I know this is the computer chip forum , but I got the coils from Mike and wanted to give my impressions.

They Rock!!! My idle used to be a little loopy, even after a new IAC and TPS (although not as bad). It would fluctuate beween 600-700. After installing the new coils, it fires up STRONG and idles right at 750 with hardly any fluctuation. Throttle response seems better as well.

If anyone has the 4.6 with the twin coil packs, I would definately recommend this upgrade. Especially if you have some miles on your truck. (Mine had 78K) I had done new plugs and wires in October. If you are planning on doing plugs and wires, spend the extra $135 and get these at the same time. I ordered on Thursday and on my doorstep Monday.

Thanks again Mike and Anita!!,

John

 

Hi John,

Thanks for your post, and for your appreciation of the forum topic as well, that's *very* considerate of you!

It never hurts to hear that ignition upgrades work and work well, the hotter the ignition is the more power you get from everything else you've done (to a certain extent).

By the time you have 30K miles, and certainly by the time you have 50K and more miles, the difference our ignition upgrade packages & parts will make can be surprising, and even moreso on the 1997-1999 4.6 motors. And as you pointed out, this also helps idle quality.

We generally see some mileage improvement as well if the vehicle owner consistently tracks their mileage, which is always nice in these big heavy trucks.

Thanks for your post John, & glad to hear you're enjoying your new high performance coil packs!

 

what available for the 5.4?

i have a 97 with 120,000 and have had to replace 2 in the last month. I also have a 2001 with 40,000 that i have a vortech for but havent had time to install it yet. i am thinking of putting better ones on the 01 and using the old one on the 97?

 

Hi BrotherDave,

The 5.4's all have het COP system (coil-on-plug), so they don't have conventional spark plug wires, of course.

The only thing currently available for the COP system is a coil output booster (Plasma Booster) from Ignition Solutions, and we do carry it. It connects to each coil pack's coil switching wire & increases the output. I'm running it on our Lightning, for example, where it's allowed us to open the gap up to .040 (normally high-boost L's have to close up to anywhere from .035 to as tight of .028).

There are also higher output individual coil packs, but that's a much more expensive way to go, and you also have to alter the fuel rails as the hotter coil packs are about a half-inch too high.

The Plasma Booster gives a few more horsepower for the COP systems, primarily from being able to run a little bit more gap.

Give us a shout for the details on that device.

 

I saw some Accel coils on jegs. They look like performance replacements to the dual coils on my 98 4.6L. I was wondering if it would be possible to combine the following three:

Accel dual performance coils (stock upgrade)
Jacobs DIS
Superchips microtuner.

I would like to get as much as i can through Mike, but i would like to know if i can use the microtuner with these upgrades.

Thank you very much!

- Rick -

 

Hi Rick,

We carry a complete igniton upgrade package including the Accel coil packs you're talking about, & you don't need to spend the money on Jacobs to get your ignition system really cranking, thjere are more cost-effective ways to do that & get all the same benefits and more.

Many people with 1997-1999 4.6 F-150's have come to us for our ignition upgrade packages, give us a call & we can go over all of that with you in detail.

And yes, the ignition upgrades can be used with the Micro Tuner for the F-150, that's not a problem. We've done the R&D to make sure that our high-performance ignition setup does not cause a need for any changes to the Superchips tuning (timing, A/F ratios, etc. will all be fine).

Give us a call when you get a chance & we can map out for you a much hotter ignition in the most cost-effective manner, you might be surprised at what you can do without spending the money for a Jacob's system on that truck.

 

Just my .02 cents on the ignition issue.

Multi spark units are exactly that, regardless of brand name. The Plasma Booster may sound high tech, however, in application it is no more than a multi spark box using the stock coils in COP applications.

The COP demands for fitting of the coils create expensive coils. Rather than pay money for 8 coils, the output can be increased through the use of a box.

The same can be done with conventional coils, or the coil packs. Though conventioal coils are much cheaper due to the number, they will still reap the same benefits of a multi spark box.

 

How much hp and tq could i gain with both the micro tuner and the complete ignition upgrade? My truck has 99k miles on it, and i hear that the older the engine, the more difference it will make.

