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boost map.
Not sure if that is true, but list consensus has TAP as a not too credible 
upgrade source.

For the 30 or 40 bucks a coil, I would toss a new one (modded if need be) in 
the truck.
They seem easy to change, and are cheap enough to have around.

Going back to stock doesn't really seem like the direction I would go. You 
have invested in the coil pack mod, and it's not a bad deal. You will never 
worry about POS going south, and it's not too hard to keep a coil pack 
around for a quick swap.

I would have liked to see some dyno runs and some waveform comparisons of 
the stock vs. 1.8T coil packs back in the day when the mod was contemplated. 
It would have been useful to see if there was any dwell differences and 
power changes due to the new coil packs.

Mark
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jpb3" <jpburns3 at gmail.com>
To: "Varon H. Fugman" <vfugman at globaldialog.com>
Cc: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 9:43 AM
Subject: Re: [s-cars] 1.8t coil conversion saga


>I have been running a 1.8T coil kit from Apikol for the last 15K miles with
> no coil failures.  I have MRC stage 2 chip and am using a 1.9 bar spring
> with peak boost around 24 psi. ( I know, nothing but hot air)
>
> I have heard of other people having occasional failures in high HP
> applications but to have 2 coils go out on you in 3K miles is suspect. 
> You
> either have a bad batch of coils or your TAP chip doesn't like them, just 
> as
> you have surmised.  I would get an OEM coil if I were you, it would be 
> about
> the same price as replacing the remaining 3 034 1.8 coils, maybe a little
> more but then you know it works.
>
> Or get another chipset.
>
>
> My .02
>
> john
>
> On 12/20/06, Varon H. Fugman <vfugman at globaldialog.com> wrote:
>>
>> With an OEM coil on the way out (failing gradually over a period of
>> months),
>> I finally took the plunge a couple months ago and ordered the 1.8t coil
>> conversion harness and a set of 5 coils from 034 Motorsport for
>> $355.  They
>> shipped the kit the same day, and the workmanship on the wiring harness 
>> is
>> beautiful-no way I could do this good of work myself (not the mention the
>> time to source parts and put it all together.  But I digress.)
>>
>>
>>
>> Installation was a piece of cake.  Took much longer to rewire connector 
>> #2
>> from the ECU back to the factory configuration-I had had it wired to use
>> the
>> spare POS channel.
>>
>>
>>
>> Car seemed to run smoothly with the new coils in place, with the possible
>> exception of an oh-so-very-slight loss of power at full boost.  But with
>> some of you 400+hp guys running the 1.8t coils I figured there couldn't 
>> be
>> a
>> problem running the 1.8t coils on my 280hp TAP Stage I setup.
>>
>>
>>
>> 3 weeks later, drove 400 miles to St. Louis for Thanksgiving.  Car runs
>> great.  Start the car on Thanksgiving Day, car runs rough.  Coil in
>> cylinder
>> #4 had died.  Swapped coil with #3 to make sure.  All VW dealer parts
>> departments closed for 4 day weekend, so I had to spend a couple days
>> longer
>> in St. Louis than planned.*  Guess I should have gotten that spare coil 
>> to
>> have in the trunk!  Picked up a new coil at VW dealer for $30 Monday
>> morning, nibbled the ridge off with a pair of wire cutters I had in the
>> trunk, and hit the road.
>>
>>
>>
>> Another 3 weeks later, coil in #2 cylinder died.  Just picked up another
>> VW
>> coil tonight ($42 at local dealer, what's with that?) which I'll drop in
>> tomorrow.
>>
>>
>>
>> When my first failure occurred at Thanksgiving, I checked the 034 website
>> only to find that they are no longer supplying coils due to quality
>> problems.  With my first coil failure in 3 weeks I'll second that!
>>
>>
>>
>> However, even more recently they have added a statement saying that the
>> 1.8t
>> coil conversion may not be compatible with certain chipsets that have a
>> longer dwell duration than the factory tuning.  Evidently, the longer
>> dwell
>> overheats the coils and causes premature failure.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, I'm trying to figure out in my case whether the problem in my case is
>> the excessive dwell or just a bad batch of coils.  Previous owner of my
>> car
>> fitted it with a TAP Stage I chip claiming 280hp.  The TAP chip has been
>> much maligned, and I'll grant you the boost is very digital in nature, 
>> but
>> when it is on the boost is strong-can't imagine getting more out of a
>> stage
>> 1 upgrade.  The chip has been in the car for almost 10 years and 150k
>> miles.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Of course, I have no idea what kind of dwell the TAP chip is running.  It
>> could be that the OEM coils handled the extra dwell with no problem (1
>> failure in 11 years sounds pretty typical), but these wimpy little 1.8t
>> coils can't take it.
>>
>>
>>
>> At any rate, I've got to figure out what to do now:
>>
>>
>>
>> a.      Just keep replacing coils one-by-one as they fail
>> b.      Replace the remaining 034-sourced coils with VW-dealer-sourced
>> coils
>> and see what happens.  If dealer coils fail, the problem is probably
>> excessive dwell.  If dealer coils are reliable, then problem is bad coils
>> from 034.
>> c.      Revert to stock setup (replacing failed OEM coil.)
>>
>>
>>
>> If the problem is excessive dwell, then it seems like my options are
>> either
>> go back to OEM coils or go to remote-mount high-power coils.  Frankly, I
>> liked the stock setup except for the failure-prone POS modules.  OK, I
>> don't
>> like that the hardwired coils that can't easily be swapped from one
>> cylinder
>> to another.  But I did like having my "20V turbo" cover in place!
>>
>>
>>
>> Varon
>>
>> '95 urS6
>>
>> *In my case, staying in St. Louis a couple extra days wasn't a problem.
>> got
>> to spend more time with friends & family, and it's good to miss a day of
>> work & school now and then!  I did locate a Passat 1.8t coil at a FLAPS 
>> on
>> Friday.  It had the same 4-pin connector, but had a huge square flange on
>> top-no way it would have fit as-is.  If it had been urgent to get home, I
>> could have modified the Passat coil to work at least temporarily-either
>> saw
>> off the square flange or use a length of spark plug wire to make the
>> connection to the plug.
>>
>>
>>
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