# What coils and why?



## URSledgehammer (Oct 3, 2008)

I need to make a fairly quick move on a set of coils. I just started getting some symptoms of a bad coil. I am looking at EFI Express coils until I read on their own site that they have a 10% fail rate. 034 seems pricey and stock isn't the best option, the priciest of all.


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## JumboBlack1.8 (Sep 23, 2006)

Just bought an EFI express kit and I couldn't be happier. Mark is a great guy, and he's got a VERY good product. Not exactly sure how they compare to 034 (both are FAR more reliable than any 1.8T coil conversion kit), but you won't be disappointed


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## speedtek40 (Jul 8, 2005)

The apikol kit uses 2.0T coils now and anyone who has bought it seems happy.
I'm one of the guys who first found the ECU shutdown issue using the D585 kit from EFI express. They originally worked fine on my 96, but a different set on my 97 won't run over 10 pounds of boost without shutting off the ECU. Marc's kit is excellent and it would appear that only a small percentage of cars experience the problem. I can also attest that his customer service is exceptional. I'm not sure if he is back to selling complete kits just yet though.
We're still working on a fix and hopefully shielding the harness will eliminate the issue completely. (just waiting on a spare harness from Marc to hack up )


_Modified by speedtek40 at 10:31 PM 10-12-2009_


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## Chapel (Jun 23, 1999)

*FV-QR*

the 10% failure rate depends on chipset.
I have the EFI kit and I love it.
the 2.0T coils haven't been around long enough to make a good decision on their longterm reliability imo...
I had the 4.2 coils and those were SUPPOSED to be 'the fix'
not only did it fail, but it failed in such a spectacular fashion that NO ONE KNEW WHY THE CAR DIED AND WOULDN'T COME BACK TO LIFE!
had we not simply thrown a new coil in just to throw one in, I'd have sold the car not running at a huge loss for something stupid after less than a month of ownership


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## speedtek40 (Jul 8, 2005)

The failure rate has nothing to do with the chipset.
We've experienced it both with MTM and 034 chipsets. I believe there was one guy running a TAP chipset that had a problem as well, but I could be wrong on that.
Marc intially believed that it was MTM chipset related, however my MTM 1+ ran perfectly fine with his coil mod on my 96 S6. However, the exact same ECU and chipset died when installed in my 97 with the D585 coils 
(different set of coils....we've now been through 3. Currently experimenting with D514's)
Unfortunately, my 97 ECU with an 034 stage 1 chip also has the same issue.
2 ECU`s, 2 different chipsets, same problem on the 97.


_Modified by speedtek40 at 11:25 PM 10-14-2009_


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## skaterjay85 (Dec 29, 2004)

I'll be shortly trying the 2.0T coil upgrade myself. Not the most confident though after getting wind of a massive Audi/Volks recall coming up on coils from '01-'07. Hope the coils I got were from '08 ha ha.


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## Chapel (Jun 23, 1999)

*FV-QR*

oh, was this the problem Marc was having with his supplier of the D585 coils? I remember talking to him about that. It was a bad batch of coils from a 'new supplier' or something?
there is a chipset related issue he was running into as well. germantoy couldn't get his car to run with ANY D585 coils of Marc's and had to resort to using the 034EFI kit.


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## speedtek40 (Jul 8, 2005)

Same issue.....the supplier is part of the problem as the aftermarket knockoff coils seem to have the issue more than the OEM's. I'm not so sure if that is even the case as the OEM D514's are experiencing the same problem on my car. germantoy's issue is the same as myself and others have been having, that is the "coil failure" that Marc is referring to. The coils themselves seem to run fine until you push the boost up at which point the ECU freaks out and shuts down.
I take it then that germantoy was able to get the 034 coil setup to work just fine?


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## URSledgehammer (Oct 3, 2008)

*Re: (speedtek40)*

Has anyone ever tried Hayabusa coils? I know DSM guys run these, big boost and big numbers with it.


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## Chapel (Jun 23, 1999)

*Re: (speedtek40)*


_Quote, originally posted by *speedtek40* »_Same issue.....the supplier is part of the problem as the aftermarket knockoff coils seem to have the issue more than the OEM's. I'm not so sure if that is even the case as the OEM D514's are experiencing the same problem on my car. germantoy's issue is the same as myself and others have been having, that is the "coil failure" that Marc is referring to. The coils themselves seem to run fine until you push the boost up at which point the ECU freaks out and shuts down.
I take it then that germantoy was able to get the 034 coil setup to work just fine?

it was the only setup that worked apparently.


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## URSledgehammer (Oct 3, 2008)

*Re: (Chapel)*

Has EFI stop producing their coil kit?


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## speedtek40 (Jul 8, 2005)

not afaik....Marc still has them listed


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## URSledgehammer (Oct 3, 2008)

*Re: (speedtek40)*

I picked up the Apikol Coils, they look great. I just wish they sorted a harness on the firewall. Well worth my money.


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