Thanks again!

- Rick -

 

Hi Signmaster,

We've been all over that & tested it out to see just what's what.
There isn't a significant *additional* gain in the typical normally-aspirated 1997-1999 4.6 F-150 application by installing a CD multi-spark box ***above what we already gain once we've got our ignition upgrade package installed (hotter coil packs, low-resistance plug wires & the Denso plugs).***

The gains available above & beyond what we already gain with that ignition upgrade package, which run about 2-4 HP in the typical 1997-1999 4.6 F-150 in normally aspirated trim, certainly aren't worth another $300-$400. At least, not for the average guy, though some racers may feel differently.

We have to remember the application at hand, which is the typical daily driver/occasional tow vehicle F-150, and that is basically a lower rpm & low cylinder pressure application by and large. Thus the inductive-style ignition does a pretty darned good job in that environment *if* the right components are selected. I'm the first to agree that multi-spark is nice to have, as is the capacitive discharge as compared to inductive type of ignition, but in terms of additional power gains on top of our ignition upgrade package in the 1997-1999 4.6 F-150 (which is not COP) application, they just aren't significant enough to warrant the expense in our experience. I kinda wish they were, as it's something else we could happily recommend & sell, and it doesn't take the place of our current upgrade package.

Now once you go with a blower, or spray nitrous, and/or port the heads, stick a nice set of cams and springs in there & crank up the operating rpm range, that changes things quite a bit and sure, then the CD multi-spark can start to be a worthwhile additional upgrade. In that case, I'd pay the additional money for the CD multi-spark on top of upgrading the coil packs, plug wires & plugs, as in that kind of configuration/application you can sometimes see as much as another 8-10 HP in a best-case scenario over top of what we already gain with our setup in that particular application.

Now in the COP ignition F-150's (which are all 5.4's and the 2000 & up 4.6's) it's an entirely different story; there are no conventional plug wires, and there are separate coil packs for each individual cylinder, and is simply nothing else available & surrently shipping to improve their performance, the Ignition Solutions products are it. MSD still hasn't been able to make their Stacker 8 units work in any quantity to be able to deliver them with anything remotely resembling consistency, despite them continuing to advertise it and claim they are shipping, nobody can get a supply of them. At one point, we were in such need of better ignition outoput from the COP's especially in forced-induction applications that we were having to wire in a *pair* of DIS-4's to help the COP ignitions in some of our customer's high-boost F-150's, Lightnings & Harleys. While that gets some very nice gains & can support much higher cylinder pressures at decent plug gaps, it's *very* expensive & just not a viable solution in general, given the cost and the amount of work involved. Not counting any labor, it's a $700-$800 upgrade including the tach adapters.

So currently for the COP's we use the Plasma Booster (silly name), which is the single box to drive all 8 coil packs as opposed to the hotter individual replacement coil packs (called Plasma Direct). It's obvious to anyone who has ever priced any of these components that the single box is going to be far less expensive than replacing all 8 coil packs with the Plasma Direct units, that's a no-brainer. I pointed out specifically in my earlier post that the single Booster box is the cost-effective way to do that as opposed to buying 8 hotter coil packs. Not only is there the tremendous difference in price making the use of the single device to "drive" all 8 coils packs generally preferable, but there is also the fitment issue. The factory fuel rails will interfere with the Ignition Solutions COP coil packs due to the increased height of their coil packs, they are about a half-inch taller than stock.

Just FYI in general.......................

 

Hi Rick,

I can give you a rough range as an estimate, sure. The exact power gains will vary based on the condition of your vehicle & the components being replaced, as well as other basic factors such as your elevation and fuel quality (octane *and* energy content).

Assuming we're replacing original ignition components, our igniton upgrade and the Micro Tuner should give you anywhere from a low of about 30 HP to perhaps as much as 40+ HP over what it's currently making. You may get lucky & pick up a little bit more even, you just don't know for sure unless and until you do good before & after testing, but that's a rough ballpark estimate.

The bottom line is you'll definitely feel the difference, and you'll also probably see some nice mpg gains as well once the novelty of new high-performance parts wears off & driving returns to a mroe normal pace (assuming it does), especially on the highway.