mechanic friend of mine enlightened me by saying "you know those are Chinese too, right?"

It seems like I would be best off returning the set and whacking the generic Hanshin back in.

I looked up the price of OEM coils and the prices are nuts if you can't find some special pricing. You can get R35 Hitachi coils from Rockauto in the US for like 60 USD each. As far as I can tell they don't really have a counterfeit part problem either.

Edited September 15, 2021 by joshuaho96

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

On 14/09/2021 at 6:21 PM, niZmO_Man said:

Yellow Jack equipped car owner here

have they started to deform and go black where the epoxy area is?

 

[GTSBoy]

On 9/15/2021 at 9:59 AM, joshuaho96 said:

As far as I can tell they don't really have a counterfeit part problem either.

Probably wouldn't matter if they did anyway. Pencil coil tech is so much newer/better that a bodgy counterfeit is probably good enough. At least they'd be copying something that you only have to get 80% right to be able to run an RB, whereas if you're trying to fake an old RB coil, you have to get it all the way to OEM/Splitfire quality to do the job.

[GoHashiriya]

On 9/15/2021 at 9:29 AM, joshuaho96 said:

I looked up the price of OEM coils and the prices are nuts if you can't find some special pricing. You can get R35 Hitachi coils from Rockauto in the US for like 60 USD each. As far as I can tell they don't really have a counterfeit part problem either.

On 9/15/2021 at 11:30 AM, GTSBoy said:

Probably wouldn't matter if they did anyway. Pencil coil tech is so much newer/better that a bodgy counterfeit is probably good enough. At least they'd be copying something that you only have to get 80% right to be able to run an RB, whereas if you're trying to fake an old RB coil, you have to get it all the way to OEM/Splitfire quality to do the job.

Appreciate this. I should've researched more tbh, as this seems like a better route. I was a sucker for them being sold by Kazama Auto, a fairly reputable company over in Japan. The company are replacing them under warranty; they have one set left, so presumably, if the next batch fail I can get a refund.

The Kazama Auto coils have pretty good reviews on the Japanese sites, although most seem to describe what is essentially placebo. There's quite a few 1JZs running them as far as i could see.

They mentioned in my returns email it's not advisable to run 5x Kazama "high intensity coils" plus 1x other brand, although in my experience, mix and match coils hasn't been a problem.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Or get the replacement coil / coil set and sell it.

Buy R35 coil kit - call it a day!

[GoHashiriya]

On 9/15/2021 at 4:40 PM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Or get the replacement coil / coil set and sell it.

Buy R35 coil kit - call it a day!

Good call, and normally that would be an easy option, say, if I were still in the UK. Selling to the Japanese in Japan (as a foreigner) carries it's own problems. I'll have to give this a bit more thought when I receive the replacements.

[niZmO_Man]

On 15/09/2021 at 11:11 AM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

have they started to deform and go black where the epoxy area is?

 

Haven't looked, but will document what I find when I eventually touch the car.