[s-cars] Coil swappin...again

[A Tay]

Thanks gang for the responses
I decided to go for broke and purchased the 034HO kit.
Im tired of the frustrations and need to keep my wife on the road.  Besides,
whats my time worth?
Ill let you guys know how it goes.

You have asked a good question - How many have had more than one OEM coil
fail.  I am assuming if one goes at +/-150kmi the others are on their way.
Cheers
Aaron



-----Original Message-----
From: Varon H. Fugman [mailto:vfugman at globaldialog.com] 
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 10:29 PM
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Cc: 'A Tay'
Subject: RE: [s-cars] Coil swappin...again

Aaron,

Looks like your choices are
 (1.) replace 1 failed OEM coil ($150)
 (2.) replace all OEM coils ($750)
 (3.) switch to 1.8t coils ($450).
 (4.) 034 Motorsport H.O. coil kit ($675)

Obviously option 1. is the cheapest & quickest way to get car back in
service.  You can either get a replacement OEM coil from the dealer or a
Beru brand part for an independent import parts place.  VAG# is 034 905 101;
Beru # 0 040 100 043

I went with option 3. when one of my OEM coils failed (there was plenty of
warning as it started as a slight miss at full boost and got progressively
worse over several months.)  I purchased both the 1.8t harness and the coils
for 034 Motorsport--the harness has been great; the coils (which they no
longer supply) were junk.  I have subsequently replaced 4 of the 5 coils and
will be replacing the 5th this week--starting to get hesitation under WOT
again.

My replacement coils are the 115R variety, either sourced from a local VW
dealer or else STI brand coils from my local import specialist.  The STI
coils have the advantage of fitting the AAN w/o modification (other than
trimming or removing the rubber boot.)  The VW dealer coils require a slight
trimming/filing/grinding of a plastic ridge in order to fit.

When I queried the list a couple months ago, several other folks reported
having troubles running 1.8t coils.  Of course, there are others that have
been running for well over a year with no problems, including 400+ hp cars.
I'm not clear if the folks that did have failures were running 115R coils or
a previous revision.

With the 034 harness, the 1.8 kit is easier to install than replacing one
OEM coil!  Avoids that nasty splicing.  But realize you are entering
experimental territory, here.  The 1.8 coils are smaller and lighter than
the OEM-style, and may not be suited to long term use in an AAN.

With regards to the 034 high output kit, this remote-mounts the coils near
the firewall (actually hangs them from the cross-brace) and introduces spark
plug wires to the equation.  But it does get you big hefty coils and a
hotter spark.

One thing I would like to know: how many people have had more than one OEM
coil fail?

Varon
'95 urS6 with 1.8t coils (1 from 034, 2 from VW, 2 from STI)